On October 2, the French manufacturer Focal unveiled its first connected Hifi speakers to the public. With a very luxurious, resolutely High-End approach, the Diva Utopia intend to define a new benchmark in terms of acoustic performance on wireless models. Focal did us the honor of lending us these jewels at €35,000 per pair, as a preview. We were able to spend several days with them. Here are our impressions.
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The Focal Diva Utopia are exceptional active, connected and wireless Hifi speakers. Completely designed and manufactured in France. They are the most ambitious achievements of this type that we have had the opportunity to date to try in situ, at home, on our premises.
Each Diva Utopia weighs more than 60 kg. It operates in three ways using exclusive speakers, produced by Focal in its factories in Saint-Étienne and from the Hifi High-End Utopia speaker series.
At the top of the facade is installed a tweeter with a pure beryllium diaphragm, as on all high-end creations from Focal. This is a new IAL2 version (second generation Infinite Acoustic Loading) with a 27 mm M-profile diaphragm coupled to a larger voice coil and a more powerful motor than on previous generations.
This tweeter surmounts a 16.5 cm midrange transducer with TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) suspension and NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit) motor.
In addition, four 16.5 cm woofers, arranged in pairs on each side of the speaker, ensure bass reproduction. These woofers are tuned in bass reflex by a tubular vent whose large mouth opens forward at the foot of the cabinet.
Both the midrange transducer and the woofers are equipped with type W cones (for Glass/Glass) with a foam and glass fiber sandwich structure. The amplification of the whole is entrusted to power units accumulating 400 watts distributed over four channels with active filtering and management by DSP.
Bold aesthetics and an innovative structure with Naim active multi-amplification inside
Although remaining relatively reasonable in size compared to their rank, the Focal Diva Utopia are impressive speakers whose appearance has little to do with anything we have seen until now. present in the field of connected Hifi. Their aesthetic can divide, but in no way leave one indifferent. Their boxes are largely decorated with curved gray felt panels and bands. These elements, more than 5 mm thick, are semi-rigid and are mounted floating like speaker covers. Weighted and held firmly by hook-and-loop straps, their role is to dampen parasitic resonances.
Under this covering, the main structure is particularly innovative since it is composed of a material seemingly made of wood powder and polymer binder (like medium or MDF) molded under low pressure. It has numerous visible fins and ribs serving as stiffeners.
Internally, the midrange transducer load is enclosed and completely independent. With a volume of approximately 5 liters, it has raised moldings on its internal rear part to absorb parasitic reflections.
The tweeter is also in a separate housing, attached to the cabinet via a thick piece of machined aluminum. The four woofers installed on the sides have a common load volume of around fifty liters. We took a look at the latter. This allowed us to see the solid cast iron bowls and the powerful woofer motors, the very wide and angled tubing of the bass-reflex tuning port, as well as the large toroidal power transformer dedicated to the integrated amplifiers.
These amplifiers are designed by Naim Audio, Focal’s sister brand, which enjoys an excellent reputation in the world of high-end Hifi. Working in class AB from Sanken transistors (2SA1386 and 2SC3519), they are able to provide (for each speaker) 2 x 125 watts for the bass, 75 watts for the midrange and 75 watts for the treble. We note the particular care taken in their thermal regulation. The large aluminum dissipation radiators at the rear heat up very little, even when operating the speakers at high speed.
A management that favors simplicity rather than technicality
If the design of the Diva Utopia is technical and complex, their use is conversely very simple. Once the speakers are delivered and unpacked in the room where they will reside, operations which require several people due to their heavy weight, there is no longer any particular difficulty. The solid cast iron bases of the boxes each have four casters. These can be left in place until the correct location is determined and then replaced with the coupling tips provided.
Each of the two speakers must be connected to mains power. A beautiful RJ45 braided sheath cable is provided to connect one to the other. It allows higher resolution reproduction, up to 24 bits/192 kHz (instead of 24 bits/96 kHz), but is not essential. All the connections for the wired inputs are gathered at the back of one of the two speakers. We notice, among other things, the presence of an HDMI eARC port.
