The purpose from the get-go, Boutonet says, was to create the easiest sound attainable, totally with out compromise—which is what landed the speaker in Focal’s high-end Utopia vary. Engineers got free rein to do what they wanted to make sure the audio system sounded nearly as good as they probably might. “The goal was to not take advantage of compact speaker. The main focus was utterly on the sound,” provides Boutonet.
The previous is actually clear. The Focal Utopia Diva loom massive within the Parisian listening room the place I encounter them, with every speaker measuring 47 x 16 x 22 inches and weighing 141 kilos, or 64 kilograms. They make fairly the assertion, sitting on a chunky aluminium base and adopting the acquainted backwards lean of the Utopia vary that makes their footprint all of the bigger.
Whereas there’s one thing distinctly area age about them, there’s a softness to them, too—fairly actually. The panelling that wraps round every speaker, which is each floating and detachable for future customization, is created from a light-gray felt materials. On the entrance, the panels come collectively however don’t meet, leaving an area down the center that accommodates Focal’s backlit emblem and provides you a peek of the molded polymer cupboard beneath.
Naim Examine
The Utopia Diva convey collectively the acoustic experience of the crew at Focal with the digital know-how of its sister model Naim, for the primary time ever. Every speaker contains a 1-inch beryllium tweeter, a 6.5-inch midbass driver, and 4 side-mounted 6.5-inch woofers, with a large 400 watts of Naim Class AB amplification on the within. That’s per speaker, keep in mind, that means this setup is able to 800 watts of energy.
Getting the Utopia Diva up and operating is so simple as with some other wi-fi speaker. Merely plug every speaker into energy, hearth up Naim’s glorious management app (there’s additionally a distant included, however the app will likely be extra easy for many), and stream on to them through Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Tidal Join, Qobuz, or Spotify Join—plus there’s Bluetooth 5.3 onboard with aptX Adaptive help.
The Utopia Diva are additionally UPnP appropriate, that means you possibly can stream from related NAS drives and computer systems, and entry web radio. They’re even able to multiroom—whether or not that be with different Naim merchandise through the Naim app, or through the built-in capabilities of AirPlay 2 or Chromecast. Sonos, eat your coronary heart out.
