Focal has today launched the new updated version of their Hi-Fi Utopia headphones. Focal Utopia headphones are ranked amongst the best headphones in the world and are priced as such. Not for the casual listener, the new Focal Utopia headphones will retail for AUD$6,999 and NZ$8,299, thus ruling out most of us as the target market.
The target market for the Focal Utopia headphones are audiophiles who want headphones that offer the full range of audible sound in a crisp and clear manner – while at the same time looking great.
This year’s Utopia headphones offer all the high-end technologies that the previous model held but now they are included in a more “sophisticated design” along with some new features designed to deliver an even better “audio signal reproduction that is unrivalled in its purity.”
They still include full-range speaker drivers with pure Beryllium, M-shaped dome and are fully open-backed for “full neutrality, dynamics and transparency.” The speaker drivers actually run with zero active of passive correction from 5Hz to over 50kHz.
The new design takes inspiration from Focal’s latest hi-fi openback (Clear Mg) and closed-back (Stellia and Celestee) headphones with the honeycomb grille on the outside and inside of the earcups giving it its own unique flavour.
The new features include a new voice coil made up of copper (for greater reliability) and aluminium (for less weight) which produces a new sound signature that “lends even greater neutrality, with powerful bass and more mellow treble.” Another addition that improves the linearity and precision of the sound is the speaker grills inside the earcups are now M-shaped, following the curves of the speakers themselves.
The Focal Utopia headphones include a genuine leather headband and perforated memory foam earcups for comfort and softness to enable long listening sessions. Utopia comes in faux-leather packaging with a black fabric thermoformed carrying case and two high-fidelity cables (10ft and 5ft / 3m and 1.5m) for using the headphones at home with an amplifier or on the go with Lemo connectors and a Jack adapter.
The new Focal Utopia headphones are available now via Addicted to Audio for RRP AUD$6,999 // NZD $8,299 – not for the casual listener but perfect for the more discerning audiophile.