The set’s remote control, simple and refined, communicating by radio waves (Zigbee protocol), is used to select the source, adjust the volume and offers play, pause and track skip functions.
For network functions, the Focal Diva Utopia rely on Naim Audio’s connected platform, which has the advantages of having existed for many years, being secure, proven, and offering wide compatibility (AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, DLNA UPnP…). Its control app, with refined and reassuring ergonomics, includes direct access to web radios as well as Qobuz or Tidal services.
By entering its settings, we find a calibration menu to adjust the sound reproduction of the Focal Diva Utopia to the acoustic characteristics of the room. This calibration system, unfortunately not automated, first requires indicating the distances between the walls and the speakers as well as in relation to the listening position. Then it emits two series of tones (six and eight) so that you can adjust by ear (or with the help of a sound level meter) the balance at different frequencies as well as the bass response curve. .
A high end of sublime definition and a surge of bass
We had the opportunity to try the Focal Diva Utopia for several days at home and to listen to them during their presentation to the press in the royal suite of a Parisian hotel on October 2. Their sound reproduction is truly spectacular. What emerges is an impression of power, depth of bass, definition at the top of the spectrum which immediately transports us into a sound universe quite different from that of a traditional stereo Hifi system.
The mid and high registers are of great distinction. Their rendering is extremely detailed and precise, while avoiding giving a feeling of over-definition. The voices have superb presence. The slightest mouth and articulation noises, if they are in the recording, are perfectly audible. The Focal Diva Utopia manage to be ultra analytical, soft and natural all at the same time. On this point, it is very high art and proof of Focal’s technological mastery in loudspeaker design.
>>> SEE THE FOCAL DIVA UTOPIA RESULTS ON THE MEASUREMENT BENCH
The stereophonic scene also benefits from this definition. The positioning of the sound elements is extremely precise both in width and depth. Here again, the Diva Utopia achieve the feat of delivering an image of great transparency, very analytical, without it appearing overstitched or artificial.
The bass register is on its monumental side. It goes down very low with a lot of strength and power. It is relatively round and in a room of standard dimensions, it can quickly become obtrusive. In our listening room with its different spaces totaling nearly 40 m2 (Focal recommends 80 m2), we had to calm him down a bit. This is where we reach the limits of Diva Utopia. Their calibration system deserves to be more advanced with automatic analysis by microphone of the acoustics of the room, high precision parametric equalization and possible optimization of the phase so that the low frequencies integrate better with the other registers.
In summary
Made in France, the Focal Diva Utopia redefine the notion of wireless and connected Hifi speakers. This is the first time that a major brand has offered such a level of performance from models that are so simple to install and use. The technological challenge has a High-End price and, of course, the copy is not perfect. This lacks a more sophisticated calibration system which would make these speakers much more versatile. The Focal Diva Utopia nonetheless remain impressive achievements as much for their luxury, their seriousness, their ergonomics as their extraordinary sound performance.
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The Focal Diva Utopia analyzed by ON-mag
Specifications
- Type: pair of floor-standing, active, wireless and connected speakers
- Drivers (per speaker): 4x 16.5cm W woofers, 16.5cm W midrange, IAL2 27mm pure beryllium inverted dome tweeter
- Bandwidth (±3 dB): 27 Hz to 40 kHz
- Low cutoff (-6 dB): 24 Hz
- Maximum sound level (for pair): 116 dB SPL at 1 m
- Amplification (per speaker): 250 watts for bass, 75 watts for midrange, 75 watts for treble
- Power consumption in normal mode/network standby/non-network standby: 280/2/0.5 watts
- Inputs: HDMI eARC, optical and coaxial digital audio, USB-A, analog over RCA, Bluetooth AptX Adaptive
- Network connections: WiFi and Ethernet RJ45
- Supported audio formats: up to 24-bit/384 kHz and DSD128
- Protocoles réseau : AirPlay 2, Google Cast, DLNA/UPnP, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, QPlay
- Services integrated into the application: web radios, podcasts, Tidal, Qobuz, QQMusic
- Dimensions (per speaker): 121 x 42 x 56 cm
- Weight (per speaker): 64 kg
- Prix : 35,000 euros per pair
Manufacturer’s website: www.focal.com
