System reveal! Focal Sopra N°3, Parasound JC5, JC2bp, Chord Hugo TT2 with Mscalar, Rega P10 with Apheta 3, and PSAudio Stellar Phono preamp.
Focal Sopra N°3 setup
I like Focal sound. I had an existing setup with Focal Aria 926 Towers, 906 side channels, CC900 as center channel, and SR900 as back surround channel. All driven by Denon X4700H. Added 2 subs PB3000 and PB2000pro for bass.
For HT setup it is very satisfying. However at times I wish more dialogue volume. It depends much on the Source. But I understand now why people go for separates in home theatre setup.
For 2 channel listening the setup needed more refinement. And I always had this OCD of having a seperate 2 channel system with separates (I never knew what I was missing untill I had the new 2 channel system). Wanting to explore vinyl was big part of the reason.
So then came the planning, research, and (hardly any), auditioning stage. That lasted for about an year.
I wanted more clarity, refinement, and imaging from the system. Having experienced focal Aria range I had some confidence in Focal line up. Berrylium tweeters would definitely make a difference. Choice between the Kanta and Sopra was settled due to my love for Bass. I didn't want to add a sub to the system. I had lots of reviews saying Kanta doesn't have enough Low Bass. Sopra on the other hand was too much Bass. I was worried about too much Bass. My room is 14.5 x 17 feet. Hardly the size mentioned in Specifications of Sopra series. It's probably less than half of it. Choice between not enough Bass vs. too much Bass was easy. I went for too much bass and room Treatment and decided for Focal Sopra N°3. The other systems which I concidered were Revel Salon 2 (Very old design and no upgrades, probably end of line), KEF Blade 2(Budget, More expensive and unavailability, also haven't audition ed, Bass?), and Monitor Audio PL 500 II (Taller than anyone in my Family, definitely 100% Brobdingnagian monstrous!!,).
Ordered Focal Sopra N°3 in April. Carrera White. Recieved a pair in July beginning. Unlucky to have a big indent on the front lacquer on one piece!!.. Heart broken after the wait. I was offered a discount to keep it or exchange. I chose exchange and decided to wait more. Rest of the system got delivered by end of July. Finally got a Off white light Oak finish in September 1st week. All this time the Focal India distribution was very helpful. I must thank the distribution Chain in India for their support.
And man it was a beauty! Had already got Isoacoustic Gaia 1s ready during installation. Fixed directly on them. Each speaker is 70kgs, certainly not 1 person job. Once settled on Gaia, it sticks to the marble floor. Very difficult to move for fine positioning for imaging and bass. Friends needed. From the outset the bass was too much. Room modes and reflection in marbled untreated room made it unlistenable on higher volume. But the clarity, seperation, and crazy resolving was apparent even without room Treatment!! Detailed review in sometime!!
Room Treatment with Umik-1 and REW, and huge bass traps is another story. But I am eager introduce the rest of the system first!.. Finally positioned with about 5 feet away from back wall and 3.5 feet from side wall. Slight Tow in. Seating position 8 feet away about 4 feet off the back wall. With this I got RT 60 times less than 100ms for most range except deep bass. In treated room the Sopra clarity is amazing. Eyes closed pin point precise 3D imaging. The Berrylium Twitter is like silky sand. Very different from anything I hv heard before. Now my Arias sound like lifeless!!
Power Amplifier: I wanted a little warmer side of neutral or neutral. Sopras are known to be power hungry. They go down to 2.9 ohms. Having dealt with power hungry Focals in Aria, I certainly didn't want to be underpowered. Also power is needed for better headroom.
The choices where based on At least 200 watts and above power requirements. Which left lot of options out of consideration. Most Tubes were out unfortunately. The remaining contenders were Parasound JC5, Mitchi P5 Rotel, Mac, NAD, Primaluna Evo 400, and Cambridge Monoblocks. Primaluna Evo 400 has very limited operations in India. No reply to my mails about enquiry. Was quoted more than 6 months wait. Pass. Mac were too warm and not my taste. Had very little information available on Rotel Mitchi P5. No audition available. Best info and reviews available were on Parasound. Finalized it without auditioning. Sad reality of being audiophile in India. Was delivered in 3 months. Silver colour was the reason for longer wait time.
