[dontfeedphils]

That's great to hear. The problem for me is that I personally do not mind buying open-box or second-hand, but I ruled it out for the utopia because of this concern. In addition, I am annoyed in principle that focal makes things so difficult for 2nd hand customers. I stated this in another post, and got plenty of emotional responses (it is normal etc), but for me it is a lack of customer orientation. I usually do not support companies having a reputation for not servicing 2nd hand owners with products still in the warranty period, and am mostly annoyed of myself that I am still interested in owning it. Again, the forbidden fruit thing.

Kind of sounds like you answered your own question already.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Kind of sounds like you answered your own question already.

Do you always stick to your principles ?

 

[dontfeedphils]

Do you always stick to your principles ?

Does anyone?

(I'm honestly just trying to avoid the ever looming warranty war from emerging again.)

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Does anyone?

(I'm honestly just trying to avoid the ever looming warranty war from emerging again.)

Yes, please let's avoid that .... but would you mind giving some more comparisons to the HD800S and other headphones you know? I always appreciate these thoughts.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Yes, please let's avoid that .... but would you mind giving some more comparisons to the HD800S and other headphones you know? I always appreciate these thoughts.

To my ears the HD800 variants are just so lean/thin/anemic (your pick) that it really puts me off owning them. Add to that the fact that you usually end up hunting for just the right setup to get them sounding great, whereas I've heard the Utopia sound damn good out of a laptop.

Utopia (again, to my ears) bests the HD800 variants in every single aspect besides maybe comfort and sound stage. The Utopia has never been uncomfortable to me, so that's a moot point, and I've always found the HD800 sound stage to be artificially large (if I wanted proper staging I'd run a two-channel setup). The Utopia (all three Focal cans actually) have this unreal amount of impact/dynamism that I haven't found on another pair as well.

I recently attended the last Phoenix Head-Fi meet, and while there were some very serious setups there (including a ton of top notch estats, thanks to @TSAVAlan for driving them to the desert and @TSAVJason for loaning them out), it all but reaffirmed that I've picked the right headphone for me. Don't get me wrong, there were things that the other TOTL cans may have done a bit better here or there, but nothing is as complete a package to my ears as the Utopia is.

 

[up late]

Was this an easy decision for you? I now probably might have done the same. But I have the HD800S and would be a very happy end-game owner if I hadn't sampled the utopias with a Rachmaninov concert at the shop, and I loved how lively the piano sounded. Or is it ... my mind playing tricks because I am aiming for a forbidden fruit?

That's great to hear. The problem for me is that I personally do not mind buying open-box or second-hand, but I ruled it out for the utopia because of this concern. In addition, I am annoyed in principle that focal makes things so difficult for 2nd hand customers. I stated this in another post, and got plenty of emotional responses (it is normal etc), but for me it is a lack of customer orientation. I usually do not support companies having a reputation for not servicing 2nd hand owners with products still in the warranty period, and am mostly annoyed of myself that I am still interested in owning it. Again, the forbidden fruit thing.

choosing the utopia over the hd800 or hd800s was an easy decision for me to make. arriving at the decision to pay that amount of money for a headphone wasn't so easy.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

To my ears the HD800 variants are just so lean/thin/anemic (your pick) that it really puts me off owning them.
Utopia (again, to my ears) bests the HD800 variants in every single aspect besides maybe comfort and sound stage. The Utopia (all three Focal cans actually) have this unreal amount of impact/dynamism that I haven't found on another pair as well.

Thank you, that is very convincing (and unfortunately confirms what I concluded in the shop).

 

[joseph69]

I owned all, the 800S/Utopia & Stax 007MK2/009 at the same time and found the 800S lacking in authority & dynamics, but was definitely an enjoyable headphone to listen to. Not to mention the most comfortable too. My Stax took a back seat to the Utopia because I preferred the dynamics, lower-mid clarity and the air between the instruments and the 'liveliness' of the presentation. All are excellent headphones in their own right, so it's just a matter of preference.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Thank you, that is very convincing (and unfortunately confirms what I concluded in the shop).

I actually had about 5 different mid-fi cans when I bought the Utopia and ended up selling all of them. Utopia has been my only set for a year now and I haven't once found myself interested in another set, I'm just happy with them. My source components on the other hand...

Plus, you really can't beat the $1k off trade-in deal they're running right now.

 

[Mrstump5]

Thank you, that is very convincing (and unfortunately confirms what I concluded in the shop).

Im getting the utopia in this week to audition. I game a lot aling with music. So soundstage means a lot to me. So im a little concerned about the utopia being intimate. Also the issues with the drivers. Im almost convinced i should go with hd800S

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Im getting the utopia in this week to audition. I game a lot aling with music. So soundstage means a lot to me. So im a little concerned about the utopia being intimate. Also the issues with the drivers. Im almost convinced i should go with hd800S

Looking forward to the result of your audition. I am also a gamer, and find the hd800s wonderful for it. I read in a couple of posts that they find the HD800s distorts the distance in fps (but many also disagreed) so I am also looking forward to your experiences in regards to gaming ...

 

[rgs9200m]

I believe that Focal do repairs, you just have to pay for it.
But getting a repair for free on something you bought used (transferable warranties) is something that is pretty rare anywhere as an official policy.
(I think that it what is being discussed here. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Maybe a kindly manufacturer would do this on a case by case basis, but it's not standard at all.
I sure wouldn't expect to have something I bought used to get fixed for free.

(In fact, there was talk on Audiogon that Sonus Faber wouldn't even replace drivers at all even if you wanted to pay if it was a used speaker.)

As long as the product is supported for repairs that I can pay for is all that I ask.

 

[up late]

Thank you, that is very convincing (and unfortunately confirms what I concluded in the shop).

once heard it cannot be unheard, unfortunately

 

[Hoegaardener70]

I believe that Focal do repairs, you just have to pay for it.
But getting a repair for free on something you bought used (transferable warranties) is something that is pretty rare anywhere as an official policy. Maybe a kindly manufacturer would do this on a case by case basis, but it's not standard at all.

Not by default but it's based on respective consumer laws. In Suisse, the warranty needs to be fulfilled until two years after the purchase, no matter if the rightful owner decided to sell his product, give it away as a present or whatever. And that's how it should be. I think similar rules apply in the EU.

 

[TSAVJason]

I believe that Focal do repairs, you just have to pay for it.
But getting a repair for free on something you bought used (transferable warranties) is something that is pretty rare anywhere as an official policy.
(I think that it what is being discussed here. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Maybe a kindly manufacturer would do this on a case by case basis, but it's not standard at all.
I sure wouldn't expect to have something I bought used to get fixed for free.

(In fact, there was talk on Audiogon that Sonus Faber wouldn't even replace drivers at all even if you wanted to pay if it was a used speaker.)

As long as the product is supported for repairs that I can pay for is all that I ask.

That audiogon “talk” is not accurate. We do repairs on old and new Sonus Faber speakers in and out of warranty not often but occasionally. They don’t typically break.

Focal does repairs after warranty has termed. During warranty they typically just replace them.
One thing I might suggest if there is an issue is to think of this one expression “you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar” .....coming at any issue with this attitude is probably somewhere up around 98% successful.