[montanari]

thanks for the feedback.
Prefer to stick with the two mentioned only

 

[seadog123]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

 

[TonyTripleA]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

Sea dog you will love it… and yes the amp will make a massive difference. I had the Utopia with the wrong amp for years and it blew me away how it scales with better amps. You are looking at some good ones. The Sparkos Aries is pretty special too… and when you can get cash for a kidney the Auris Nirvana is my current fav with the Utopia.

great days ahead!

t

 

[DJW50]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

Prior to buying my Pathos Inpol Ear I'd been listening to my Stellia's through my Arche, the Arche is such an underrated headphone amp. I didn't bother with the updates so never had a problem, the balanced output is superb as are some or most of the amp settings. I still plug my Utopia's into the Arche and I can't fault it. I listen to a very similar choice of music to you and have never felt it lacking in any way.
The Arche seems to have flown below the radar since its launch, superb bit of kit that does DAC and pre-amp rather well.

 

[thecrow]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

I had the v280 with my utopias and it is a nice match.

imho the v280 is a versatile amp with a good bit of power. I trued it with a range of headphones.

the only pairings i did not like was the power hungry susvaras where it fell a bit short and the empyreans where the combo was a little too dark/warm.

worked well with utopias and very well with lcd4 that i demoed a couple of times

 

[vonBaron]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

Try Violectric V550, very good with Utopia.

 

[helljudgement]

I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point

I'd recommend getting a Schiit Vali 2 and placing an order for a DNA Starlett. The Vali slightly laid back nature matches well with the Utopia signature and is deceptively good for how cheap it is. The Starlett might be a bit more than the Violectric at 2k but it's pretty much some of the best combo I've heard with the Utopia. Also it takes at least 6 months to build so you have some time to save up as you only need to pay a refundable deposit and the remainder for when the amp is built. I think the Utopia deserve an amp at the level of a Starlett so getting the Vali as a stand in while you save up for a high end amp that generally cost between 2-4k is a good strategy.

 

[u2u2]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

Congrats on the Utopia decision. You pretty much can't go wrong once you have them. It becomes a matter of degrees of how much better they get with system synergistics. I sprang for a SPL Phonitor xe with DAC for my Utopia. The Phonitor competes with a half dozen other amps I own that are split between solid state and tubes. The Phonitor gets a disproportionate and growing share of use time. The extra features it has truly add to the listening experience and make it uniquely entertaining. The special features (and distributor support) got me to pick it over the Violectric items I considered. Arche fell off my list early on...

 

[FiGuY1017]

Adorama has open box for 2800 grr must find something to $ell

 

[AmusedToD]

Congrats on the Utopia decision. You pretty much can't go wrong once you have them. It becomes a matter of degrees of how much better they get with system synergistics. I sprang for a SPL Phonitor xe with DAC for my Utopia. The Phonitor competes with a half dozen other amps I own that are split between solid state and tubes. The Phonitor gets a disproportionate and growing share of use time. The extra features it has truly add to the listening experience and make it uniquely entertaining. The special features (and distributor support) got me to pick it over the Violectric items I considered. Arche fell off my list early on...

My setup is the same. SPL Phonitor XE with 768 DAC (using the coaxial input as it sounds noticably better to my ears than the USB input) driving the Utopia since last week. I am awaiting delivery of the Danacable Lazuli Reference cable, in hope it will further elevate the sound.

I drove my former Utopia (3 years ago) with the Sony TA-ZH1ES. It was a good match, but the Phonitor is in a different league.

SPL Phonitor + Utopia means dynamic swings at the highest level.

 

[audiocroissant]

Considering Focal Utopia / VO/ VC to complement my D8000. Opened a thread in the recommendations sections if anyone wants to give their 2c

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/2-3k-dynamic-headphone-help-me-choose.963185/

 

[seadog123]

Thanks all for your advice, I’ll have to go and demo. the SPL Phonitor xe against the Violectric V280.

I don’t WANT to spend more on the SPL, but I also don’t want to have to sell the V280 after a while and end up with the SPL anyway.

Been there done that & selling with a loss sucks….

 

[bobmysterious]

Buy once, cry once...

 

[srkbear]

I’m about to purchase a Utopia. I’ve had Final D8000 Pro & Meze Empyrean in the past, but the dynamic, punchy and detailed Utopia has won me over. For budget reasons I’ll have to use my Innuos Zen Mini via its DAC output, so I’ll need a H/P Amp to suit the Utopia. Budget is at about the SPL Phonitor XE or Violectric HPA V280 FE level, preferable the V280 FE price point.

I’m a rock, pop, heavy metal, soft metal, punk kind of guy, any suggestions ? My dealer has some run out Focal Arche left at a great price, not sure about the sound and reports of flaky operating issues though.

I paired mine with an iFi Pro iCAN Signature to avail myself of the analog bass boost. The Utopias respond brilliantly to some tuning—if you like rock or similar genres correcting the bass roll off is pretty much a must. But they require less tuning than most other cans I’ve tried, and unlike several other “TOTL” options out there, they shine in every genre I’ve thrown at them.

 

[seadog123]

I paired mine with an iFi Pro iCAN Signature to avail myself of the analog bass boost.

That’s another one my dealer suggested that I try. That and the Naim Atom HP Edition. Price wise I’m leaning to the iFi. That and the flexibility with that bass adjustment.