Focal Maestro Utopia III Review by J. Atkinson, Stereophile

[Jerome W]

I heard those speakers at a dealer in Paris.
Simply stunning.
Stereophile: Focal Maestro Utopia III loudspeaker

[jdandy]

Jérôme.......At 116 kilograms (256 lbs.) each uncrated, the Focal Maestro Utopia III might be a bit difficult to get up those stairs to your listening room, not to mention the €38,692 ($49,995) price tag.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jérôme.......At 116 kilograms (256 lbs.) each uncrated, the Focal Maestro Utopia III might be a bit difficult to get up those stairs to your listening room, not to mention the €38,692 ($49,995) price tag.

Dan,
I was just passing by... ! I have no intention to buy them. I'm delighted by the EB1i !

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Dan,
I was just passing by... ! I have no intention to buy them. I'm delighted by the EB1i !

Jérôme.......I feel exactly the same way. I am sitting here completely immersed in a Chris Botti CD. The PMC EB1i's truly are amazing.

[howiebrou]

I demoed these with a pair of Mc2301, C1000, MCD1000, MDA 1000. I'm sorry to give a conflicting view but the Maestros were absolutely horrible. I wanted to stop the demo after 5 minutes. The sound was harsh, brittle and head ache inducing. This was not a new pair. It was the main importer's pair and had been broken in for 6 months at length.

I was actually demoing the 2301s. I still have no idea what they sound like!

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

I demoed these with a pair of Mc2301, C1000, MCD1000, MDA 1000. I'm sorry to give a conflicting view but the Maestros were absolutely horrible. I wanted to stop the demo after 5 minutes. The sound was harsh, brittle and head ache inducing. This was not a new pair. It was the main importer's pair and had been broken in for 6 months at length.

I was actually demoing the 2301s. I still have no idea what they sound like!

My first encounter (together with Jim) these speakers were using the GAMUT integrated amp and CD player. They did sounded so-so to me. At that time, I thought its because of the electronics. BUT they never did made an impression on me.

[Jerome W]

The amps used were top of the line Wavacs ( don't remember the ref ).
They sounded everything but harsh.
Somewhere between the British school and the Wilsons. A bit too clear for my tastes though.
But bass and treble extension were just amazing.
Mids not as warm and charming as my PMCs.
The dealer told me they were extremely sensitive to cables. He used Van Den Hull reference line and told me they were not sounding as good with Transparent....

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

I demoed these with a pair of Mc2301, C1000, MCD1000, MDA 1000. I'm sorry to give a conflicting view but the Maestros were absolutely horrible. I wanted to stop the demo after 5 minutes. The sound was harsh, brittle and head ache inducing. This was not a new pair. It was the main importer's pair and had been broken in for 6 months at length.

I was actually demoing the 2301s. I still have no idea what they sound like!

Howie,
Pairing 2301's with clear speakers is just a non sense. 2301's are too clear and detailed for those.
They are wonderful with warm sounding speakers : PMC and KEF for example but also some JBL and SF . BW could be too clear for them. And most of all, forget about Wilsons, Cabasse, JM lab/ Focal....: you're right, those are not easy amps to demo !

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jérôme.......I feel exactly the same way. I am sitting here completely immersed in a Chris Botti CD. The PMC EB1i's truly are amazing.

Dan,

I think they will be both in our homes for a very long time, with God's will.
I haven't meet yet speakers that gave me the will to let the EB1i go... !
My "Linn friend" came yesterday to borrow me the Lyngdorf ( an other one ! ) because we are leaving for Florida tomorrow for 3 weeks.
He was very impressed by the sound of the system.
What I read on his face was " why the Hell did I spend so much money on my system..." but I may be wrong. That could just be my personal thinking regarding his system. But he had to admit with no difficulty that the bass the EB1i give in my room, with the RP-1, is just night and day with the bass he gets from his Komris, with 2 x 1000 W of internal active Klimax amplification, only dedicated to the 4 boomers of the Komris.... ( ! )
GO MCINTOSH GO.......................!

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by JSCC

My first encounter (together with Jim) these speakers were using the GAMUT integrated amp and CD player. They did sounded so-so to me. At that time, I thought its because of the electronics. BUT they never did made an impression on me.

I agree with what Jerry said. The GamuT amps they were using did not justice for the speakers.

I have never heard Focal being lean or brittle. To me they lean more towards the Sonus Faber sound than say Wilson or YG.