[sresener]

Hey everyone I have been on the hunt for some new mains for awhile now. I have listened to quite a few different speakers and really enjoyed a pair of focal 1028's powered by a small nad amp. So when a great deal on some 1038's popped up I figured I would pull the trigger. ( I can always sell them and get my money back or move them upstairs for the wife)

I was going to try them with my evo amps and figured I would inquire if anyone has paired any nuprime amps with them.

[kaka89]

Had experience with Focal 926 with STA-9, and I wish the sound could be warmer.

Now I use Nuprime with Harbeth which gives a better result.

[sresener]

Well I finally received my focal 1038's this week.
Not even broken in and they are in a whole different league to my r900's.

[Mystic Dragon]

I am using a ST-10 with a pair of Focal Aria 936. The 936 has a similar sonic character to the 1038.

Hey everyone I have been on the hunt for some new mains for awhile now. I have listened to quite a few different speakers and really enjoyed a pair of focal 1028's powered by a small nad amp. So when a great deal on some 1038's popped up I figured I would pull the trigger. ( I can always sell them and get my money back or move them upstairs for the wife)

I was going to try them with my evo amps and figured I would inquire if anyone has paired any nuprime amps with them.

[Mystic Dragon]

I am think about getting a pair of Focal Sopra within the next 12 months and am considering the Evo.
My understanding is that the Spora has a similar sonic character to the 1038.
Are you driving the Focal 1038 with NuPrime EVO power amplifier.
How well do they match?

Thanks.

[sresener]

Yes I have my focals paired with evo's. I find this is a very revealing combination, I would also assume in the wrong or untreated room this would be a very fatiguing combination.

With saying that my room is completely treated and I love the combination (especially for what I paid).

To sum it up if you are looking for warmth this probably would not be the best choice. If you like details, and excitement in your music then the sopra's should be a good fit.

[Mystic Dragon]

Yes I have my focals paired with evo's. I find this is a very revealing combination, I would also assume in the wrong or untreated room this would be a very fatiguing combination.
With saying that my room is completely treated and I love the combination (especially for what I paid).
To sum it up if you are looking for warmth this probably would not be the best choice. If you like details, and excitement in your music then the sopra's should be a good fit.

Thanks Sresener.
I understand the 1038 uses a Beryllium tweeter and can sound somewhat bright to some people.
Do you mind sharing what kind of DAC you are using with the Evolution.
Most people accepts that amplifier-speakers matching is important. Did you think amplifier-DAC matching to be important in your case?
Thanks.

[sresener]

I have  the evolution dac/preamp, which is a wonderful dac paired with the evo amps. But in my need to integrate my system with my home theatre (and keep sound at the same quality) I purchased a mytek manhattan II there was very little (if any) sonic improvements but it has the features I need and kept the sound quality to where I expected.

The mytek is sent away for updates once I get it back Im going to put them head to head to make sure the mytek keeps up, and if it does unfortunately there will be a evo dac up for grabs.


I don't know what your room is like but I have learned that a great system will sound terrible in a bad room.

[mresseguie]

I don't know what your room is like but I have learned that a great system will sound terrible in a bad room.

Oh, man. I can attest to this statement.  My first 'great' speakers sounded amazing in the showroom powered by top of the line SimAudio gear (of course). The speakers sounded so good that I decided to buy them after just a few minutes of listening. I got them home and stuck them in what turned out to be the absolute worst room in our home (family room), and......could not understand why my 'amazing' speakers sounded like horse shit. It was mostly the room, but I also didn't have top of the line components powering them either. That was an eye <and ear> opening experience.

Interestingly, this same room sounds reasonably good with a much simpler system - Nuprime IDA-8, Adelphos two-way monitors, and a subwoofer. Good job, Jason (rustydoglim).

[Mystic Dragon]

I have  the evolution dac/preamp, which is a wonderful dac paired with the evo amps. But in my need to integrate my system with my home theatre (and keep sound at the same quality) I purchased a mytek manhattan II there was very little (if any) sonic improvements

Have you ever compared the sound of the higher priced DACs (e.g. NuPrime Evo, Mytek Manhattan II) with lower priced DACs (e.g. NuPrime DAC-10, Benchmark DAC3)?
If so, was the sonic difference very noticeable?

Thank you.   

[sresener]

I have only tried lower end dacs, The audioquest dragonfly black and a smsl su8 version 2.
What I can say is Yes the evolution and mytek were noticeably better but it also showed that chasing that last 15% in quality gets expensive and going for that last 5% gets ridiculous.

I did want mqa support so that ruled the Benchmark and Dac-10 out (as it was on my radar). I picked up the manhattan II over the Brooklyn Bridge because I found a deal on used Manhattan II.

Like I have said many times the only reason Im going to let go of my evo dac is the lack of analogue inputs.

[rustydoglim]

The AMG PRE will be shipping in less than 2 weeks time, this is a preamp worthy of pairing with Evo DAC. The AMG PRE product page should be up in a few days.  Here's a preview:

The AMG PRE went beyond being a transparent preamp with 1M Ohm input impedance and the best analog source inputs. A user-selectable 4 stage “Active Low Frequency and Harmonic Gain” control gave it distinctive characteristics to enhance the speaker performance, a world-first in preamp design.