[TSAVJason]

Good question. Unless you personally know the previous owner how would you know the Utopias are still in good shape? Personally I would only buy used factory refurb or used at an authorized dealer.

Good answer! I guess if you buy real right and I mean real right it could be an option. To replace a driver in Focal Elear, Clear and Utopia out of pocket would very expensive if not under warranty.

 

[TSAVJason]

How would anyone here other than Focal know what the true failure rate is? We can all speculate, but you quoted the poll above which is misleading and pure speculation. Even if you believed the failure rate was 10%, how would you quantify that to a selling price? 10% discount from full price? Even after you decided the used selling price should be $xxxx dollars, that's still not helpful because there is no law that says a seller has to sell it to you for that amount.

If you are just looking for assurance that you won't have any issues, then buy one with warranty. There are pages and pages of this poll=failure rate nonsense in this thread. Please don't perpetuate it.

Absolutely correct! An educated individual just spoke

What’s skewed here is that you have a few that have complained several times. It makes it seem like a very robust problem when the reality is Focal is claiming under 2% globally including the unfortunate happenstance at the launch.

 

[Ekul61]

Good question. Unless you personally know the previous owner how would you know the Utopias are still in good shape? Personally I would only buy used factory refurb or used at an authorized dealer.

Thx looks like $4000 or nothing.

 

[up late]

it's such an expensive headphone that i wouldn't consider buying it without a warranty but others have

 

[Allanmarcus]

Good question. Unless you personally know the previous owner how would you know the Utopias are still in good shape? Personally I would only buy used factory refurb or used at an authorized dealer.

LOL! You really did make me laugh with this and prior posting. Thanks. Good to see I'm not the only one that occasionally needs to backtrack on my postings.

As for the poll above, I think it shows one thing quite clearly. Very few people with Utiopia's answered the poll. It also might show that very few people with Utopia's even read this thread.

FWIW, I completely agree with @bflat. I would only recommend buying an open box from Moon, a new one from an authorized dealer (work with them, bet you can get a price just a little more than used ones sell for here), or one from a friend that purchased new from an authorized dealer and that is willing to return it to the dealer if there is an issue.

While we do not know the failure rates, they certainly were high enough in the beginning to be troublesome (as Jason said earlier) at that time. If I were buying used, I would ask for the serial number, and try to determine if that we a relatively new unit. What would scare me the most is a "new in the box" Utopia from a non-authorized dealer, or a person on a For Sale forum. Generally, electronics fail early in their lifetime, so if the item is DOA or mildly defective and you can't return it, your are SOL. If you get it from a trustworthy person that has used it gently and knows it works properly, then you have a much better chance of success.

 

[LCMusicLover]

...As for the poll above, I think it shows one thing quite clearly. Very few people with Utiopia's answered the poll. It also might show that very few people with Utopia's even read this thread.

Or, as in my case, they haven't had them long enough to make a response meaningful.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Or, as in my case, they haven't had them long enough to make a response meaningful.

Not really. You can always answer it now "no" and change the answer to "yes" if you ever have to get the headphones repaired.

 

[JLoud]

I like my Woo Audio WA6 SE with the Utopia. Large soundstage and still good speed and detail. I have both the Elear and Utopia as well as the LCD-4. One of the very first Elear preorders from Jason at Source. No problems with either Focal. I don't really like the Utopia with the Jot from Schiit. Too brittle in the treble. It does sound good with the Elear. The Utopia just has too much detail, it truly reveals any flaws with you source equipment. The iDsd black label is a nice budget/portable solution, I enjoy it. Also the Hugo 2 is even better, but much more expensive. I don't have the Mojo so can't comment on that.

 

[333jeffery]

Found out that the problem was not with the Focals as I had feared. It was a noisy tube in my Teton amp. Quite a relief as I had bought the Focals as an open-box deal off of Ebay. Saved a good bit of money, but no warranty. I have to say that the Teton pairs perfectly with these headphones, much better than the Liquid Glass. The LG sounds lifeless by comparison.

 

[AutumnCrown]

I looked around but couldn't find an answer to this question. Sorry if it has already been asked: Does EQing the presence region down a bit open up the soundstage without effecting the transparency too much?

 

[buzzlulu]

Has anyone purchased or seen the Focal hard shell case for the Utopia? Any feedback?

 

[TSAVJason]

Attention all TSAV customers. If you bought your Utopia or Elear Headphones from us and still own them, call us to take advantage of a very special deal exclusive to TSAV customers only.

SORRY! THIS IS FOR TSAV CUSTOMERS ONLY ——- NO EXCEPTIONS

 

[wldcohso]

Attention all TSAV customers. If you bought your Utopia or Elear Headphones from us and still own them, call us to take advantage of a very special deal exclusive to TSAV customers only.

But we want thto deal too...thinking a good deal with balanced cable and/or carrying case.

 

[TSAVJason]

But we want thto deal too...thinking a good deal with balanced cable and/or carrying case.

You must be a customer of TSAV and you had to have purchased your Elear and or Utopia from TSAV. My agreement with Focal is this deal would be limited to only those customers that purchase from TSAV.

 

[dontfeedphils]

What makes you enjoy the Schiit stack more than the mojo?

The Asgard 2 is usually described as sounding a bit on the "warm" side for a SS amp, which I think pairs better than the Mojo. To me the Mojo/Utopia combo sounded a bit brittle and anemic compared to my stack (slight differences, not game changers), which seems to take away some of the fatiguing edge I hear on the Mojo.