In the UK, the more closely matched offerings would be the Kudos 606 vs Focal Sopra 2. Alternatively, the Kudos 505 standmount vs the Focal Sopra 1 would also be apt. But standmount vs floorstander is always going to have more differences due to bass reach in favour of the floorstander. The Sopra 1 does well given it's a standmount. Focal Sopra 3 compared to Kudos 707 would be really interesting. I have not heard the Sopra 3, but the Kudos 707 is one if the best speakers I've heard regardless of cost.
Not sure. But I think the kodos brightness problem might be better suited to a tube amplifier setup. Read some the others and focal might be better with a solid state amplifier. Focal do have the richness of the mid range. A mid range sound to headphone relation that I can relate to is the sennheiser hd 600 for the focal speakers and the kodos titan more of a grados rs2 open back. Had those in the past. Hd 600 is open back too. Both of these headphones can bring out the details in recordings. But again you're asking comments on the sounding of the speakers. Not headphones. Well done at least when it it's done right through the heavy compression problems of youtube. Good thing the video is in 4k. I guess that helps.
I preferred the greater bass weight of the Kudos and details sound more integrated into the overall sonic picture (more realistic presentation versus the artificial sounding Focal).
they sound the same on the first two tracks, but on the third track I liked the focal more (the stage on the Kudos 606 is much wider, but the sound for my taste is very bright, there is not enough sound weight). lol I was surprised when I found out the price of the kudos
I definitley prefer Focals cause Kudos are too bright for me and Sopras give me more detail and richer more juicy tone. I've also checked the price of Titan 606 and was surprised of the price, so I checked how are they build. And another suprise was this is isobaric design with another 18cm SEAS driver inside with very good components in crossover that give oportunity for owners of a system s like Linn Exakt and Diavalet Expert to use active crossover - maybe then that brightness would be gone? I know this speakers would sound better with tube amplifiers, I would be looking for strong monoblocks, cause 86dB sensivity isnt much. One I know for sure, Kudos give more for the price than Focal, way more, but the taste of that sound isnt easy to overcome, it's not plug and play. You need carefuly match components for them and when you do that, music will absorb You.
It is not plug and play. And yes: they are more up-front. But the definition is incredible. The 'live-feel' is just amazing. But the Focal are more forgiving (and they are not easy as well ;-)).
@@TheAlphaAudio Yes, the "live feel" is striking even thru you tube. But the border of upper midrange between brightness and neutral is a pretty thin line. Too much of that liveness and tone and much of information are masked. I know that cause i have lively speakers myself and was fighting to get that fully informative tone, and I was succeded by changing speaker cables, changing connection from USB to Coax and most important first reflection points was treated with absorbers, cause i have pretty small room. Another thing I've recorded "Jacques Loussier Trio J S Bach Fugue in G minor" on my system using my phone and compared to this video. But comparsion isnt fair, cause i dont have a such big room, dont have such good Naim streamer( in my system coax is direct from PC computer to a DAC with galvanic separation but its only for USB i guess), and i dont have that fancy Rode mocrphones. Also price of my components isnt that expensive as on this video, but not far away from that with that difference i dont have pre-amp and streamer. But when i played my recording in Foobar with Wasapi(push) as I learn from your previous video how to setup, it sounded better for me than Kudos and Focals. Next I uploaded recording on you tube (private) and found that brightness is present which is made by you tube compression, in foobar sounds better.
@@TheAlphaAudio thank you very much, really something to look into, as well as Ansuz and Borresen speakers… altogether as a system they seem to be providing very impressive results. Borresen might qualify to be reference level speakers.
Hello, I have a pair of focal sopra 1, with a preamp lampizator, a sony ta-4650 (i use power amp) and a pass first watt SIT 3, similar to the sony (v-fet transistors), i prefer the sony, much power and dynamic with focal. I find the sound of the naim is colored with a lack of transparency. The sound is really better at home, no match!
