Looking to sell my good as new Focal Utopia 2020 edition+ 2m Danacable Lazuli Reference, which is widely seen as the ultimate cable for the Utopias

Shipping to Europe is also possible if you are happy to cover the cost.

Comes with all accessories, including:

-carrying case
-3m symmetric cable with a balanced 4-pin XLR connector
-1.2m cable with a mini-jack connector+ a 6.35mm Jack adaptor

First owner; purchased from authorised Focal dealer in December 2020
Danacable Lazuli Reference received in February 2022, I am the original owner

Proof of purchase for the Utopia and the cables will be provided to the buyer.

Focal Utopia Open Back Headphones 2020Focal Utopia 2020 is THE reference high-fidelity headphones manufactured in France by Focal.

They are the result of 35 years of innovation, development, and manufacturing of high-end speaker drivers and loudspeakers. Equipped with exclusive technology, they offer striking realism, neutrality, dynamics, and clarity, for sound with unrivaled purity.

The acoustic quality of this exclusive solution allowed Focal to avoid the use of any crossover or passive filtering process to achieve a frequency response from 5Hz to 50kHz!

The listening experience is outstanding in terms of realism, natural sound reproduction, dynamics, and clarity. When listening to the Utopia, the headphones virtually disappear and the audio signal is revealed with a level of precision never achieved until Utopia.

Design is also a key point, be it in regards to the way of using the headphones, comfort, as well as the aesthetic.
Another achievement with Utopia is the removal from the conventional rotation included on the yoke and its integration into the headband to ensure a total purity of the design.The Pittards leather, used on the cushions, reinforces the character of classically elegant lines, as well as the expression of comfort and overall performances.

Focal Utopia Open Back Headphones technical data

Utopia, our flagship headphones were launched three years ago. Since that moment, a whole range of Made in France high-fidelity headphones was born (closed-back and open-back models). Focal headphones are now a reference worldwide, thank you all for your participation in this success!

Type: Circum-aural open-back headphones Impedance: 80 Ohms Sensitivity: 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz THD:

metry

Danacable impresses on three attributes inherent to any cables design—resistance, inductance, and capacitance. An ideal cable would have neither of these attributes. However, in the real world, this is not physically possible as inductance and capacitance are influenced by rates of change of current and voltage. Resistance, however, remains at a fixed level. With this in mind, the Lazuli Reference cable incorporates >1200 strands of woven OFC to reduce resistance to negligible levels while patent-pending techniques also curb inductance and capacitance to a minimum. This approach claims to "get out of the way" and allow transducers (amplifiers and speakers) to do their job as intended.

Design

Aesthetics

The Lazuli Reference is serpent-like in appearance with its intricately woven exterior brown sheathing material. The darker color goes well with silver / metallic headphones, and the contrast between the lighter and darker brown woven material exudes a luxurious appeal.

Overall, it is larger than standard cable designs to accommodate for the large amount of individual strands. Both the Y-split connector and end-termination are high quality, and reportedly take a lengthy amount of time fitting the strands of cable through. Users have the option for adding a Furutech connector for an extra $100. Terminations come in three options: ¼ inch, 4 pin-XLR, or double 3-pin XLR connections.

Danacables is a relatively new cable company and the brainchild of long-time electrical engineer Dana Robbins. Since retirement, Robbins has used his many years of expertise to produce a selection of finely tuned high-end cables to pair with top performing transducers worldwide. Though skeptics may question the utility of cables and their "improvements," there is widespread consensus that cables do impart different sound characteristics that may or may not align with one's tastes.

While some cable companies explore the use of exotic materials or employ cryogenics to alter carrying signals, Danacables adopts a "back-to-basics" approach to enhance cable quality and transfer. Their philosophy concentrates on extremely low resistance to allow for unadulterated signal flow from amplifier to transducer. This review shall be focusing on the $1099 Lazuli Reference headphone cable that incorporates 1200 strands of oxygen-free cable (OFC) into a neat (but large) brown sheath design.


Danacable Lazuli Reference Headphone Cable

Geometry

Danacable impresses on three attributes inherent to any cables design—resistance, inductance, and capacitance. An ideal cable would have neither of these attributes. However, in the real world, this is not physically possible as inductance and capacitance are influenced by rates of change of current and voltage. Resistance, however, remains at a fixed level. With this in mind, the Lazuli Reference cable incorporates >1200 strands of woven OFC to reduce resistance to negligible levels while patent-pending techniques also curb inductance and capacitance to a minimum. This approach claims to "get out of the way" and allow transducers (amplifiers and speakers) to do their job as intended.

Design

Aesthetics

The Lazuli Reference is serpent-like in appearance with its intricately woven exterior brown sheathing material. The darker color goes well with silver / metallic headphones, and the contrast between the lighter and darker brown woven material exudes a luxurious appeal.

Overall, it is larger than standard cable designs to accommodate for the large amount of individual strands. Both the Y-split connector and end-termination are high quality, and reportedly take a lengthy amount of time fitting the strands of cable through. Users have the option for adding a Furutech connector for an extra $100. Terminations come in three options: ¼ inch, 4 pin-XLR, or double 3-pin XLR connections.

Handling

Owing to the larger size of the cable, there is some added weight that comes with the Lazuli Reference. However, this becomes a non-issue if extra slack from the cable is supported by a desk or perhaps on your lap.

The cable feels very nice to the touch, and although there is no memory retention, the cable does not tangle.

Packaging & Accessories

The cables come in an unassuming black box which bears the Danacable company logo. Also included is a certificate of authenticity and business card. It would have been nice to have included a pouch especially for such an expensive product.

Performance

For the purposes of this review, these cables were paired with the HiFiMAN HE-1000SE headphones.

Immediately on first listen, the Dana Lazuli Reference cable offers a revelatory experience. The first thing noticed is the grand sense of staging and presence. Next, the fantastic timbre and low-midrange warmth stands out. Compared to the stock cable, there is a sense of musicality and emotion that is heightened. It is not often that cables render such an improvement over stock, and the Lazuli Reference does not disappoint. Notes present with heft and weight and rather than a faux-sharp representation of leading-edge transients, the Reference really allows music to ebb and flow. There is a real sense of organic tone with these cables, which make the stock cable feel more edgy and less refined in comparison. Overall, the sound feels accomplished.

At the lower frequencies of the spectrum, the Lazuli Reference delves deep with weight, depth, and authority. There is a woofer-like impact that aids track immersion and dynamism. Decay is spectacular with the low-end showing incredibly balance between articulacy and authority.

The midrange continues this grand sense of scale and note weight making everything sound compelling, fluid, and addictive. While the stock cable introduced some grain and edge, the Lazuli Reference tactfully avoids this by presenting the midrange with finesse and musicality. Details are preserved and tracks are just allowed to flow. While the original stock cable made the HE1000SE sound a shade clinical, the Lazuli Reference crafts musicality, fluidity, and detail breathing new life into this top-end planar.

Treble is smooth, linear, and detailed. There is some element of sweetness, which makes lower treble sound extensive and resolute without an artificially added bump in these regions. Cymbal crashes sound very realistic, and there is great amount of instrument separation, likely owing to the pitch-black background created by the Lazuli Reference cable. There is great harmony to the top-end, in conjunction with the rest of the frequency spectrum.

In many ways, the Lazuli Reference does the seemingly impossible. It capably works warmth into the upper bass and lower midrange regions without constraining the overall soundstage or perturbing the clarity of vocals. The midrange captures all necessary details without making notes sound lean or bright. The treble region is extensive without accentuating leading edge transients or sharpness. Overall, the changes from the stock cable were not subtle—and it certainly offered a change in the right direction