Focal Utopia Review (collective stream of consciousness)

Accounts get hacked a lot of times. I recently tried buying an item at a super low price. So low I was willing to risk losing the money to see if it was any good. They had solid feedback as well so it didn't seem like it was a scam. After making the purchase ebay informed us that the listing was invalid and the account was hacked. Luckily I was refunded.

 

I was never going to send the money by wire transfer but he even sent me a photo of the Utopia box with his name and address clearly mentioned. The photo did not look like a photoshopped job. I've dealt with scammers before and received obviously fake photos and requests to make payments to shipping companies etc....

Anyway thanks for the feedback.

 

After checking some links it doesn't seem like a scam but there is some odd behavior. The Facebook page has an entire album of 'proof of delivery ' pictures

https://m.facebook.com/pg/Mlamusiqu...id=854118474655971&ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1

 

So accepts ebay fees but not paypal? Dubious...

@Jan Meier seems to be here now. I have had great experiences buying headphones from him in the past. He is a Focal dealer too.

http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de

 

It's annoying when you find review pages like this: https://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBay...=25&iid=-1&de=off&which=positive&interval=365

This isn't immediately obvious that it's fake or legit... The messages are generic but not like super generic... If real people leaving reviews could include more specific information like the product they ordered or something it would make things like this so much easier to evaluate.

Still seems pretty sketch.

 

I see bank transfer only no Paypal and run the other way. Wasn't this the same issue with @Luckbad and @Mr.Sneis?

 

You can also ask Focal if he's an official dealer.
Regarding the pictures, even if he sends not photoshop looking pics with his name, be careful, there was a scam reported on Head-Case with a SR-007 and SRM-717 amp, and the scammer also sent real pictures and even talked nice on the phone
https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/786-the-headcase-stax-thread/?page=431

Not including Paypal is shady, personally, I wouldn't trust that seller.

 

I'll never do a bank transfer again for someone I don't know in person.

 

Gproof of delivery does not mean much. Look up “zip code scam” and you’ll find out what it is.

 

I had an interesting opportunity to buy Utopia and HEKv2 for a very close price app $1800 US for Hifiman, almost new, and $2100 for Utopia.
I have a to admit that I really liked HE500 and therefore I was biased towards HEKv2, except for the looks.
I had to check Utopias first and brought my HD800S to the audition.
Utopias were doing all things described in this thread, detailed, fast, it is a really nice headphone to listen to. But I was only going to buy it had a wow effect on me comparing to HD800S. But it didn't, and listening to classical music it appeared to be a similar kind of headphone as HD800S doing some things better but not a sound stage or instrument separation. Then I had my turn with HEKv2. I listened to the Adagio from Beethoven 8th string quartet, the piece I can only enjoy in my top listening
form. With Utopias and HD800S it was like the same listening experience, following all the slowly developing melodic lines with some strain, not really getting into it.

With HEKv2 12 minutes passed very quickly, I did not have to put any effort into hearing all those winding melodies, they were just there. I still do not know how to explain it but the details were presented in entirely different way, I think it may be that HEKv2 is clearly better than Utopia and HD800S in microdynamics at least to my ears, that's why they sound more natural to me and complex music is so easy to follow.
So yes I own HEKv2 now and spending with them at least couple of hours I do not have any second thoughts, at least not yet

 

+1. PayPal has come through me once when the vendor did a disappearing act. $1,200 USD refunded. A bank transfer would have been 1200 bucks down the shitter.

 

bank transfer on ebay? fraud alert!

 

In mine as well.

 

Hi Guys,

I’ve spent over a year waiting for Utopia prices to drop and finally it’s at a level where I’m ok buying.

The one thing that stops me from pulling the trigger is Solderdude saying that the HD800 + Kameleon hardware eq is as good if not better that Utopia.

Does anyone here have experience with the Kameleon filter and HD800?

I had a loaner Utopia at home and liked it. I hate the stock HD800 but I can get it for under $800 and the Kameleon is another $200 so it’s a cheap solution compared to Utopia.


Thanks!

 

Utopia and Hd800 are quite different phones. Utopia exceeds in resolution and speed. Mods and EQ might alter the tonality of the HD800 but won't improve resolution and speed. I prefer my modded HD800 to the Utopia in tonality and the non-fatiguing factor but am well aware of the technical advantages of the latter. Overall, Utopia is closer to be a Hifi-sounding device than the HD800. I have an eye on a future Utopia model with an improved frequency response profile.

 

Hi Marv,

Thanks maybe the Utopia is the better get it and forget about tweaks option. It even sounded pretty damn good straight out of my phone whereas I'm stuck to my main rig with the 800.

my current chain is Laptop>Modi Multibit>Dynalo Mk2>HD650.

 

I have both
I used to use sonarworks with the hd800, but since I added the SDR mod and the SBAF liner mod (imo the SBAF mod is even more critical/important), i dont feel the need to eq the hd800 anymore. I find the hd800 with both mods almost as good as the utopia, almost the utopia have faster bass with better impact, but with my ifi amp, I use the Xbass settings which use analog bass boost and I find the hd800 bass almost more nuanced. the mids of the hd800 are more relaxed and it might be my preference, but the utopia offer more resolution in the mids, slightly. the treble of utopia is all round better though.

once modified, the hd800 are indeed almost as good and I use both pair pretty evenly.

 

The Utopia reminds me of my horn speakers, except without the horn veil (that sort of 'I am spitting the sound at you through a cone'; the Utopia puts the speaker right next to your ears).

The dynamics and detail retrieval is a mixed bag. Appealing and fatiguing.