Kodos Titan 506 is a bright sounding speaker with the almost all of the naim equipment. The focal sopra no. 1 sounds soft overall. J.s. bach reference recording you use all the time shows the piano being played in detail along with the cymbals on the kodos titan 506. When the focal comes on. it gets soften almost everything. But somehow the cymbals comes through. Not bright. Kodos can get into some listening fatigue in a long listening session. I find that the kodos reminds me of the grados rs2e wooden mahogany open back headphone sound signature. It might be not be a good match with the naim. Also focal and naim is not a good match. Maybe certain recordings are also not good. Second recording of the electronic opera shows the focal having more bass and seems to slightly bleed in with the rest of the recordings losing some details. The kodos 506 on the second recordings details comes back but the female vocal starts to become shrill when she starts slowly into the high notes and slightly gets louder, but then she backs off in control. Bass has the detail on the 506 but not the oomph. Violins comes through with the kodos. Kind of gets lost in the focal. It's there if you pay more attention on the focal. Last recording. Layla.Everything becomes alive with detail on the kodos from the playing of the guitair piano and drums to the sound of the people in the concert room. Focal seems to miss the mark. It becomes soft. Again maybe a mismatch with naim and focal. Also might be too bright of the kodos titan and naim.
Well, I've been watching too many of your videos...just bought a pair of Sopra 1s :-). Thinking of matching them with a Supernait 3. What do you reckon?
Wow! Congrats! Also in Orange? :-). Supernait 3 will work perfectly fine. Pass labs also. We are trying the INT25 at the moment. Will post a video soon.
@@TheAlphaAudio Thanks! I would have loved Orange or Red, but found a great deal on the Stormtrooper black & white :-) . I have a First Watt F7 that I use for my headphones, will definitely try that out with the Sopras. I look forward to your INT25 video !
@@TheAlphaAudio I picked up the Sopra 1 yesterday. Wow, what a huge step up from my previous Dynaudio Special Forty! These are incredibly resolving and already sound great with my First Watt F7. I’m going to be checking out the Pass Labs int25 and also Accuphase 380 as potential upgrades as I think the Sopras deserve a very special amp! Thanks again for all your recordings that turned me on to the Focals.
Audioquest Power cables - What model more precise? or any audioquest power cable would do? Also can you upgrade the power source for the all 3 naim items? or the integrated one is best in place?
Persoonlijk komen de Kudos Titan 606 te scherp in het hoog bij me binnen. De Focal Sopra No1 is wat neutraler op dat gebied en daardoor minder vermoeiend om naar te luisteren. Uiteindelijk is het een kwestie van smaak. Sommige mensen houden van het hoge heldere geluid, maar dan moet er toch iets meer balans tussen het laag, mid en hoog zitten.
Ime with Focal, they need at least 2,5m between and I guess this isn't 2,5m, it is around 2,2m. But that leaves no side space in this room. So Focal does not show what actually can. And it can a lot.
@@TheAlphaAudio conclusion is based upon size of a component which is around 43cm, and I took an aprooximation that a each rack is around 70cm but less, so that would be 2,1m plus 10cm. But it was just a guess. So, if it is 2,5m then it is ok. What it isn't, is space to the side wall and distance from the back(front wall) since sopra has rear tweeter. It is based upon several years of experimenting with Focal speakers. For that room, optimum series of speakers is Aria which still works fine near front wall, while Kanta and up requiers much space. Kanta No.1 would maybe work. You can try it for yourself. Sometimes the less is more.
@@freekwo7772 thank you for the advice. I think I have heard around 90 speakers in this room. Maybe more. Also Kanta. That is a completely different speaker al adds loads of coloration compared to Sopra. I can't work with that speaker.
Kudos are far far more musical and convincing. Focals are trying to impress with a detailed bright presentation that will get on my nerves within an hour.
You must be deaf because the Kudos is the brighter speaker here and it is the speaker that tries to wow you within the first couple of minutes in a showroom. So a brighter and more shrill sounding speaker to you is 'far far more musical'? 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@AbsoluteFidelity You are mistaking an open spatial sound as bright. If you close your eyes the focals sound closed in. In fact if I had to guess the Focals sound more like a floor stander and the Kudos a stand mount. Each to his own I guess but don't say someone is deaf just because they don't agree with you, makes you look like an arse.
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](/img/1.gif)
Kudos for me based on more natural and honest presentation. Great demo. Thank you!!
