[Dan Lee]

I love the headphones, I just received a Lyr 2 form a friend and am now loving the HD6xx with that amp.
But the X with the Jot and Sonarworks is still my favorite HP sound, nice to have options.

Now I get to be a tube roller

I will always prefer a good speaker setup to headphones, Yes those are passive LS50s, they got replaced on the desk by the Focal Solo 6be.
They need more room to be at there best, moving them to a new room.

Here is my current rig before Lyr 2 showed up. So that's a 1500 watt desktop, now you know why I like speakers more than HP's

Headphones are for when I can't be loud

holy hell that is an insane speaker set up. I am nowhere near that point yet haha. hopefully someday I can get some crazy speakers like that but for now im still trying to get my hands on some utopias to get a taste of some of the best sound quality around.

 

[the finisher]

holy hell that is an insane speaker set up. I am nowhere near that point yet haha. hopefully someday I can get some crazy speakers like that but for now im still trying to get my hands on some utopias to get a taste of some of the best sound quality around.

Well for the price of Utopias you can have speakers like that

Don't get me wrong my headphone vs speaker listening is about 50-50. I just like the big sound and impact of speakers more.

I really do like headphones and now that I have a tube headphone amp I like listening to them even more. The Jot is still a heck of a preamp for the speakers and subs. And a great headphone amp especially for EDM and other highly impactful music.

Kind of a bass head.

I wouldn't say the LCD X is my end game headphone but they'll do me for a while

 

[kid vic]

Well for the price of Utopias you can have speakers like that

Don't get me wrong my headphone vs speaker listening is about 50-50. I just like the big sound and impact of speakers more.

I really do like headphones and now that I have a tube headphone amp I like listening to them even more. The Jot is still a heck of a preamp for the speakers and subs. And a great headphone amp especially for EDM and other highly impactful music.

Kind of a bass head.

I wouldn't say the LCD X is my end game headphone but they'll do me for a while

holy hell that is an insane speaker set up. I am nowhere near that point yet haha. hopefully someday I can get some crazy speakers like that but for now im still trying to get my hands on some utopias to get a taste of some of the best sound quality around.

+1

For the price of the Utopias you can get a very good near field setup. The best option if you REALLY want Focal headphones imo would be the Clears plus a some active monitors. Using the Jots pre-amp function that would be your pound-for-pound best choice.

 

[514077]

Could I ask what amp and speakers are in the pic? I wouldn't mind a good near-field setup around my desktop, one day.

 

[devante1977]

Could I ask what amp and speakers are in the pic? I wouldn't mind a good near-field setup around my desktop, one day.

seconded

 

[the finisher]

Could I ask what amp and speakers are in the pic? I wouldn't mind a good near-field setup around my desktop, one day.

Sure, those are Focal Solo 6 be monitors. The subwoofers are SVS 12" ported, they are EQed by SVS sub DSP.
All active speakers, monitors are balanced subwoofers are single ended.
Every driver has its own amplifier the woofers are class D. The beryllium tweeters are 100 w A/B.

The silver stack of gear you see is my digital front end. Yggdrasil and a Esoteric DV 50s. There's a computer off for the side you can't see.
I also have Jotunheim and Lyr 2.
Lcd X and HD 6xx.
Very happy with the setup thanks for asking

The pro monitors work very well for near field. Better than the KEF LS 50 they replaced. But of course that's what they're made for.

 

[514077]

Sure, those are Focal Solo 6 be monitors. The subwoofers are SVS 12 in ported, they:are EQed by SVS sub DSP.
All active speakers, monitors are balanced subwoofers are single ended.
Every driver has its own amplifier the woofers are class D. The beryllium tweeters are 100 w A/B.

The silver stack of gear you see is my digital front end. Yggdrasil and a Esoteric DV 50s. There's a computer off for the side you can't see.
I also have Jotunheim and Lyr 2.
Lcd X and HD 6xx.
Very happy with the setup thanks for asking

The pro monitors work very well for near field. Better than the KEF LS 50 they replaced. But of course that's what they're made for.

Wow! I'd like to give you a Tim the Toolman grunt. Don't tell me where you liv, else you might find me listening one dark night.

 

[the finisher]

Wow! I'd like to give you a Tim the Toolman grunt. Don't tell me where you liv, else you might find me listening one dark night.

If your ever in the Minneapolis area hit me up bro

 

[Dan Lee]

Hey guys though I am sure that at some point in the 712 pages of this thread this question has come up I am going to ask anyway as I dont have the mental stamina nor time to read through all 712 pages. I recently purchased a set of Focal Utopias and have been comparing them to my LCD-Xs through my gungnir multibit and mjolnir 2 and I gotta say that I have thus far not found myself to crazy impressed with the Utopia. Thats not to say that it is not good, but when you buy something that is supposed to sell for more the 2k the cost of the other you would expect an insane or at least noticable jump in performance. I feel right now that it has bee a bit difficult for me to truly tell which one is providing the more enjoyable listening experience. Granted I have only put about 5 to 10 hours use on the Utopias and am running my Xs through a balanced cable and focals throus SE but I would still think I would notice something. I have a balanced cable on the way but I cant imagine that introducing that great a difference. Has anyone else here had ample time with both pairs of cans that could provide some potential insight into this for me? thanks in advance.

