[Desmohifi]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little buying help. I have been intrigued by the Utopias since they were released, but the $4000 price tag put them out of reach. With the current deal, they are closer to reality, but still quite a stretch for me. The local audio dealer that I have purchased most of my gear from over the years is not a focal dealer and there is no other dealer within range for me to demo the Utopias.

If I pull the trigger, it will be an online purchase. I am not interested in used for a purchase of this amount, based on the warranty coverage.

I am looking for a reputable dealer to purchase from online (or over the phone) that meets the following criteria: They have a 100% return policy, I do not intend to return them, but for this price I want the option if they don't impress. They are willing to negotiate a bit. (never had an issue doing this with my local dealer). There is an actual purchase experience from the dealer being referred.

If anyone has a dealer to refer, I would greatly appreciate a PM with details.


Thanks all for any help you can provide.

 

[emptymt]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little buying help. I have been intrigued by the Utopias since they were released, but the $4000 price tag put them out of reach. With the current deal, they are closer to reality, but still quite a stretch for me. The local audio dealer that I have purchased most of my gear from over the years is not a focal dealer and there is no other dealer within range for me to demo the Utopias.

If I pull the trigger, it will be an online purchase. I am not interested in used for a purchase of this amount, based on the warranty coverage.

I am looking for a reputable dealer to purchase from online (or over the phone) that meets the following criteria: They have a 100% return policy, I do not intend to return them, but for this price I want the option if they don't impress. They are willing to negotiate a bit. (never had an issue doing this with my local dealer). There is an actual purchase experience from the dealer being referred.

If anyone has a dealer to refer, I would greatly appreciate a PM with details.


Thanks all for any help you can provide.

I bought one not long ago, and I listen to metal most of the time so i understand your concern about needing to hear it first before buying it, since my music preference is finicky with upstream gear possibly making the music sound harsh if not done right ,revealing does not equal harshness, no one likes harsh even if its super detailed, so no point in buying the utopia since it is supposed to be really detailed if it's making it harsh on my music.

I did demo them in my local dealer before pulling the trigger but i feel really sure about my purchase becuse of that demo session.

I would suggest you do the same, $3000 is still heaps of money and you say in your post that it is quite a stretch for you, so you need to be really sure about where you're investing your money in.

Don't pull the trigger yet, you may need to go to the nearest city(take a day off or whatever) that has the utopia to demo, and make sure you call them first so that you don't waste your time for nothing.

this will all pay off in the end since you will be sure of what you want to do, then think about where you want to buy it from, there will always be some room for negoations, but this depends on how good your haggling skill is, i say gather your though about what utopia did good and it's weakness that you can find, then compare to your current gear and use that as your bargaining chips.

hope this helps, make sure you demo first, you still got until the end of the month to get the discount so you have plenty of time.

 

[Svatopluk]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little buying help. I have been intrigued by the Utopias since they were released, but the $4000 price tag put them out of reach. With the current deal, they are closer to reality, but still quite a stretch for me. The local audio dealer that I have purchased most of my gear from over the years is not a focal dealer and there is no other dealer within range for me to demo the Utopias.

If I pull the trigger, it will be an online purchase. I am not interested in used for a purchase of this amount, based on the warranty coverage.

I am looking for a reputable dealer to purchase from online (or over the phone) that meets the following criteria: They have a 100% return policy, I do not intend to return them, but for this price I want the option if they don't impress. They are willing to negotiate a bit. (never had an issue doing this with my local dealer). There is an actual purchase experience from the dealer being referred.

If anyone has a dealer to refer, I would greatly appreciate a PM with details.


Thanks all for any help you can provide.

Crutchfield is reputable and they have been in business for years, they also have a 60 day return policy. You will have to call for details on the $1000 off trade in offer. Just make sure you go over with Crutchfield the part about "an adjustment of refund amount to reflect the discount" part in the return policy. Not sure exactly what it means, but you definitely would not want to owe the discount if you decided to return the headphones. That would totally suck!!

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

oh just get an HD600 and call it a day. Utopia is better, sure, but not worth 3k IMHO.

 

[AnakChan]

oh just get an HD600 and call it a day. Utopia is better, sure, but not worth 3k IMHO.

Maybe it helps if you explain "worth" in your opinion (or more precisely, for your priorities & values). For example, for me, I had the HD800S (not the orig HD800) and although it sounded refined, it didn't grasp me as "exciting" nor "involving". The Utopia had a more gripping signature and as such I ended up selling my HD800S (& TH-900) to get the Utopia instead. So technically whilst both were great headphones, for what I seeked and what I prioritized for my preferences, the Utopia won out by a decent margin over the HD800S. For me, that was a worthy move.

So I hope this qualifies my reasoning of "worth" for my personal priorities (of factors I seek in a headphone signature).

 

[GryphonGuy]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little buying help. I have been intrigued by the Utopias since they were released, but the $4000 price tag put them out of reach. With the current deal, they are closer to reality, but still quite a stretch for me. The local audio dealer that I have purchased most of my gear from over the years is not a focal dealer and there is no other dealer within range for me to demo the Utopias.

If I pull the trigger, it will be an online purchase. I am not interested in used for a purchase of this amount, based on the warranty coverage.

I am looking for a reputable dealer to purchase from online (or over the phone) that meets the following criteria: They have a 100% return policy, I do not intend to return them, but for this price I want the option if they don't impress. They are willing to negotiate a bit. (never had an issue doing this with my local dealer). There is an actual purchase experience from the dealer being referred.

If anyone has a dealer to refer, I would greatly appreciate a PM with details.


