[joshnor713]

I always felt the treble was perfect on the Utopia, so interested to see what they "improved".

 

[Nomax]

7 years after the first Utopia and now for 1.000 euros even more with the same construct.... my expectations are very very high
I have to put it on my head this Flagship and within the first 60 seconds my hearing must be able to tell me the differences are clearly audible to the old model

NOMAX

PS.If this is not the case I throw him out of the window.....And those who know me...I am not joking

 

[Musicophilesblog]

7 years after the first Utopia and now for 1.000 euros even more with the same construct.... my expectations are very very high
I have to put it on my head this Flagship and within the first 60 seconds my hearing must be able to tell me the differences are clearly audible to the old model

NOMAX

PS.If this is not the case I throw him out of the window.....And those who know me...I am not joking

If we take the HD800 vs HD800S modification as an analog (and it was a very similar approach to product life cycle management, aiming towards more linear frequency response from Sennheiser, to what we see here from Focal). And that relatively small tweak resulted in quite a significant sound profile change.

A lot of people prefer the S.

I’m personally very happy I have the OG model.

In any case I wouldn’t be suprised if the “new”
Utopias sound different

 

[KelFab]

There's no SuperDupont mod on the Utopia to reduce the 6k peak

 

[meomap]

Hear it to believe it's an UPGRADE.
See it is NOT an Upgrade.

Now, people only show 50% rumor of picture.
Therefore, FAKE NEWS until Socal CANJAM time frame.

 

[enragedlemon]

If we take the HD800 vs HD800S modification as an analog (and it was a very similar approach to product life cycle management, aiming towards more linear frequency response from Sennheiser, to what we see here from Focal). And that relatively small tweak resulted in quite a significant sound profile change.

A lot of people prefer the S.

I’m personally very happy I have the OG model.

In any case I wouldn’t be suprised if the “new”
Utopias sound different

I would be very surprised if the new Utopia had as much of a change as the HD800 vs HD800S (or even HD800 with SDR mod). This looks to be more of a refinement than anything else. They replaced the voice coil for better durability (which may or may not affect sound), changed the shape of the internal grill, and moved the connectors so they aren't blocking part of the external grill. With the HD800S they added a resonator and tweaked the driver for more bass which I imagine to be more significant.

Clearly Focal needed to come out with something new as people are always looking for the next new thing, but I don't think they needed to change anything. Maybe they have got a more linear treble response, but at this level it may not necessarily be "better". They made some very sensible changes to their design language (even if I still prefer the old design), and they are addressing the durability issue of the voice coil (I think this has been way overblown but it has definitely damaged their reputation and they needed to do something about it). I suspect the change in sound is either incidental (due to the aforementioned changes) or otherwise slight just so they can say they have been improved. Gotta have something to upsell those existing Utopia owners. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part as I've only just bought mine!

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Hear it to believe it's an UPGRADE.
See it is NOT an Upgrade.

Now, people only show 50% rumor of picture.
Therefore, FAKE NEWS until Socal CANJAM time frame.

Are you saying that there are no new Utopias coming mid-September? I'm confused...

 

[joshnor713]

Are you saying that there are no new Utopias coming mid-September? I'm confused...

I read it as he's not believing it until he sees it. But yeah, a bit hard to follow.

 

[DJJEZ]

Hear it to believe it's an UPGRADE.
See it is NOT an Upgrade.

Now, people only show 50% rumor of picture.
Therefore, FAKE NEWS until Socal CANJAM time frame.

Dealers leaked the pics early

 

[Nomax]

If we take the HD800 vs HD800S modification as an analog (and it was a very similar approach to product life cycle management, aiming towards more linear frequency response from Sennheiser, to what we see here from Focal). And that relatively small tweak resulted in quite a significant sound profile change.

A lot of people prefer the S.

I’m personally very happy I have the OG model.

In any case I wouldn’t be suprised if the “new”
Utopias sound different

So that would not be enough for 5.000 euros

NOMAX

Ps.Let's be surprised

 

[Trance_Gott]

7 years after the first Utopia and now for 1.000 euros even more with the same construct.... my expectations are very very high
I have to put it on my head this Flagship and within the first 60 seconds my hearing must be able to tell me the differences are clearly audible to the old model

NOMAX

PS.If this is not the case I throw him out of the window.....And those who know me...I am not joking

Outside grilles changed I have a photo. Seems driver is unchanged. 1000€ more hm....
I think it is maybe a little better but after 7 years this is for me not enough. But hey maybe it's another new class in sound with these MG grills...time will tell.
Delivery starts end of September I don't ordered it.

 

[Tanalasta]

I expected something similar to the Focal Clear -> Mg. Differences ; but perhaps not huge.

I wouldn't expect a significant soundstage improvement if the overall ergonomics, pads and design are similar.

Listening to the original Utopia and the reliability issue is my main uncertainty. That and the cost of entry / repair. Nothing about Focal Utopia is cheap and it's not the most modular of headphones. How common was the voice coil issue? My AD seems to think it may have related to transport issues also and they haven't seen one in recent times. That said, not many AD's sell that many Utopia's being TOTL and out of reach of many.

I prefer the original design. I want something elegant at the flagship range. The stealth black on red looks like a gaming headphone.

Carbon looks beautiful in person. I don't mind the carbon fibre change.

I have a slight preference towards the LCD-5 over the Utopia. Looking forward to going in for an audition though when the new one comes out.

The Naim Uniti is a great little box for the price. It sounds great ; is an all-in-one and looks the part. It has a few (relative) weaknesses. I find the detail retrieval and staging more closed than Chord TT2 ; but prefer the Naim house sound. I probably would have paid another $1000 if Naim implemented a better DAC. However, it does work well with the Utopia.

Tubes are a personal preference.

 

[ubs28]

Maybe people should stop using amplifiers with the Focal Utopia? I honestly have not experienced any reliability issues, but then again, I only used straight out of a Chord Dave and not a Fusion reactor.

Even my 16” M1 Max MacBook Pro ”drives” the Focal Utopia just fine. Yes, just a laptop.

 

[joshnor713]

Maybe people should stop using amplifiers with the Focal Utopia? I honestly have not experienced any reliability issues, but then again, I only used straight out of a Chord Dave and not a Fusion reactor.

Even my 16” M1 Max MacBook Pro ”drives” the Focal Utopia just fine. Yes, just a laptop.

I'm always amazed at how loudly people listen to headphones.

 

[Friskyseal]

I'm always amazed at how loudly people listen to headphones.

Almost like a badge of honor, it's insane! Some people buy a pair of headphones and then try and get them to clip, just to test how loud they can go? Who cares! You think you know suffering, try having tinnitus. Cut your volume in half, and then cut it in half again. You can train yourself to enjoy listening to music at very low volumes. Protect your hearing!