Полочная акустика — Focal SOPRA N°1

The Sopra N°1 is the compact two-way model of Focal's Sopra line, introduced in 2015 and handcrafted in France. Focal describes its performance as close to that of the company's Utopia range. The N°1 is aimed at living rooms smaller than 25 m2 but, according to the maker, can also work in spaces of more than 50 m2. American buyers paid a list price of USD 12,998 per pair.

Key specs that matter

The bass-reflex cabinet holds a 16.5 cm (6.5 in) W-cone bass/midrange driver and a 27 mm inverted dome beryllium tweeter, crossed over at 2,200 Hz. Rated response spans 45 Hz to 40 kHz within 3 dB, with output 6 dB down at 41 Hz. Sensitivity is 89 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m. Nominal impedance is 8 ohm, dropping to a minimum of 3.9 ohm, and Focal recommends between 25 and 150 W of amplification. Each speaker is 425 mm high, 279 mm wide and 396 mm deep, weighs 19 kg and comes with four spikes already mounted plus four counterpoints.

Engineering and use context

The beryllium dome is stiff enough to cover more than five octaves, from about 1 kHz to the top of its range. It sits in a separate trapezoidal module of inert injected polyurethane with Infinite Horn Loading (IHL) - the rear of the dome vents into a small cavity that leads outside through a horn filled with damping material, which loads the tweeter without enlarging the cabinet. The W membrane is a sandwich of glass fibre sheets around a foam core, driven by Focal's patented NIC magnet system, which is intended to keep the motor behaviour controlled, while the sandwich construction itself is chosen for low distortion. The Sopra generation also introduced TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) in 2015 - finely positioned toroidal weights added to the surround to stabilise the suspension and damp its resonances in the midrange. All vertical surfaces of the enclosure are curved, the top slopes upward toward the back, and the front baffle is raked back to meet the tweeter module at an angle. A horizontal slot port and five-way binding posts share the rear panel, and a pressure-fit grille covers only the bass/midrange driver. Lacquer finishes are Carrara White, Electric Orange and Black Lacquer, and two wood versions are offered in Light Oak and Macassar.

Pairing

Since the impedance dips below 4 ohm, the partner amplifier should be comfortable driving low loads, and its generous power tolerance leaves room for sizeable solid-state designs. Focal makes matching stands 61 cm tall in matte black with a black glass base, each weighing about 18.5 kg, with a column filled with inert material, a cable channel and adjustable feet.

Alternatives

A lower-priced two-way bookshelf from Focal is the Aria Evo X N°1, which pairs a Flax cone with an aluminium-magnesium TAM tweeter.