[ufospls2]

Yes. Focal wrote, "Some customers have unfortunately encountered issues with speaker drivers in their Utopia headphones, so they have worked hard to resolve this problem." Improved reliability is also the very first aspect highlighted in Focal's video and web content. The motivation is obvious.

That avoids his main question

"do you own it..have you heard it?."

Have you heard the Utopia 2022?

To be clear, I'm not judging it as a worthy investment or not, and I have been critical of aspects the Utopia in the past.

 

[iDesign]

That avoids his main question

"do you own it..have you heard it?."

Have you heard the Utopia 2022?

To be clear, I'm not judging it as a worthy investment or not, and I have been critical of aspects the Utopia in the past.

Zero interest. The changes to the Utopia 2022 treble that are shown in frequency response graphs are not desirable. I feel the treble was what made the original Utopia special and particularly with solo piano recordings where the upper tuning was generally perfect. I don’t believe in modern consumerism and the throw away mentality of iPhone, 3G/S, 4/S, 5/S, 6/S, 7, 8, X/R/S, 11, 12, 13, 14. Just because a new version exists, it’s predecessor is not invalidated.

 

[jlbrach]

Yes. Focal wrote, "Some customers have unfortunately encountered issues with speaker drivers in their Utopia headphones, so they have worked hard to resolve this problem." Improved reliability is also the very first aspect highlighted in Focal's video and web content. The motivation is obvious.

when you acquire a pair and spend some time listening to them give us your opinion...until then It is kind of silly to badmouth them....

 

[enragedlemon]

when you acquire a pair and spend some time listening to them give us your opinion...until then It is kind of silly to badmouth them....

I didn’t take their comments to be badmouthing it. The fact is that the primary thing stated on the marketing material is about reliability. Given the only two sound-related changes that have been made are to replace the voice coil for better reliability, and a change in the inner grille shape, I think it’s pretty easy to see this is a very minor change. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; in fact I praise them for making iterative improvements on something that was already top tear. But I am extremely doubtful of the hype and the motivations of people who are claiming this is a big improvement. Frequency response isn’t everything but it also doesn’t lie- this is a small change to lower the treble but this could simply be as a result of the voice coil change. That is to say any change in sound may very well be incidental.

 

[Rin1990]

Post edited: Upon further analysis I see no reason to question people's obligation on investment priorities/incentives.

Carry on and enjoy the impressions.

 

[Nomax]

What is this thread actually about?
If someone thinks the new Utopia is too expensive, he can buy the old one...what's the problem?
(Prices are also going up for others )
There are some dealers who still have from the old one in stock
When I look at other manufacturers what I get offered there for 5,000 euros, I just start to laugh
(in tonality/bulid/comfort/construction)

NOMAX

PS.Lol

 

[ubs28]

strange given the stealth is known for its comfort...I owned it and thought it was the most the most comfortable HP I owned so I would say piece of crap is kinda silly

This is the list of all the headphones where my ears touch the inside of the headphone:
- Sony WH-1000XM1
- Sony WH-1000XM2
- Sony WH-10000M3
- Sony WH-1000XM4
- Sony WH-1000XM5
- Sennheiser Momentum 4
- $4000 Stealth

What do these headphones have in common (besides the Stealth)? They are cheap ass ANC bluetooth headphones. If your $4000 headphones goes onto this list, it is a piece of crap. This should not happen at this price tag.

 

[iDesign]

when you acquire a pair and spend some time listening to them give us your opinion...until then It is kind of silly to badmouth them....

You totally misunderstood the point and context from earlier posts in the thread. The original Utopia also remains an excellent headphone— that hasn’t changed— you don’t need to acquire the new version just to understand that. The information I quoted about the 2022 Utopia isn’t my opinion or negative and it is from Focal’s own documentation.

 

[padam]

What is this thread actually about?
If someone thinks the new Utopia is too expensive, he can buy the old one...what's the problem?
(Prices are also going up for others )
There are some dealers who still have from the old one in stock
When I look at other manufacturers what I get offered there for 5,000 euros, I just start to laugh
(in tonality/bulid/comfort/construction)

NOMAX

PS.Lol

The problem is certain members always hyping up the majority of new products (I'm assuming good friends of distributors).
And not looking it from a more subjective, more consumer-orientated perspective.

Yes, the old Utopia is available for less.

But Focal has basically admitted that the old ones could very well have troubles with drivers failing.
Is that good construction for the price? What do you think?

 

[BowWazoo]

What is this thread actually about?

I'll tell you where the problem is.
Focal could have made itself, and everyone else, the favor of calling the thing "Grande Utopia".
In addition, the driver, as well as the housing to increase by 10mm.
Even just 2mm (for the psyche) would have been sufficient.
Then no one would have grumbled, even if 6000 € would have been required.

PS.
But we already knew,
that the technical capabilities of this driver can hardly be improved.
Only the reliability.

 

[Nomax]

I'll tell you where the problem is.
Focal should dobę themsu, and everyone else, the favor of calling the thing "Grande Utopia".
In addition, the driver, as well as the housing to increase by 10mm.
Then no one would have grumbled, even if 6000 € would have been required.

PS.
But we already knew,
that the technical capabilities of this driver can hardly be improved.
Only the reliability.

Then they should take more as the cost of an AB1266 or Susvara
6000 would be to less for that

NOMAX

PS.and why?comfort,construct,not esay to drive etc etc

 

[BowWazoo]

I think that the essence of the whole discussion is that Focal, with its Utopia driver, have sent their best horse into the race.
From the sound-technical point of view,
there was not much to improve...
Kind of disillusioning.
But people who knew the old Utopia well, "feared it".
As good as this thing sounds.

 

[TheRudeDog]

I attended CanJam yesterday and I did hear it. Aside from the reliability aspect, let's not call it an upgrade. Simply call it an alternative for those who prefer a warmer sound. I personally like the original more in both sound and appearance (to me the new one looks more like a toy). Let's just say that I spoke with someone who is very reputable that reviewed the 2022 (and who will remain nameless) who also prefers the 2017/2020 version. And just for clarity, I do not dislike the 2022.

 

[Lyssky]

So what happens 10-20 years later. A flagship for $10.000? What message is this community giving to manufacturers?

 

[padam]

So what happens 10-20 years later. A flagship for $10.000? What message is this community giving to manufacturers?

We basically have no idea whatsoever about how the audio world - or just the world in general - is going to look like at that time.
There were two recent events with significant economic effects that no one really expected.

Will they get more expensive to design and produce? Or will they figure it out to make the production process more efficient?
What about demand, how many pairs will they be planning to shift?
How much is needed to spend on marketing?
Is audio just going to move even more into the luxury market and pushed further by portable audio?
(in the same way as cheaper cameras are getting cleared up by smartphones)

These are just a fraction of the questions one has to forecast to determine these things.