archagon
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2013
- Posts
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- 38
But shouldn't we expect that a $4000 product is made of the best and most durable materials possible?
I don’t know. They seem to be be very well made, look high end, and haven’t seen any issues reported. The price is more about the sound and research and development than the actual cost of the parts. Not getting them because you don’t think the headband itself is high quality enough seems odd especially when there’s no widespread issues. They don’t look and feel like cheap headphones. Have plenty of weight, feel durable and metal is carbon fiber.But shouldn't we expect that a $4000 product is made of the best and most durable materials possible?
But shouldn't we expect that a $4000 product is made of the best and most durable materials possible?
My main concern is not whether the Utopias will survive a rough-and-tumble environment, but whether they will actually last me 10-20 years of regular, daily use.Yes, the headband is made mostly of plastic. However,it is known to be the sturdiest of headbands for Focal products.
To be clear, is this a confirmation that the Utopia headbands are plastic or that the Clear ones are?To circle back to my original question, I got an answer from Focal:
My main concern is not whether the Utopias will survive a rough-and-tumble environment, but whether they will actually last me 10-20 years of regular, daily use.
Utopia headbands.To be clear, is this a confirmation that the Utopia headbands are plastic or that the Clear ones are?
I guess that’s not that surprising considering they use plastic trim over the grills as well.Utopia headbands.
To circle back to my original question, I got an answer from Focal:
My main concern is not whether the Utopias will survive a rough-and-tumble environment, but whether they will actually last me 10-20 years of regular, daily use.
Exactly. Also, one would not want a headphone made entirely of metal. Such a thing would be terribly heavy and probably resonant.Since when is plastic not durable? There are many types of plastic these days.
I thought I'd take some time to describe a journey with my Utopias. Not a short journey more like five years...
When I got them they were a step up from my Beyerdynamic T1 (satisfying, nice bass, mellow, detailed but in comparison veiled and no sparkle) and my HD800 (so good I still have them, classical "masters"). My wife was studying so I had most nights just enjoying the headphones. Over this period I've been using a initially a fostex DAC (nice but no Chord sparkle) and a few years ago I upgraded that to a Chord hugo 2 DAC (amazing) and for amps I've used Sennheiser HDVD800, I found the Hugo 2 amp a bit bass shy despite how good it is. The HDVD800 is a great amp for the HD800, but only so so for the focal utopias. I did the job is the best way to describe it.
But recently, after so many enjoyable years, I decided to try a good tube amp. I went from the Ampsandsound bigger ben to the Auris Nivana. Wow, the euphoric sound and so much more enjoyable bass was my immediate reward, no doubt there was an impedence mismatch with the Utopias and the HDVD800. Particularly saw the Utopias sparkle with the Nirvana, and after an input tube upgrade wow, everything just got better, amazing detail. But overall I just enjoyed listening more especially with the Nirvana. I thought to myself, what would a really nice solid state amp, more suited to the utopias, be capable of....???
Seeing some positive reviews here and having a colleague here in Australia endorse it... enter the Sparkos Lab Aries. I was blown away - one word for it "transparent". I have a Chord TT2 which I regard as pretty good but even the amp in it couldn't compare. I have A/B'ed the Hugo 2 and TT2 using the HDVD800 and thought there was a small improvement with the Utopias using the TT2 (5-10 percent, mainly in the better bass characteristics) but the Hugo 2 is good and I couldn't bear to take the TT2 away from the speakers where it normally is as they really do make a noticeable difference - the whole family can enjoy for the better, smoother, more pleasurable treble (less grain) and more defined bass. I must now spend more time to run the TT2 through the Sparkos to compare but I can already tell you, that Sparkos amp makes the sound better than the TT2 using its amp alone and that is saying something- at least to my ears.
So defining why the sparkos makes the Utopias "sing" is the question. What I can say from my experience is that the Utopias were underestimated by me... for many years. They are capable of upscaling with better equipment I know, but I didn't know just how much.
I'm now terrified I might audition a DAVE or a Bartok or something else... you know what I mean! These headphones deserve what you can throw at them!!!! But that said I think I'm good for another four or five years
Just my 2 cents. The Sparkos is here to stay as are the utopias.
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