Parasound JC5 delivered!. Loads of power at hand with good resolution and refinement. Drives Focals easily. I tested my Focal Aria 926 with it and boy JC5 makes it come alive!! I never knew Arias were capable of this bass and imaging. I 100% now endorse the view the separates or good integrated is the way to go for 2 channel audio. AVRs, even my Denon X4700H Shows it's limitations here, made glaringly apparent by this A/B testing. When Sopras finally arrived, I already had about a month of use and burn in on JC5. JC5 pairs very well with Sopras. Infact i didn't get any soo called brightness with Sopra Berrylium tweeters. Whether it was due to JC5 or it's an issue discussed in out of proportion. With the combination of JC5 and Sopras, the Bass was over powering. Room Treatment is a must. Bass given by this combination rivals the 2 PB3000 and PB2000 pro combo!! After room Treatment and positioning the First thing I noticed was the crispness of the Bass. It's much more clear bass. Isoacoustic Gaia 1 are also there to be credited for it. After listening to Sopras my HT bass sounds slow and muddled. SVS PB bass is visceral no doubt but that setup lacks the Refinement of the bass. Probably room Treatment and DSP may fix it. That's new project in making. All in all very happy with JC5s. I cannot compare directly with other choices as I don't have experience of Mitchi P5 of Cambridge Monoblocks.. If anyone has them and nearby Feel free to dropby for AB testing.
Pra-Amplifier: The choices were JC2bp, Primaluna Evo 400 preamp, Mac, and Rotel Preamp. I didn't want integrated preamp with DAC and media player. By default it was JC2bp as it compliments the JC5, second was Primaluna and Rotel. Both Primaluna and Rotel had the same problems mentioned before. So settled on JC2bp. Was delivered with the Poweramp. Good minimal design. Very less features. Literally just input switching and volume controls. Nothing more. The sound I have already described in the power amp section. It's very good at resolving and imaging for sure. I have never heard so many instruments so effortlessly in that great details in my songs. Pink floyed I am listening for 20 years... Feels like i am listening from scratch!! Abundant clarity with resolution and musically so satisfying.
DAC: It was very hard to decide the "if" I need it, along with "what" I need. Seperating DAC from source was a decision again based on my previous experience of Not using separates. The quality Suffers . Particularly if using suboptimal source like YouTube from Mediac PC, TV, or streamer. I do have dedicated Hi-Fi streaming service like Room and Tidal, but not every source is compatible with roon, and not all content is available on Tidal or audio files. YouTube and other internet streaming services in this age cannot be ignored. Also the path of upgrades seems much better and cheaper with separates than combination of source with DAC. Coming to the choices, I am an analytical and clarity listener rather than a laid back style listener. Going by the reviews Chord TT2 was an option, R2R DACs were not on my list as I was not sure about their pairing with Parasound. Both warm components seemed odd to me, although the promise of analogue quality of the sound of R2R DACs was a big lure. Chord vs Denafrips was a difficult decision, finally i selected for Chord Hugo TT2 with Mscalar for its neutrality, resolution, and bass authority. I have given my opinion on Hugo TT2 and mScalar seperately and in combination elsewhere in this forum. To recapitulate Hugo TT2 is neutral, very resolving, and good Bass control. In itself it's good enough. It's only when you up sample with mScalar do we get to hear the expansive sound stage. It's like suddenly someone has turned surrounds on. But Sometimes it feels unnecessary. Particularly with MQA on Tidal. Probably it's because of MQA ?? Most of the times I am using TT2 with mScalar upsampling to max 768khz using Dual BNC outs of mScalar. The difference mScalar brings can be felt eyes closed. It's like a veil has been lifted and HD clarity. It's hard to go back.
Turntable: Rega P10 with Apheta 3 Cartridge. I was looking for something with clarity. With all reviews and research I came to Rega P10. I kind of get the philosophy of low mass of plinth brings out the best of the Vibration measuring machine. I have no frame of reference for otherwise. It's hard to find head to head. I won't think anyone would regret Rega P10. It's phenomenal. Clarity and bass authority. From Jazz blues, Mahler, Pink Floyd, Arctic Monkeys, to bass heavy Lil Nas, Eminem, and Bjork. It does justice to all. Good pressings make it shine. Digital cannot touch that. A/B of Digital vs Vinyl of some tracks makes me feel the love for analogue. Still in process of building the Vinyl collection. Could give better review after sometime.
All in all satisfied. I have learnt in these years that sometimes we don't even know what we are missing. Keeping open mind, trying and testing new things will definitely expand our musical horizon. It's never the end.
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