The Naim sounds so playful and musical. Music just floats.
Kudos Titans all the way. They are so damn musical and emotionally engaging.
I like the Titan’s, more open and natural sounding to me.
Both speakers sound superb to me with the Naim electronics
Can’t beat a properly setup Naim system. Most fun in hifi
Agreed!
The focals souns so much better, theyre really magical sounding
No they just through detail at you to initially impress, I'd tier of this very quickly.
Unbelievable sound quality even across an iPad playing into a wharfedale sound bar!
Thanks!
Bij de Kudos ervaar ik meer live gevoel dan bij de Focal 😊👍🏻.
In the UK, the more closely matched offerings would be the Kudos 606 vs Focal Sopra 2. Alternatively, the Kudos 505 standmount vs the Focal Sopra 1 would also be apt. But standmount vs floorstander is always going to have more differences due to bass reach in favour of the floorstander. The Sopra 1 does well given it's a standmount. Focal Sopra 3 compared to Kudos 707 would be really interesting. I have not heard the Sopra 3, but the Kudos 707 is one if the best speakers I've heard regardless of cost.
Not sure. But I think the kodos brightness problem might be better suited to a tube amplifier setup. Read some the others and focal might be better with a solid state amplifier. Focal do have the richness of the mid range. A mid range sound to headphone relation that I can relate to is the sennheiser hd 600 for the focal speakers and the kodos titan more of a grados rs2 open back. Had those in the past. Hd 600 is open back too. Both of these headphones can bring out the details in recordings. But again you're asking comments on the sounding of the speakers. Not headphones. Well done at least when it it's done right through the heavy compression problems of youtube. Good thing the video is in 4k. I guess that helps.
Kudos all the way
I preferred the greater bass weight of the Kudos and details sound more integrated into the overall sonic picture (more realistic presentation versus the artificial sounding Focal).
Super Titan¡¡
Kudos for me definitely
I could live with the sopras, much better soundstage with tighter bass. The highs are more controlled than the floor standers. Thank for the demo vid.
Glad we can help!
they sound the same on the first two tracks, but on the third track I liked the focal more (the stage on the Kudos 606 is much wider, but the sound for my taste is very bright, there is not enough sound weight). lol I was surprised when I found out the price of the kudos
I definitley prefer Focals cause Kudos are too bright for me and Sopras give me more detail and richer more juicy tone. I've also checked the price of Titan 606 and was surprised of the price, so I checked how are they build. And another suprise was this is isobaric design with another 18cm SEAS driver inside with very good components in crossover that give oportunity for owners of a system s like Linn Exakt and Diavalet Expert to use active crossover - maybe then that brightness would be gone?
I know this speakers would sound better with tube amplifiers, I would be looking for strong monoblocks, cause 86dB sensivity isnt much.
One I know for sure, Kudos give more for the price than Focal, way more, but the taste of that sound isnt easy to overcome, it's not plug and play. You need carefuly match components for them and when you do that, music will absorb You.
It is not plug and play. And yes: they are more up-front. But the definition is incredible. The 'live-feel' is just amazing. But the Focal are more forgiving (and they are not easy as well ;-)).
@@TheAlphaAudio Yes, the "live feel" is striking even thru you tube. But the border of upper midrange between brightness and neutral is a pretty thin line. Too much of that liveness and tone and much of information are masked.
I know that cause i have lively speakers myself and was fighting to get that fully informative tone, and I was succeded by changing speaker cables, changing connection from USB to Coax and most important first reflection points was treated with absorbers, cause i have pretty small room.
Another thing I've recorded "Jacques Loussier Trio J S Bach Fugue in G minor" on my system using my phone and compared to this video.
But comparsion isnt fair, cause i dont have a such big room, dont have such good Naim streamer( in my system coax is direct from PC computer to a DAC with galvanic separation but its only for USB i guess), and i dont have that fancy Rode mocrphones.
Also price of my components isnt that expensive as on this video, but not far away from that with that difference i dont have pre-amp and streamer.
But when i played my recording in Foobar with Wasapi(push) as I learn from your previous video how to setup, it sounded better for me than Kudos and Focals.
Next I uploaded recording on you tube (private) and found that brightness is present which is made by you tube compression, in foobar sounds better.