 

[phthora]

Hey guys though I am sure that at some point in the 712 pages of this thread this question has come up I am going to ask anyway as I dont have the mental stamina nor time to read through all 712 pages. I recently purchased a set of Focal Utopias and have been comparing them to my LCD-Xs through my gungnir multibit and mjolnir 2 and I gotta say that I have thus far not found myself to crazy impressed with the Utopia. Thats not to say that it is not good, but when you buy something that is supposed to sell for more the 2k the cost of the other you would expect an insane or at least noticable jump in performance. I feel right now that it has bee a bit difficult for me to truly tell which one is providing the more enjoyable listening experience. Granted I have only put about 5 to 10 hours use on the Utopias and am running my Xs through a balanced cable and focals throus SE but I would still think I would notice something. I have a balanced cable on the way but I cant imagine that introducing that great a difference. Has anyone else here had ample time with both pairs of cans that could provide some potential insight into this for me? thanks in advance.

I can't really explain why and I probably haven't heard the Utopia for as long as you have, but I share your view of the Utopia. I chalk it up to the fact that I find vocals less important than most people and sub-bass and bass texture more important than most people. Then again, I like the Auteur more than the Utopia too, and that is rather vocal-forward (at least to me). So who knows. The outcome of X vs Utopia probably depends a great deal of one's personal preferences. Fortunately for me, I don't have any interest in buying a Utopia.

 

[kid vic]

Hey guys though I am sure that at some point in the 712 pages of this thread this question has come up I am going to ask anyway as I dont have the mental stamina nor time to read through all 712 pages. I recently purchased a set of Focal Utopias and have been comparing them to my LCD-Xs through my gungnir multibit and mjolnir 2 and I gotta say that I have thus far not found myself to crazy impressed with the Utopia. Thats not to say that it is not good, but when you buy something that is supposed to sell for more the 2k the cost of the other you would expect an insane or at least noticable jump in performance. I feel right now that it has bee a bit difficult for me to truly tell which one is providing the more enjoyable listening experience. Granted I have only put about 5 to 10 hours use on the Utopias and am running my Xs through a balanced cable and focals throus SE but I would still think I would notice something. I have a balanced cable on the way but I cant imagine that introducing that great a difference. Has anyone else here had ample time with both pairs of cans that could provide some potential insight into this for me? thanks in advance.

TBH, I didn't like the Utopia either. I found the soundstage too small, the bass though even was ruined by the excursion cutoff and honestly the signature itself to me wasn't that impressive. It was almost a pedestrian headphone at an exotic price imo

 

[gtbrown50]

I'm really enjoying my X's and find them to be comfortable for extended listening. These were my first audiophile grade headphone and are responsible for my newest hobby.

 

[the finisher]

I can't really explain why and I probably haven't heard the Utopia for as long as you have, but I share your view of the Utopia. I chalk it up to the fact that I find vocals less important than most people and sub-bass and bass texture more important than most people. Then again, I like the Auteur more than the Utopia too, and that is rather vocal-forward (at least to me). So who knows. The outcome of X vs Utopia probably depends a great deal of one's personal preferences. Fortunately for me, I don't have any interest in buying a Utopia.

TBH, I didn't like the Utopia either. I found the soundstage too small, the bass though even was ruined by the excursion cutoff and honestly the signature itself to me wasn't that impressive. It was almost a pedestrian headphone at an exotic price imo

My Utopia curiosity has been nicely checked, thanks

 

[Dan Lee]

I can't really explain why and I probably haven't heard the Utopia for as long as you have, but I share your view of the Utopia. I chalk it up to the fact that I find vocals less important than most people and sub-bass and bass texture more important than most people. Then again, I like the Auteur more than the Utopia too, and that is rather vocal-forward (at least to me). So who knows. The outcome of X vs Utopia probably depends a great deal of one's personal preferences. Fortunately for me, I don't have any interest in buying a Utopia.

Its quite frustrating to be this disappointed in a headphone that almost every major and well known reviewer has called the best headphone in the world by a large margin. It almost makes me wonder if they are inspired by an outside source to say these things. Of course it could just be that I got an oddball freak version of these and others sound better but I will never know that cause I definitely wouldnt get another pair. There is just no way that these headpones justify a $2200 dollar price increase over the LCD-X which now makes me wonder how the LCD-4 would sound to me. But I am also quite intrigued by the Ether 2 that was just released as it is being called an audiophiles basshead dream headphone so considering selling utopias for that but we shall see.

 

[Dan Lee]

TBH, I didn't like the Utopia either. I found the soundstage too small, the bass though even was ruined by the excursion cutoff and honestly the signature itself to me wasn't that impressive. It was almost a pedestrian headphone at an exotic price imo

I agree 100% with this statement. I find it funny that Utopia fans are saying that this headphone isnt bass light and am left wondering what the hell is wrong with their hearing. I agree that it gives a very accurate representation of bass and that the way in which it produces bass is truly fast in a noticeable way. But as far as impact goes it is almost nonexistent and for me that is just not acceptable in a $4k headphone. Dont get me wrong I am not some moron that wants skull candy crusher style bass as that is just plain ridiculous but at the very least LCD-X levels would be nice. And you are right the overall tonal signature of the headphone is just in truth kinda bloody boring. So I guess if you are the type of person that wants to experience a truly flat bordering on insanely boring presentation then the Utopia is the best possible way to go. I am waiting for a balanced cable to come in before I make my final judgement but there is no part of thinks the difference will in anyway be substantial enough.