Thanks all for any help you can provide.

I had to wait several months until CanJam Singapore earlier this year before I could hear a Utopia in the flesh. I wasn't prepared to put out that much cash without an audition. Even though they had euphoric reviews with superlatives used in each review, I just needed to hear them for myself (Malaysian hi-fi stores couldn't or wouldn't get stocks of such an expensive item given the cost is approximately equivalent to 7 months minimum wage here - just to put it in perspective).

Having flown into Singapore and stayed for the CanJam, the cost of that alone was entirely worth it for the confirmation that the euphoric reviews and comments all containing at least one superlative were true for my experience with them. So I bought one of the last pair in Singapore (at that time) from the lovely people at Zepplin & Co (a different style of coffee shop that allows you to listen to music on their wide range of headphones whilst sipping your coffee, or is that a headphone shop that lets you sip coffee whilst auditioning headphones?).

So make it a totally invested shopping experience and plan to hear them on a vacation you might plan specifically for the Utopia. You won't regret it.

Regards
GG

 

[emptymt]

I had to wait several months until CanJam Singapore earlier this year before I could hear a Utopia in the flesh. I wasn't prepared to put out that much cash without an audition. Even though they had euphoric reviews with superlatives used in each review, I just needed to hear them for myself (Malaysian hi-fi stores couldn't or wouldn't get stocks of such an expensive item given the cost is approximately equivalent to 7 months minimum wage here - just to put it in perspective).

Having flown into Singapore and stayed for the CanJam, the cost of that alone was entirely worth it for the confirmation that the euphoric reviews and comments all containing at least one superlative were true for my experience with them. So I bought one of the last pair in Singapore (at that time) from the lovely people at Zepplin & Co (a different style of coffee shop that allows you to listen to music on their wide range of headphones whilst sipping your coffee, or is that a headphone shop that lets you sip coffee whilst auditioning headphones?).

So make it a totally invested shopping experience and plan to hear them on a vacation you might plan specifically for the Utopia. You won't regret it.

Regards
GG

LOL, That is one great shop right there, everything is better with coffee. hehe.

The utopia is sure hard to audition when you are outside US, I had similar difficulties in the past.

 

[GryphonGuy]

oh just get an HD600 and call it a day. Utopia is better, sure, but not worth 3k IMHO.

I now live in an apartment and I needed to have a headphone rig at least equal to my amp-speaker system of Krell reference amps and B&W 802 Diamond speakers. So the impetus for this alternative came when my Metronome DAC failed and was in for repair for about 4 months at that stage (incidentally 17 months later and it is still not fixed even though a large number of parts were sent from France). So that's when I ordered a Chord DAVE. I received the DAVE in mid October last year after a short 3-month wait. In March this year I went to CanJam in Singapore to specifically audition the Utopia. To cut a long story short, my DAVE and Utopia combination outclasses my $60k amp-speaker combo by a small but noticeable and pleasurable margin. So they were totally worth it for me in my circumstance.

My neighbours no longer have to listen to my music.

Regards
GG

 

[nvfan]

I now live in an apartment and I needed to have a headphone rig at least equal to my amp-speaker system of Krell reference amps and B&W 802 Diamond speakers. So the impetus for this alternative came when my Metronome DAC failed and was in for repair for about 4 months at that stage (incidentally 17 months later and it is still not fixed even though a large number of parts were sent from France). So that's when I ordered a Chord DAVE. I received the DAVE in mid October last year after a short 3-month wait. In March this year I went to CanJam in Singapore to specifically audition the Utopia. To cut a long story short, my DAVE and Utopia combination outclasses my $60k amp-speaker combo by a small but noticeable and pleasurable margin. So they were totally worth it for me in my circumstance.

My neighbours no longer have to listen to my music.

Regards
GG

The B&Ws use kevlar mid and woofers which is a type of soft-dome driver, whereas the Focal Utopia uses a beryllium in the full range, which is a very very fast metal driver. If you prefer the latter I would suggest you audition something like the Paradigm Persona, which uses both a 1" beryllium tweeter and a 7" beryllium midrange, providing a full range with that sound signature.

 

[Pokemonn]

Focal and Luxman joined the force.
According to the interview, the Focal dev team is using Luxman headphone amp.
Also Focal is developing new headphone.
here is the link.

http://www.phileweb.com/interview/article/201709/14/487_2.html (in japanese please use google translater)

I will buy Focal headphones sooner or later

 

[Desmohifi]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have thought about a road trip, but the closest opportunity is 3 hours drive. It is not in the cards for me to make this trip in the next 2 weeks.

I currently own and really enjoy the Elear. The sickness that this hobby brings drives me toward the Utopias! I have researched a few reputable dealers that have great return policies. I guess I will start reaching out to see where I can get the best deal.

 

[paul2qute]

Great impressions of wonderful headphones. I've had mine for just over a year now and still love them! I found swapping out the stock cable with the Dana Cables Lanzuli Reference cable really helped open up the sound. Not to mention pairing them with my Chord DAVE a few months later. Now I am completely satisfied with their sound staging.

Chord Dave how lucky are you

 

[MacedonianHero]

Chord Dave how lucky are you

Indeed!

 

[nawarra]

I ordered an Utopia from Jason, and I actually like them better then my Pioneer Master 1. Also ordered Dave... Will see.

 

[Svatopluk]

I ordered an Utopia from Jason, and I actually like them better then my Pioneer Master 1. Also ordered Dave... Will see.

The Utopia and Dave sound like the road to happiness for sure.