Focal Utopia General Discussion
Jan 22, 2021 at 1:46 AM Post #13,846 of 20,597
Jan 22, 2021 at 6:14 AM Post #13,847 of 20,597
I would not choose the Black Dragon again in combination with Utopia and solid-state gear again. The Black Dragon is silver-plated copper and tended to sound slightly sibilant and over-analytical in my setup.

Lazuli Reference and even more Crystal Cable Double Duet (=Silver/Gold) are the to go cables for the Utopia, imho. Also the new stock cable sounds quite good imo. It has a nice sounding in combination with the Utopia, even though it does not offer the ultimate resolution. It is also quite stiff, unfortunately.
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 6:57 AM Post #13,848 of 20,597
I would not choose the Black Dragon again in combination with Utopia and solid-state gear again. The Black Dragon is silver-plated copper and tended to sound slightly sibilant and over-analytical in my setup.

Lazuli Reference and even more Crystal Cable Double Duet (=Silver/Gold) are the to go cables for the Utopia, imho. Also the new stock cable sounds quite good imo. It has a nice sounding in combination with the Utopia, even though it does not offer the ultimate resolution. It is also quite stiff, unfortunately.
Black dragon is copper, unless i’m mistaken
https://www.moon-audio.com/black-dragon-premium-cable-for-focal-utopia-headphones-v2.html
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 7:05 AM Post #13,849 of 20,597
Are those cables really an upgrade? The stock cable looks so solid and isn't it expensive as well when you have to replace it? Additionally the margin on those aftermarket cables should be a lot higher and isn't the headphone tuned for the stock cable?
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 7:39 AM Post #13,850 of 20,597
This description from Moon on the Black Dragon/Utopia pairing is bang on from my experience.

“It smooths out the top end, making it a little less analytical and a little more natural-sounding. It also adds bottom end weight to the lower frequencies and provides a fuller sound and wider soundstage.”
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 7:44 AM Post #13,851 of 20,597
I have to bring a completely undiscussed topic to the table. It's about the 5 years warranty.

Where do i have to register it to get it? I wondered so about if it's transferrable or not that i don't find how to activate it now that i got mine new.
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 8:04 AM Post #13,856 of 20,597
Speaking of cables, I have enough of this wire on the way to make a new 10' braided cable (4 strand braid, 16 wire in total). Here's to hoping I like what I hear once it's finished.
This should make a great cable. I hate removing the litz insulation and always worry some is still there leading to possible loopback on some conductors. What technique do you use?

I really like the original stock cable. I have had to repair it a couple times at the lemo’s due to it’s weight.
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 8:11 AM Post #13,857 of 20,597
This should make a great cable. I hate removing the litz insulation and always worry some is still there leading to possible loopback on some conductors. What technique do you use?

I really like the original stock cable. I have had to repair it a couple times at the lemo’s due to it’s weight.

Just a couple of dips in the solder pot at >700f and it's typically good. I just watch for the melted enamel to stop showing up at the top of the solder pot as I'm moving the wire around and it seems to work pretty well.

I bought a small amount of the wire and some test parts last month to make sure everything would play well together. Should be a nice chunky cable.

PXL_20210122_130731068.jpg
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 9:39 AM Post #13,858 of 20,597
I have to bring a completely undiscussed topic to the table. It's about the 5 years warranty.

Where do i have to register it to get it? I wondered so about if it's transferrable or not that i don't find how to activate it now that i got mine new.
i'm glad you raised this matter as it seems to have flown under the radar here
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 10:55 AM Post #13,859 of 20,597
I would not choose the Black Dragon again in combination with Utopia and solid-state gear again. The Black Dragon is silver-plated copper and tended to sound slightly sibilant and over-analytical in my setup.

Lazuli Reference and even more Crystal Cable Double Duet (=Silver/Gold) are the to go cables for the Utopia, imho. Also the new stock cable sounds quite good imo. It has a nice sounding in combination with the Utopia, even though it does not offer the ultimate resolution. It is also quite stiff, unfortunately.
Do you mean the Silver Dragon? The Black Dragon is all copper. Per Moon’s site:

the Black Dragon V2 cable uses 4 x 21.5AWG Teflon insulated stranded conductors using pure single crystallized UP-OCC pure copper with 7N purity 99.99998%.

Other than the fact that it is really 6-Nines, the cable is all copper. Tks.
 
Jan 22, 2021 at 12:15 PM Post #13,860 of 20,597
Are those cables really an upgrade? The stock cable looks so solid and isn't it expensive as well when you have to replace it? Additionally the margin on those aftermarket cables should be a lot higher and isn't the headphone tuned for the stock cable?

For me, I’m find the Danacable a bigger upgrade than moving up from the Focal Arche to Chord mscaler/Dave. The amp and dac don’t have same effect on the overall tone. The cable gives its this rich tone that stock doesn’t have. It also makes it more transparent. But could happily still live with the stock one but will know I’m missing out on that nice rich sound.

So spending over $1000 on a cable may sound crazy, but it’s a cheaper upgrade than buying expensive dac.

I believe Danacable has 30 day return policy. When I bought mine they stopped it due to covid but may have added it back since can’t really spread like that.
 

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