Focal Speakers
 

I have become a great fan of Focal speakers as of late.
I currently own a pair of Focal Utopia III Scala speakers.:tresbon:
They have proven very revealing, exceedingly musical:music: and true to the source.
They can do incredible dynamic swings with big powerful solid state amps but I enjoy their subtleties more with my McIntosh MC 275LE mono amps.

Does anyone else have interest or experience with Focal speakers?

Best Regards.

Mike Segal.

Mike
I owned pairs of Micro Utopia's and Micro Utopia BE's. The were great small speakers.

I am surprised that I did not end up with larger Focal speakers at some point. They are quality speakers and do piano as well or better than any speakers I have heard.

I agree, their reproduction of Piano is exemplary.
I see you are using big Wilsons so I do not think you have compromised in any way.:thumbsup:

I did try the Diablos. They were great but the Scala'a do everything as well as the Diablos with more bass and punch.:yes:

Mike S.

Only the babies...

I have a 90s era pair of JM Labs Tantal 509s that are pretty impressive for a bookshelf speaker. I recently hooked them up to my main setup and was even more impressed.

I have heard the Grand Utopias and liked them better than the Wilsons of same time.

For a while I was using a Focal Solo 6Be. Pretty amazing value considering they had similar drivers to their Electra 1007Be! For much less money.

I ended selling them because the input impedance was difficult to match with my preferred CDP in the study.

I'm using Alto Utopia Be's now for nearly eight years. I love them. I wanted to try them at one point with the Mac 275s but I was afraid that the rough impedance curve would make them bass-shy. I had an exchange with a guy who had the 275s with his Altos and had decided to buy a subwoofer. With my current amp, I'm not at all in need of a sub.

While I was auditioning various speakers before settling on my Dyns, I listened to the Scalas. My first (and second) exposure with them left me unimpressed and I sort of wrote Focal off (much like I wrote Wilson off).

During my amp upgrade my Pass dealer had Focals in his showroom and I "settled" on listening through them rather than the Gamut or MBL he had available. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Very very good tone, musicality and resolution. I've said this before about metal tweeters, but, when done right, they are not too bright and can delivery a very rewarding experience.

Congratulations on your speakers. I know when the time comes for my new speakers, I will look hard at Focal, among others I so readily dismissed before.

I have noticed a slight reduction in bass presence compared to my previous Pathos Inpol2 when switching to the MC275LE mono's but the midrange magic more than makes up for it. I am using the 8 ohm output taps. I found the 4 ohm tap to not sound as well in the midrange and the benefit in bass was marginal.

The Pathos was great on bass and on solidity of image but I was just missing something which has been filled by the tube power.

Perhaps I will be ready to part with my "bronze babies":banana: someday for two MC2301.:scratch2:

Mike S.

I listened to the Dynaudio C4 which you indicate are your current speakers.
I LOVE these speakers.
I wouls have gone with Dynaudio but I have a local Focal dealer and the Focal's met my needs.

Mike S.

I like the Dynaudio speakers very much except for one aspect, the tweeter. I think they are terrific at staging. It really depends on what kind of music you like to listen to. I know many don't care for the Focal tweeter, but I like that one a great deal, assuming it's powered with appropriate matching electronics.