Focal Utopia General Discussion
- Thread starter Allanmarcus
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Musicophilesblog
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Nice one, and pretty spot on. Fully agree on the amazing synergy with the Naim.
gnomen
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Are there any reviews comparing the 2022 version to its predecessor? I cannot find any.
up late
Headphoneus Supremus
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gnomen
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See. You just have to ask!
Thanks
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Tanalasta
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Interesting. And reassuring at the same time. My main concern(s) with the original OG Utopia are the driver failures which hopefully are less of an issue. And the 5 year warranty does bring some comfort. How many of us upgrade a flagship headphone in 5 years?
Are the original Utopia a bargain now? How many of us will be upgrading? Time will tell. I haven’t had the notification they are in stock yet and am looking forward to auditioning them.
And the Naim Uniti Atom is still a firm favourite. Yes, the DCS Bartok/LINA and Chord TT2 are superior DAC’s but in terms of being 90++ percent happy, I’m glad I have the Uniti Atom.
Are the original Utopia a bargain now? How many of us will be upgrading? Time will tell. I haven’t had the notification they are in stock yet and am looking forward to auditioning them.
And the Naim Uniti Atom is still a firm favourite. Yes, the DCS Bartok/LINA and Chord TT2 are superior DAC’s but in terms of being 90++ percent happy, I’m glad I have the Uniti Atom.
Musicophilesblog
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I did take some time as described in a previous post to compare OG vs New.
To my ears the New is indeed an improvement sound wise. But the OG remains outstanding and I’d be quite surprised if we see a lot of OG owners upgrading. The 2K+ you’d have to spend on the upgrade would probably be better spent on any other improvement of the chain (and would buy you 2/3rds of the indeed outstanding Naim).
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Looks like this thread is the victor for new Utopia discussions too. I got a review loaner in earlier today and wanted to share some photos and measurements:
Hi everyone
I just got a new 2020 Utopia which is being burnt in. I have been using it with FiiO M17 and it sounds fine but I am left wondering how would it sound with a little added warmth. I understand Naim uniti is an excellent combo but I was wondering if it would sound good with a trans-portable warm DAP like Sony Wm1z or Cayin n8?
I just got a new 2020 Utopia which is being burnt in. I have been using it with FiiO M17 and it sounds fine but I am left wondering how would it sound with a little added warmth. I understand Naim uniti is an excellent combo but I was wondering if it would sound good with a trans-portable warm DAP like Sony Wm1z or Cayin n8?
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Headphoneus Supremus
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it would sound like its replacement based on the reviews and impressions that i'm seeing
Musicophilesblog
100+ Head-Fier
I can drive mine off a Chord Mojo 2 without problems. The OGs really aren’t hard to drive. It is still highly enjoyable.
But the Naim brings it to yet another level of both precision and dynamics.
Naim sounds like a wonderful pairing. Guess have to choose between trans portability vs absolute sound quality
I would opt for the Naim Atom. I have had a good experience with most Chord DACs but the Mojo 2 and Hugo were outliers.
I would love to get Naim. What’s stopping me is that I don’t want to be tethered to my desktop due to personal circumstances. I am keen to trial any portable tube options
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
Not sure if anyone has try this?
https://wooaudio.com/amplifiers/wa8
I only heard with the Meze Elite at CanJam and it sounded wonderful.
And yes, the Naim HE is a wonderful pairing. I even prefer it over the Chord Dave/mscaler. Not quite as technical but great weight, rhythm and flow. I recently moved on from the og Utopia to the Expanse, but have kept the Naim HE and it still makes a wonderful paring. With the Expanse, it actually sounds much better than the $30k DCS Lina stack.
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