New Focal Utopia are the Ferrari of audiophile wired headphones
>
Focal has unveiled a new set of beautiful flagship over-ears. This is no exercise, high-end headphone enthusiasts. This is the best over-ear headphone area and then some.
The French audio specialist has been innovating in audio for over 40 years and its premium Utopia range – from headphones and hi-fi speakers for the home to custom speaker designs and exceptional in-car audio solutions – are all designed and built with the handmade. manufactured in Focal’s specialist headphone workshop in France.
Utopia are, frankly, the ultimate Focal headphones, even more expensive than the company’s glorious Focal Stellia over-ears – and they’ve just had a major update.
What sonic upgrades can we expect this time around? Focal audio experts explored all the ways they could improve performance this time around and, the brand says, they delivered emphatically.
Analysis: Focal’s naming is simple – Utopia means perfection
Don’t expect this reissue of these flagship headphones to feature a numbered iteration (this is the luxury sector and here Focal’s product names don’t change or get ‘2’ suffixes, they just evolve beautifully) but to do expect a whole bunch of nice upgrades.
First, there are the new full-range, Beryllium, ‘M’-shaped speaker drivers and grilles. These have a fully open back and operate without passive or active correction, from a remarkable 5 Hz to over 50 kHz. There’s also a new, more advanced voice coil design with a copper/aluminium alloy (previously just aluminum).
Then there’s a lighter design for greater listening comfort, which was achieved by using yokes forged from recycled carbon fiber. In fact, in what’s nothing short of a design overhaul, the Utopia now clearly looks like the flagship model of Focal’s headphone family, with their signature honeycomb style – a feature that doesn’t just look good; the honeycomb design promises a more open sound with greater driver movement.
Prices? Yes: $4,999 / £4,699 / AU$6999 – we wrote it down quickly so you’d barely notice.
How do they sound? Check out this space – we can hardly believe it ourselves, but we may have the pleasure of testing them soon.
Want to buy a Focal over-ear product but need something less expensive? We hear you. See the company’s Celestee closed-back proposition, or the Focal Clear Mg. (Yes, but we did say ‘less pricey’, not ‘affordable’…)