I do use a sub with my Sopra 1’s and it is an improvement. While the 1’s are big for a bookshelf speaker and have nice bass, I believe you would find the addition of a good sub setup properly would add enjoyment to the 1’s or any speakers for that matter.

By the way my previous speakers were Wilson Sophia II’s and I have never regretted moving to the 1’s.

Well, that's what make this hobby fun and interesting. We have different requirements and sensibilities, and that's fine. Personally, regarding these two mfrs of speakers, I've felt the opposite...I've never heard a pair of Focals that's I've enjoyed, or in some cases, didn't drive me from the room. So....YMMV.

So, while I am confident there are many dedicated and satisfied Focal owners, the same is true of Dynaudio.

Also, I think its important to acknowledge that one cannot get a truly accurate impression of any given speaker without taking the specific system into account, and most importantly, the room into the equation. The room, by far, has the biggest impact on how a pair of speakers will sound. This is because there is a functional interaction between the speaker and the room. And audio show hotel rooms are not the place to be making final decisions about speakers, either, IMHO.

Indeed........ that is why Dynaudio and Focal (and all the other speaker vendors) are still in business. We all hear what we hear and, thankfully, it is different.

Comparing the two house sounds, and solely within that context, Focal is leaner and more detailed. Dynaudio is thicker and warmer.

I love both. I’ve had 4 pairs of Focal and two pairs of Dynaudio:

My speaker history goes:
JMLab Electra 906 (sold)
Dynaudio Contour S3.4 (sold)
Dynaudio Confidence C1 (sold)
Focal Micro Utopia Be (Office Speaker, had at same time as C1’s) (sold)
Focal Scala Utopia V2’s
Focal Diablo Utopia (purchased for apartment but now in storage)

I’m currently using my Scalas.

I love the sound of both Focal and Dynaudio, however Puma Cat is right about the bass. The C1’s have PLENTY where as the Focal standmount options need a sub. They’re both detailed but in different ways. The Scalas are the first ones I’ve owned that have enough bass and aren’t harsh with high frequency. The Electras and Micro Utopia Be were too harsh (Micro less so) but I didn’t find them great with ALL kinds of music like the C1’s were. I recently downsized and bought the Diablos because I thought the Scalas were too big for my LA apartment. The are great and improve on the past issues I had with leanness in the Focal stand mounts. I still missed the fullness of the Scalas and so brought them back out of storage and try not to play them too loudly.

My black Diablos w/stands are in storage and I need to sell them as they’re just sitting. DM me if interested. I’m in LA.

I have Diablo Utopias in my listening room and C1s in my living room. FWIW, the Utopias integrate in my listening room better than the C1s did. I have a small listening room, but the bass coming from the Utopias is flatter, smoother, more tuneful, even deeper than the Dyns. I just played the 20th anniversary edition CD of Soundgarden's Superunknown, and the bass, while not chest-kicking, sounded deep and thunderous.



I listened to the Micro Utopia BE years ago, and the treble was extremely detailed but fatiguing. I think Focal learned from that, and the Diablos have an extremely balanced presentation as a result. The Diablos are not lean at all, to me, though someone used to the Dynaudio sound will find them that way. They're just cleaner. Comparing the tweeters, the Estoar2 definitely is sweeter, while the Be tweeter is clean, slightly thinner, but also much more transparent. There's more sparkle. Cymbal taps are mesmerizing.



Someone going from the house Dyn sound to the Focal sound will experience somewhat of a shock because they've gotten to warm, thicker presentation and are going to a more transparent and cleaner one. In comparison, the C1 is actually more forward, the Diablo more laid back, as a result. And the Diablo midrange is notches better than the C1. Like Windex to a window. This is my personal experience, so YMMV.


And something happened over the past few days that felt strange enough for me to post about it. Over those days, the Diablos seemed to lose sensitivity, about 1.5 dB, or 1-2 clicks on the on the volume of my preamp. But after that, everything coming from the speakers exploded, like they've fully broken in, while I'm back to my normal/usual gain on my preamp.

I'm assuming that you're considering the Sopra 1 because of a downsize in listening room size? If not, I doubt if you'll notice an upgrade in sound quality over your 1028be's. In fact, I'd consider it to be a downgrade, especially without a good powered subwoofer. I'm running my 1028be's in a fairly large and open room and use an REL sub to get the more substantial bass output that I want. The 1028's alone are no slouch when it comes to accurate bass output, but the whole system sounds bigger and less strained with my sub.