@@TheAlphaAudio hello - amazing channel, do you plan to test Aavik amplifiers, DACs, etc? They seem very interesting, high end class D
@@topkho Thanks! Aavik is very impressive indeed. I will check the possibility.
@@TheAlphaAudio thank you very much, really something to look into, as well as Ansuz and Borresen speakers… altogether as a system they seem to be providing very impressive results. Borresen might qualify to be reference level speakers.
Titan 606 has deeper bass and sounds a bit compressed, the Sopra has a wider stage and more details.
Hello,
I have a pair of focal sopra 1, with a preamp lampizator, a sony ta-4650 (i use power amp) and a pass first watt SIT 3, similar to the sony (v-fet transistors), i prefer the sony, much power and dynamic with focal.
I find the sound of the naim is colored with a lack of transparency.
The sound is really better at home, no match!
Focals more reticent, closed-in slightly. Kudos, more dynamically direct, and opened.
Bij de Kudos hoor je niet alleen muziek maar voel je het ook
I prefer SL2’s over either of these speakers
Kodos Titan 506 is a bright sounding speaker with the almost all of the naim equipment. The focal sopra no. 1 sounds soft overall. J.s. bach reference recording you use all the time shows the piano being played in detail along with the cymbals on the kodos titan 506. When the focal comes on. it gets soften almost everything. But somehow the cymbals comes through. Not bright. Kodos can get into some listening fatigue in a long listening session. I find that the kodos reminds me of the grados rs2e wooden mahogany open back headphone sound signature. It might be not be a good match with the naim. Also focal and naim is not a good match. Maybe certain recordings are also not good. Second recording of the electronic opera shows the focal having more bass and seems to slightly bleed in with the rest of the recordings losing some details. The kodos 506 on the second recordings details comes back but the female vocal starts to become shrill when she starts slowly into the high notes and slightly gets louder, but then she backs off in control. Bass has the detail on the 506 but not the oomph. Violins comes through with the kodos. Kind of gets lost in the focal. It's there if you pay more attention on the focal. Last recording. Layla.Everything becomes alive with detail on the kodos from the playing of the guitair piano and drums to the sound of the people in the concert room. Focal seems to miss the mark. It becomes soft. Again maybe a mismatch with naim and focal. Also might be too bright of the kodos titan and naim.
but they say that Naim and Focal are the best combinations
Sopra feels more musical and human, the other sounds a little thin at least on my headphones.
Sopra 1
Need to use power line, superlumina speaker cable, you will see the difference....
Die Titan 606
klinkt gewoon echt niet goed.... Hoe kan dat joh? Teveel 400-1khz?
De Focal is gewoon super vet en goed!
Kudos is meer mid-focussed. Kwestie van smaak.
A fair competitor would have been Sopra 2 with those Kudos.
Well, I've been watching too many of your videos...just bought a pair of Sopra 1s :-). Thinking of matching them with a Supernait 3. What do you reckon?
Wow! Congrats! Also in Orange? :-).
Supernait 3 will work perfectly fine. Pass labs also. We are trying the INT25 at the moment. Will post a video soon.
@@TheAlphaAudio Thanks! I would have loved Orange or Red, but found a great deal on the Stormtrooper black & white :-) . I have a First Watt F7 that I use for my headphones, will definitely try that out with the Sopras. I look forward to your INT25 video !
@@TheAlphaAudio I picked up the Sopra 1 yesterday. Wow, what a huge step up from my previous Dynaudio Special Forty! These are incredibly resolving and already sound great with my First Watt F7. I’m going to be checking out the Pass Labs int25 and also Accuphase 380 as potential upgrades as I think the Sopras deserve a very special amp! Thanks again for all your recordings that turned me on to the Focals.
@@feloniousmonk5261 Lucky You! Very nice choice. We are testing the Pass Labs INT25 at the moment. We will post samples soon!
@@TheAlphaAudio awesome 👍🏼
In een blind test ga je geen verschil horen vermoed ik zo . Leuk gedaan weer heren 👍❤️
Kudos heeft meer midden. En iets dieper laag. Dat hoor je wel hoor! :-)
@@TheAlphaAudio een iPad heeft zo zijn beperkingen 😂
@@theflyingdutchman7127 hahaha... Ja...
