I don’t think you can go wrong with Utopia’s. Especially if your dealer gives you a discount which seems to be possible. While I haven’t used the Arche, I’ve heard good things about it from a sound quality aspect. That being said, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is such a thing as equipment synergy and the Utopia for me, works great with a r2r dac and a tube amp (I use a Feliks Audio Euforia). Good luck in your search.
I don’t think you can go wrong with Utopia’s. Especially if your dealer gives you a discount which seems to be possible. While I haven’t used the Arche, I’ve heard good things about it from a sound quality aspect. That being said, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is such a thing as equipment synergy and the Utopia for me, works great with a r2r dac and a tube amp (I use a Feliks Audio Euforia). Good luck in your search.
I used the Hugo 2 as my main DAC/Amp for about 3 years before I sold my system off. I loved the combo, although some here don't see to as much as I did.
Mojo/Poly would be a pretty nice little on the go rig with the warmth of the Mojo possibly offsetting some of "sterile-ness" you hear from the Utopia. Plus it seems like they've (Chord) ironed out most of the ridiculous gremlins that were originally present in the Poly.
Poly as I understand adds just streaming capabilities which I will not really need as I’ll be connecting mojo to macbook. I’ve just compared my macbook headphone jack with my desktop rig and I barely notice any improvement in bass region, though in general Utopia sounds cleaner, airier and better layered. There is a bit of veil when i use Utopia with laptop.
I’ve never tried Utopia with tubes and I’m worried that the trade towards warm sound might be too much.
Call some dealers and I'm sure you will get a significant discount. Focal does not allow dealers to advertise pricing below MSRP unless it's a deal directly from the factory or your regional Focal office.
Call some dealers and I'm sure you will get a significant discount. Focal does not allow dealers to advertise pricing below MSRP unless it's a deal directly from the factory or Focal North America.
Exactly my experience as well. My new Utopia was purchased from an authorized dealer for a bit more than one third off and I was able to find Susvara headphones for a bit better than 25% off (purchased an Abyss instead).
It's probably the last "industry" where margins are so high that substantial discounts still render businesses able to pay their overheads and costs and still have reasonable profits to help them over any rainy day periods.
FWIW, that’s the best discount I’ve heard of which was not an ‘open-box’ deal like mine from Adorama 4+ years ago, which came in a bit above 40%. That actually was advertised and resulted in a total impulse buy.
Don't get me wrong, many dealers are not willing to negotiate or only offer a small discount - but not every dealer has the same financial position, business model or strong local market. All of my gear except for the Gungnir was bought either directly from a dealer or in the grey market from "friends" of a dealer with receipts - although sometimes getting a receipt can be a challenge but I always insist for warranty. It's sort of taboo to talk about it but it happens often and it's not just a hifi thing. Be persistent, don't waste people's time and do things in-person or on the phone not by email - last thing anyone breaking their distribution agreement would want is a paper trail in writing.
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