[jlbrach]

HOLY Macaroni, cables are where the BIG $$$ is!!!!!!!!!! There is a Dana hp cable for 4$K

I say this as a owner of both the WyWires Platinum and Norne Silvergarde S3 so I've spent a few $ on hp wire too!

as one who believes cables matter and who has bought several expensive cables that strikes me as insane...just one mans opinion

 

[GreenBow]

Just buy from authorized dealers and then register on Focal's website with your SN. Focal will send you a PDF file of 5-year warranty.

Good news! You can register your warranty now for the US. Go to focal.com/warranty and register then fill out the info. You need your serial number and copy of purchase receipt. Once you complete the registration you will get an email with a PDF of the warranty dated with your invoice copy.

Please any idea how long it takes for Focal to get back with the PDF, once applied for warranty?

 

[Gadget67]

Moon cables are top notch and I have many of their interconnects, iem cables and the Silver Dragon Utopia cable. To be honest I really like the build of the LR and it has received the most positive reviews I have seen. The Black Dragon has a good review also. I have a Black Dragon extension cable and it is just too utilitarian in look for the Utopia in my opinion.

My Danacable Lazuli Reference pairs very well with the Utopia; I prefer it to both the Moon Silver and Black dragon cables. The Wywires Platinum is also a great choice but I like the Lazuli best of all. Please realize these are all very close so your experience may be different.

 

[vonBaron]

I now listen Utopia with Atlas Zeno 1:2 very good cable as well.

 

[PrTv]

Since I bought the Utopia 5 months ago, I've been on the quest to tame its sibilant.

My setup before the change was:
- MBP + Audirvana
- Ayre QB9 Twenty
- V281
- Good quality XLR / USB cables (not name-brand)

With stock Single Ended cable, I found that high was almost unbearable (I'm very sensitive to sibilant), so I did my research and found that Dana's Lazuli Ref is among the best cables for the Utopia and can help tame the high, so I did order it.

With the Lazuli Ref, the headphones behaved a lot better [deeper low / meatier mid / calmer high]... but it was not enough to tame the high, as sibilant was still too hot for me for bright albums.

Below are what I did in hope that the headphones can be more enjoyable...
- Replacing my MBP with Aurender music server (sounds A LOT better than MBP) but still too hot...
- Replacing USB cable with Curious Evolved 1.5M (more mellow tonality)... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cords for V281 & QB9 with Synergistic Research Foundation 10 & 12 AWG... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cord for Aurender with Shunyata ZiTron Digital (did make a HUGE difference)... but still too hot...
- Replacing fuses in my Dac / Aurender (the server takes 2 fuses) to Synergistic Research Orange Audiophile Fuses... but still too hot...
- Replacing XLR cable with Audience AU24 SE... but still too hot...

All the above but still couldn't get rid of that annoying spike in S / SH sound... until I replaced my wall receptacle (from generic ground outlet) with Wattgate 381 (gold plated earlier model that known to be superior to newer versions). After doing this last step I couldn't believe that my persisting / annoying problem is almost FIXED! (well not 100% since with bad / hot records, those ear-piercing sibilants still came back... but now the headphones sound a lot more agreeable to my ears).

Looking back, the changes above total to over USD 10K (excluding the price of original amp, DAC and other equipment in the system)... and I'm now not sure whether what I achieved is worth it... but what I can say is that the headphones now sound so much more enjoyable and I now understand the potential of these headphones (I'm sure they can improve further with higher-end system). Perhaps if I'd started from the wall receptacle, I wouldn't have to pay this much changing other equipment in the chain.

 

[thecrow]

I now listen Utopia with Atlas Zeno 1:2 very good cable as well.

a friend of a friend really enjoys his atlas zeno with his susvaras

 

[Gadget67]

Since I bought the Utopia 5 months ago, I've been on the quest to tame its sibilant.

