Focal Releases New Utopia Flagship Headphones
The Focal Utopia was initial unveiled in 2016 and joined the ranks of the world’s ideal headphones soon after a flurry of really favourable testimonials from the two the Head-Fi community and press. The first time I heard a Utopia was at a demonstrate in North Carolina that yr driven by a tricked out Eddie Current Zana Deux Amplifier the encounter modified my perception of just how open and transparent sounding a dynamic headphone could be. The Utopia continues to be the greatest sounding dynamic driver headphone that I have read so significantly the ZMF Verite operates a pretty shut 2nd in 2022.
Focal is a single of the major manufacturers of superior-end motorists and tweeters in the planet and compared with a lot of of their lesser rivals in the large-conclude headphone class, they have considerably much more considerable methods as it pertains to R&D and a fairly powerful husband or wife in Naim Audio. The Focal Powered By Naim experience has developed exponentially about the previous 2 several years with boutique showrooms in just about every corner of the world. We visited the Houston site in 2021 and the focus on headphone techniques built it fairly distinct that Focal and Naim have been going to be considerable players in the group.
Because 2016, Focal has ongoing to tweak the design and is now releasing a new technology of the Utopia. Like other luxury manufacturers, the new version is only named “Utopia” significantly like the Porsche 911 or Rolex Submariner, so we’ll refer to this new product merely as the Utopia (2022) to distinguish it from earlier revisions.
This new version shares the over-all look, really feel, and sound top quality of the primary while updating both the frame which is now made of recycled carbon fiber for a spectacular reduction in weight, and a redesigned driver for even improved sonic traits and decrease distortion.
The cups use a honeycomb outer grill with a diamond shaped heart grill wrapped by two arms that extend in from the sides. The honeycomb is one of the improvements to the industrial style and the lack of an arm achieving down from the middle that houses the cable port is an additional.
A different change is that the initial had 3 compact screws that held the nameplate in put close to the centre grill. On the new design, the ring is held in area from the inside so there are no noticeable screws. Cables now attach at the bottom of the cup with a moderate forward rake to the attachment for added convenience.
As pointed out the gimbals (yokes) are now manufactured solely of cast recycled carbon fiber material which lowers the weight and increases the rigidity. The headband is wrapped in high quality leather and involving the new gimbals and the redesigned band, excess weight distribution is improved which ought to make the Focal Utopia extra cozy all through for a longer time listening sessions.
Internally, the driver is a new style and design with a copper (30%) / Aluminum (70%) hybrid voice coil for enhanced performance although retaining lower bodyweight. Focal engineers confirm that this adjust has resulted in a tonal harmony that shifts slightly closer to neutral but even now maintains the strong bass general performance and airiness of the first product.
The driver is even now the 40mm pure Beryllium M-shaped diaphragm of the primary but the suspension has been tweaked along with the voice coil for improved effectiveness. The internal grills are now M-formed as nicely and adhere to the curvature of the driver for enhanced precision and linearity.
The end result is a headphone with a frequency assortment of 5Hz to 50kHz with a sensitivity measured at 104dB SPL /1mw @1kHz and a nominal impedance of 80 ohms.
The package is fitting of a headphone in this course with a presentation box, journey scenario, and two cables (one 3.5mm with a 6.35 adapter and the other with XLR jack).
We will have both of those the Utopia (2022) and Naim Audio Uniti Atom Headphone Version in for evaluate soon just after the Utopia’s launch date so appear for a entire evaluate of both products in mid-October.
Utopia will be offered beginning on September 16th 2022 for $4,999.
For more data: focal.com
