Focal Utopia

Superlative resolution and transparency ; Excellent dynamics ; Plenty of finesse ; Impressive comfort

Price puts it beyond the means of most ; Demands top quality partnering equipment

Unarguably one of the finest headphones on the planet with a price tag to match

Exceptional detail and dynamics ; Agile and articulate bass ; Seamless integration

Similar money buys bigger speakers that will go deeper and louder ; Pricey stands

When it comes to levels of insight, little at this price even comes close

Breathtaking scale, detail, subtlety and accuracy; won’t congest at high power

Nothing – apart from that hefty price tag

Exceptional resolution from a very high quality cabinet and state of the art tweeter, the terminals are also rather nice ;

Bass extension and dynamics are limited by driver and cabinet size, bi-wiring is not an option

Clearly an exceptional loudspeaker, the Micro Utopia Be seems devoid of coloration, is phenomenally transparent and extremely neutral. What it reveals is the innate quality of the music, you hear less loudspeaker and more of the instruments and voices.

Carbon fiber makes them light and easy to wear for long stretches ; Exceptional resolution and detail ; Expansive soundstage and pin-sharp imaging are just luxurious ; Replaceable ear pads

Ridiculously long and heavy cable ; Affordable to only a few ; No sound isolation or possibility to use on the move

When I look back on all the dumb things I did as a kid, surely one of the dumbest was pitching rocks and dirt balls at a wasp nest. With each impact, a cloud of wasps rose from the nest. It was mesmerizing—until one of us got stung. Reviewing Focal’s...

Focal's Utopia headphones simply sound amazing. There is nothing between you and the music. They offer natural, effortless re-creation of what the composer, the musicians, and the producer intended ; The headphones' materials are ultra-high-quality and...

Before long, the Utopia headphones became warm, owing to the seal of the cushion to the ear. The memory-foam ear pads appear perforated, but in actual use they do not allow for any real airflow ; The Utopia is a substantial headphone, leaning toward...

Assuming the rest of your signal path is looked after, does it matter if the final stage (your headphones) reaches above and below your hearing range? There are papers and papers that discuss this in depth with varying conclusions; but, in my...

The blessing of having owned many of the best loudspeakers the world has known has been a lot of fun. The fact that I haven't owned Focals is somewhat of a head-scratcher. They belong in the discussion with the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Revel, Wilson...