My setup before the change was:
- MBP + Audirvana
- Ayre QB9 Twenty
- V281
- Good quality XLR / USB cables (not name-brand)

With stock Single Ended cable, I found that high was almost unbearable (I'm very sensitive to sibilant), so I did my research and found that Dana's Lazuli Ref is among the best cables for the Utopia and can help tame the high, so I did order it.

With the Lazuli Ref, the headphones behaved a lot better [deeper low / meatier mid / calmer high]... but it was not enough to tame the high, as sibilant was still too hot for me for bright albums.

Below are what I did in hope that the headphones can be more enjoyable...
- Replacing my MBP with Aurender music server (sounds A LOT better than MBP) but still too hot...
- Replacing USB cable with Curious Evolved 1.5M (more mellow tonality)... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cords for V281 & QB9 with Synergistic Research Foundation 10 & 12 AWG... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cord for Aurender with Shunyata ZiTron Digital (did make a HUGE difference)... but still too hot...
- Replacing fuses in my Dac / Aurender (the server takes 2 fuses) to Synergistic Research Orange Audiophile Fuses... but still too hot...
- Replacing XLR cable with Audience AU24 SE... but still too hot...

All the above but still couldn't get rid of that annoying spike in S / SH sound... until I replaced my wall receptacle (from generic ground outlet) with Wattgate 381 (gold plated earlier model that known to be superior to newer versions). After doing this last step I couldn't believe that my persisting / annoying problem is almost FIXED! (well not 100% since with bad / hot records, those ear-piercing sibilants still came back... but now the headphones sound a lot more agreeable to my ears).

Looking back, the changes above total to over USD 10K (excluding the price of original amp, DAC and other equipment in the system)... and I'm now not sure whether what I achieved is worth it... but what I can say is that the headphones now sound so much more enjoyable and I now understand the potential of these headphones (I'm sure they can improve further with higher-end system). Perhaps if I'd started from the wall receptacle, I wouldn't have to pay this much changing other equipment in the chain.

My wallet sympathizes with your wallet! I’ve avoided actually talking up what “improvements” have cost. I did find that power management did result in overall improvements that (at least in my opinion) were easy to discern. Once I moved to a Niagara 1200 for power management and better power cables, I realized this was a worthwhile avenue to pursue. I’ve since moved to battery power for my M-Scaler and now I’m using optical cables instead of USB. At this point I’m very happy with Audirvana and my MacBook pro but I do see some kind of streaming arrangement down the road.

 

[meomap]

Since I bought the Utopia 5 months ago, I've been on the quest to tame its sibilant.

My setup before the change was:
- MBP + Audirvana
- Ayre QB9 Twenty
- V281
- Good quality XLR / USB cables (not name-brand)

With stock Single Ended cable, I found that high was almost unbearable (I'm very sensitive to sibilant), so I did my research and found that Dana's Lazuli Ref is among the best cables for the Utopia and can help tame the high, so I did order it.

With the Lazuli Ref, the headphones behaved a lot better [deeper low / meatier mid / calmer high]... but it was not enough to tame the high, as sibilant was still too hot for me for bright albums.

Below are what I did in hope that the headphones can be more enjoyable...
- Replacing my MBP with Aurender music server (sounds A LOT better than MBP) but still too hot...
- Replacing USB cable with Curious Evolved 1.5M (more mellow tonality)... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cords for V281 & QB9 with Synergistic Research Foundation 10 & 12 AWG... but still too hot...
- Replacing AC cord for Aurender with Shunyata ZiTron Digital (did make a HUGE difference)... but still too hot...
- Replacing fuses in my Dac / Aurender (the server takes 2 fuses) to Synergistic Research Orange Audiophile Fuses... but still too hot...
- Replacing XLR cable with Audience AU24 SE... but still too hot...

All the above but still couldn't get rid of that annoying spike in S / SH sound... until I replaced my wall receptacle (from generic ground outlet) with Wattgate 381 (gold plated earlier model that known to be superior to newer versions). After doing this last step I couldn't believe that my persisting / annoying problem is almost FIXED! (well not 100% since with bad / hot records, those ear-piercing sibilants still came back... but now the headphones sound a lot more agreeable to my ears).