Hello, what do you think about the configuration: NAC 552 + NAP 300 DR + ND 555 + speakers Fyne Audio F1-12s ?
I dont know the speakers, so can't say really...
@@TheAlphaAudio Excellent speakers (Suncoast Audio)
Audioquest Power cables - What model more precise? or any audioquest power cable would do?
Also can you upgrade the power source for the all 3 naim items? or the integrated one is best in place?
Any model will do Is guess. We used Nrg1000. I dont know if all PSUs can be upgraded.
@@TheAlphaAudio are the nrg 1000 neutral or bright? Thank you Alpha Audio
Focal sounds a bit artificial while Kudos is more natural
Persoonlijk komen de Kudos Titan 606 te scherp in het hoog bij me binnen. De Focal Sopra No1 is wat neutraler op dat gebied en daardoor minder vermoeiend om naar te luisteren. Uiteindelijk is het een kwestie van smaak. Sommige mensen houden van het hoge heldere geluid, maar dan moet er toch iets meer balans tussen het laag, mid en hoog zitten.
Wat is neutraler... dat is altijd lastig. We kennen de opnames immers niet. :-)
Precies, neutraler misschien niet het juiste woord, meer balans :-) Er is geen goed of fout, smaak is uiteindelijk waarvoor je kiest :-)
focal en naim blijken toch een betere match het hele klank spectrum beter in balans.de kudo"s voegen teveel toe voornamelijk in het midden en hoog.
is the Nap 500 amp to o much for sopra 1?
Yes... It is a bit overkill...
That’s only a 250
@@robburgess1985 ? What are you talking about? The amp in the test? That's a 300 series.
@@TheAlphaAudio Right
@@TheAlphaAudio well i got the full 500 series and its funny to see the volume knob maxing out the speakers at 40 % lol
1:20 2:28
Focal klinkt natuurlijker en minder vermoeiend.
Ime with Focal, they need at least 2,5m between and I guess this isn't 2,5m, it is around 2,2m. But that leaves no side space in this room. So Focal does not show what actually can. And it can a lot.
What a conclusion.......
the tweeters are actually exactly 2,5 meters apart... But placement depends completely upon the room.
@@TheAlphaAudio conclusion is based upon size of a component which is around 43cm, and I took an aprooximation that a each rack is around 70cm but less, so that would be 2,1m plus 10cm. But it was just a guess. So, if it is 2,5m then it is ok. What it isn't, is space to the side wall and distance from the back(front wall) since sopra has rear tweeter. It is based upon several years of experimenting with Focal speakers. For that room, optimum series of speakers is Aria which still works fine near front wall, while Kanta and up requiers much space. Kanta No.1 would maybe work. You can try it for yourself. Sometimes the less is more.
@@freekwo7772 thank you for the advice. I think I have heard around 90 speakers in this room. Maybe more. Also Kanta. That is a completely different speaker al adds loads of coloration compared to Sopra. I can't work with that speaker.
@@TheAlphaAudio you can try another 900 speakers when the room is a problem. It just too narrow IMO. It is like made for Harbeth speakers.
@@freekwo7772 I AM not trying speakers. We review speakers and the room is completely acoustically treated. It measures pretty flat.
Kudos are far far more musical and convincing. Focals are trying to impress with a detailed bright presentation that will get on my nerves within an hour.
You must be deaf because the Kudos is the brighter speaker here and it is the speaker that tries to wow you within the first couple of minutes in a showroom. So a brighter and more shrill sounding speaker to you is 'far far more musical'? 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@AbsoluteFidelity You are mistaking an open spatial sound as bright. If you close your eyes the focals sound closed in. In fact if I had to guess the Focals sound more like a floor stander and the Kudos a stand mount. Each to his own I guess but don't say someone is deaf just because they don't agree with you, makes you look like an arse.
Sopras sound better to me, the Kudos are too bright and have less body especially on vocal
You have your observations the wrong way around, or your ears upside down.
Naim killed the energy in sound, there is no natural flow... don't like this sound coloration, British coloration. Music is static, choking, no life