It’s not everyday that you get the opportunity to put on headphones that cost $4,000 dollars. Focal, a French speaker and headphone manufacturer unveiled three premium headphones; Utopia, Elear and Listen. Utopia, being the equivalent to the Venturi of the bunch.
The Focal spared no expense (obviously) in the development of the Utopia headphones so that consumers as well as audiophiles receive a truly remarkable listening experience.
“For the past two years, we’ve offered some of the best sounding over-ear headphones with our Spirit line,” said Ben Jensen, president of Focal North America. “With Utopia, we challenged our engineers and designers to create a reference headphone that equals the sonic excellence found in our other premium lines in Hi-Fi, automotive and professional monitoring and are incredibly proud of what we were able to achieve for our most discerning audiophile customers.”
Now, Utopia may not be for everyone’s budget, but these headphones are truly in a class of their own, being the world’s first full-range loudspeaker in a pair of headphones. When I first slipped on this pair of high-end cans to my ears, I was secretly trembling with fear that I may drop them and have to figure out a way to reimburse Focal. On the other hand, I was super excited to experience what Focal’s representative claimed would be a “one-of-a-kind experience.”
The open-back reference headphones were designed for the snobby audiophile but also for those that absolutely love music delivered in a personal and unique experience. What I experienced was a clear and beautiful soundstage that felt like one loudspeaker was attached to each side of my head. In fact, I would go as far as to say that these are not over-ear headphones but over-ear loudspeakers that are just designed to look like headphones. A range of artists and raw audio files were tested to unleash the power of the Utopia headphones. It was truly an unbelievable experience and my ears may be spoiled for good now.
While the sound delivers, comfort also plays an important part of the Focal Utopia. New Zealand lambskin leather was chosen to wrap both the ear cup cushions and headband. Beyond that, a carbon fiber yoke was established as the design material of choice for the body of the headphones, which gives the Utopia a luxurious look, while at the same time being lightweight.
Included with each pair of Utopia Reference headphones, a 13ft OFC cable, a Neutrik 1/4″ stereo plug and two shielded Lemo connectors with self-locking bayonet system. Utopia is available for pre-order now for the suggested retail price of $3,999.