Review – Focal Sopra no1

Opstelling

That the Sopra NR 1 is not a small lady, will be clear by now. The Sopra therefore needs the right and powerful control. For this we use a Yamaha A-S2100 and CD-S2100. And a Bluesound Node 2. And for the test even a Music Hall turntable, the MMF 2.3. All cables we use come from AudioQuest.

For those readers who have already finished their cup of coffee and are wondering: “What’s under the speaker?” Pay attention. That’s another test. You will soon be able to read more about this. The elements in the Hifi chain are conscious choices. The Yamaha has power and a natural sound. This should form a wonderful synergy with the Focal Sopra NR 1. The turntable will not be forgiving. A lot of ‘extra’ sound will come from that. How’s the Sopra handling that? In short, we test the speakers as only Alpha Audio can. Looking for the limits!

It ain’t about until the Fat lady sings….

We give the entire chain a good week to play and warm up. This can also be clearly heard when we compare the sound. Fortunately, the ‘real’ listening doesn’t start until after the week. But then comes probably the most difficult part of audio testing…What are we going to listen to? We have our standard reference music. Luckily there is a record player in this setup. And it makes a lot of other music.

We start streaming over the Node 2. We choose the latest album of Imagine Dragons – Smoke & Mirrors. It’s hard to describe if you’ve never experienced it. The vocals, the guitars, the synthesizer and drums. Everything forms a whole. The Focal Sopra No1 sparkles with dynamics. The Sopra No1 immediately draws all attention to her. There’s no escape. As a result, a longer listening session than intended. We almost listen in a kind of trance, a focus that comes over us.

We’ll switch genres for a while. Soul music! We set up Angie Stone – Mahogany Soul. This is already a slightly older album, but with the unsurpassed Wish I didn’t miss you, we listen to soul with the capital S!

Meanwhile, the FocalSopra No1 has been nicknamed ‘Fat lady’ by the editors. Because the Sopra sings. Really sing. Especially with good soul music. She grabs your spine and makes you shiver with the good ones. The ones we actually always see with the more incisive ladies. But they’re so good. The Sopra knows how to keep the high pulls perfectly within the frames. Very tight. Lace drawing is here, that this is partly due to a good and correct control (read amplifier). It can also go horribly wrong, as we heard with the No2 during the multitest.

Amazingly, there is also a lot of low in the speaker. Especially the mid-low and the low. Something one doesn’t immediately expect from a ‘small’ speaker. Angie Stone has that authentic Soul sound. She can go high, but she also has that beautiful layer in her voice. That persuasion with which she conveys her emotions. That low. That’s what we’re talking about. And that’s exactly what our ‘Fat lady’ – the Sopra – depicts perfectly. That emotion. That feeling. From the high pull, back to the mid-low.

All the files we played are high quality files. But how does she react to bizarrely poor quality? We can answer that very quickly. Bad! That’s not what the Fat lady’s for. We played an mp3 file of 128 kbps. And what we are often at boarding and a part of the middle segment of speakers, is that they cover up the poor quality a bit. Colors. So that it just sounds a little better or smoother. But not the Focal Sopra No 1… If you treat her badly, she treats you badly too!

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