Looking back, the changes above total to over USD 10K (excluding the price of original amp, DAC and other equipment in the system)... and I'm now not sure whether what I achieved is worth it... but what I can say is that the headphones now sound so much more enjoyable and I now understand the potential of these headphones (I'm sure they can improve further with higher-end system). Perhaps if I'd started from the wall receptacle, I wouldn't have to pay this much changing other equipment in the chain.

Should try the easiest and least cost first which is from the wall receptacle then see from there.....

 

[vonBaron]

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

 

[PrTv]

My wallet sympathizes with your wallet! I’ve avoided actually talking up what “improvements” have cost. I did find that power management did result in overall improvements that (at least in my opinion) were easy to discern. Once I moved to a Niagara 1200 for power management and better power cables, I realized this was a worthwhile avenue to pursue. I’ve since moved to battery power for my M-Scaler and now I’m using optical cables instead of USB. At this point I’m very happy with Audirvana and my MacBook pro but I do see some kind of streaming arrangement down the road.

Thanks for the sympathy! All changes that I've made shared only one goal... to get rid of those pesky sibilants (but no avail till my last move). From my research and actual audition, MBP+Audirvana sounds very good. I did A/B test against Roon Nucleus (direct to my QB9 Dac), and the MBP combination sounded better. However, comparing with Aurender, my MBP is one step behind.

Should try the easiest and least cost first which is from the wall receptacle then see from there.....

Yes... I didn't suspect the wall receptacle until "I have nothing more I could do"... Actually, I have a pair of Wattgate 381 lying around for several years and didn't bother put them to use.

In any case, although changes I made prior to this point didn't actually fix the problem, I can't deny that those changes brought about improvements in several areas.

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

I think until now, we can't quite point finger to the cause of this dread driver failure. Some said the headphones would be more prone to this issue if paired with high voltage (Tube) amps, due to how fragile the voice coil is. However, one of my friends always used these headphones with SS amp and still had driver failure.

So not sure whether music of choice (e.g. loud and wide dynamic range) would even has anything to do with this issue.

 

[PrTv]

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

By the way, I see that you use Niimbus US5 Pro. I'm eager to know how it is with the Utopia. I'm using V281 and like it, and the Niimbus seems to be a logical (big) step up. I only have 4 headphones and only listen to Utopia / Empy regularly, so if it pairs well with these headphones, I'm happy.

Curious to know what's the improvement over V281.

 

[thecrow]

By the way, I see that you use Niimbus US5 Pro. I'm eager to know how it is with the Utopia. I'm using V281 and like it, and the Niimbus seems to be a logical (big) step up. I only have 4 headphones and only listen to Utopia / Empy regularly, so if it pairs well with these headphones, I'm happy.

Curious to know what's the improvement over V281.

Without wanting to steal vonBaron’s thunder i went from the v280 to niimbus us4 (as I understand it‘s the same amp as the us5) and the v280 sounded veil.
That was with hekse and utopias at the time.
the us4 gave more texture and nuance and extra clarity in the way it presented everything so well and clear

a solid upgrade for me, though quite a few extra $$$

I actually found empy a bit too dark for me with v280 - but that’s my personal preferences

 

[silversurfer616]

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

That’s why you have 5 years warranty. Peace of mind. Judging by the speed most of us are going through headphones, we probably don’t have them for that long anyway.

 

[thecrow]

That’s why you have 5 years warranty. Peace of mind. Judging by the speed most of us are going through headphones, we probably don’t have them for that long anyway.

I have had my hd800. I am quite likely to keep utopias, maybe. And definitely definitely susvara. empyreans came and went

ymmv

 

[LarsMan]

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

I listen a lot of punk and metal (Manowar - "Death to False Metal!") and zero problems. Can't say I've ever had a driver failure or any other kind of problem with any headphone I've ever owned. I'd be interested in knowing what the percentage is of the Utopias that have this driver failure.... I drive them with a Quicksilver tube headphone amp....