Focal - Sopra No3 Loudspeaker

On display in our showroom. Price is per speaker.

The largest floorstander in Focal’s Sopra range, carrying Utopia-derived beryllium, W-cone and NIC motor technology in a cabinet that still fits a real room.

Sopra sits directly below Utopia in Focal’s hierarchy, and the N°3 tops the range. Where the N°1 is a two-way standmount and the N°2 a three-way on 7″ woofers, the N°3 moves up to a pair of 8-1/4″ (21cm) woofers. That buys deeper, higher-output bass — 33Hz at ±3dB with a −6dB point of 26Hz — without giving up the midrange resolution the range is built around.

Four Focal technologies are doing the work. The “W” cone is a sandwich of woven glass fibre bonded either side of a structural foam core, which lets Focal tune stiffness, mass and damping independently for each driver’s passband. NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) is a motor design whose Faraday ring holds magnetic flux stable regardless of where the voice coil sits or how hard it is being driven. TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) puts two moulded beads in the midrange surround that oscillate against the surround’s own resonance, killing it without the added mass of conventional damping. IHL (Infinite Horn Loading) vents the back of the beryllium tweeter into a damped horn that exits the cabinet, so the rear wave is absorbed progressively instead of pushing back against the dome.

Cabinets are built in France by Focal’s own cabinetmakers and the drive units are made at the company’s Saint-Étienne facility. At 70kg each these are not speakers you move often — the counter-spikes arrive already mounted so the speaker can be slid into position before the spikes go on. Magnetic grilles mean no visible fixing holes on the baffle.

Features

• Three-way bass-reflex floorstander, the largest model in the Sopra range
• 1-1/16″ (27mm) pure Beryllium IHL inverted dome tweeter, rear-loaded into a damped horn
• 6-1/2″ (16.5cm) “W” cone midrange with NIC motor and TMD suspension
• Two 8-1/4″ (21cm) “W” cone woofers with NIC motors
• 33Hz – 40kHz ±3dB, with a −6dB point of 26Hz
• 91.5dB sensitivity, but a 3.1 Ω minimum impedance — wants an amplifier comfortable delivering current
• Magnetic grilles, four spikes and four counter-spikes supplied, counter-spikes pre-mounted
• Cabinets and drivers made in France

Specifications

• Type: Three-way bass-reflex floorstanding loudspeaker
• Tweeter: 1-1/16″ (27mm) pure Beryllium IHL inverted dome
• Midrange: 6-1/2″ (16.5cm) “W” cone with NIC motor and TMD suspension
• Woofers: Two 8-1/4″ (21cm) “W” cones with NIC motors
• Frequency Response: 33Hz – 40kHz (±3dB)
• Low Frequency Point: 26Hz (−6dB)
• Sensitivity: 91.5dB (2.83V / 1m)
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ω
• Minimum Impedance: 3.1 Ω
• Crossover Frequencies: 250Hz / 2,200Hz
• Recommended Amplifier Power: 40 – 400W
• Finishes: Black Lacquer, Carrara White, Electric Orange, Light Oak, Macassar
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 1264 x 402 x 595 mm (49-3/4″ x 15-13/16″ x 23-7/16″)
• Weight: 70 kg (154.3 lbs) each
• Supplied Accessories: Magnetic grille, four spikes, four counter-spikes (pre-mounted)
• Origin: Cabinets and drivers made in France
• Sold: Individually — price is per speaker
• Note: Focal publishes no distortion, maximum SPL or port tuning figures for this model