These $40,000 Wireless Speakers Are Like a Spa for Your Ears

Focal is an exclusively luxury audiophile marque that’s been producing extravagantly priced monitors since its inception, truthful the whopping $40,000 terms tag connected its latest release, the Diva Utopia, shouldn’t propulsion you retired of your seat. This is the audio company’s first-ever wireless, connected loudspeaker, and it’s only disposable astatine prime Focal stores starting this month.

I attended a briefing and listening enactment (of sorts) of the Diva Utopia connected Tuesday nighttime astatine a backstage lawsuit successful New York. I was blown distant by its superb dependable prime and highly elegant design. I near feeling similar I had gone to an receptor spa. It was a much-needed dainty for my ears aft being subjected to overwhelming Manhattan sound each day.

The Diva Utopia is simply a three-way bass reflex floor-standing speaker. It uses 3 speakers—bass, midrange, and treble—instead of conscionable the bass and treble speakers recovered connected galore akin loudspeakers. The bass reflex spot refers to that vent you usually spot connected the bottommost of a floor-standing loudspeaker. It helps dispel aerial outside, assisting with a better-sounding low-end.

The vent astatine the bottommost helps with improved bass. Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo

The standout diagnostic of the Diva Utopia is its UWB (Ultra Wideband) tech. UWB allows a wireless transportation betwixt the pair’s near and close speakers, truthful nary cables are moving betwixt your setup. Before the listening demo, we assumed that the talker was yet to beryllium connected to an outer amp, but we were pleasantly amazed upon learning that it comes equipped with a built-in speaker, DAC, and amp. All that this monstrosity needs is simply a elemental transportation to an AC outlet, which is hard to archer by conscionable looking astatine it. I’ve heard speakers with UWB often can’t tolerate idiosyncratic lasting betwixt them, which results successful distortion.

The briefing was reasonably chaotic, with media and PR circling the speakers each present and then, but they didn’t acquisition a azygous awesome drop. Focal says this is imaginable via an Intelligent Dynamics Clocking tech that ensures the interior components of the speakers ever enactment successful cleanable sync.

We each took turns playing our favourite songs connected the Utopia via Bluetooth connected Tidal. I played Kahani Suno by the Leo Twins and Mr. Sandman by Oppidan, and I felt bittersweet astatine the thought of these songs ne'er sounding the aforesaid again. The low-level item was intricate capable for maine to adjacent marque retired the decay of an instrument’s reverberation that follows close aft it’s played. The treble produced by the M-shaped Beryllium inverted dome tweeter was crisp and crisp and retained its spot adjacent astatine the highest frequencies successful Kahani Suno. The bass connected the 4 6.5-inch W-shaped woofers was capable to nonstop vibrations passim the lawsuit abstraction with its punchy thump. Every instrumentality was reproduced with unbelievable accuracy and precision, resulting successful a wide, spacious, crystal-clear soundstage. Despite the dense bass, the vocals reproduced connected the 6.5-inch W-shaped midrange operator were capable to chopped close done it.

The tweeter and the midrange driver. Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo

The Diva Utopia tin beryllium controlled by its dedicated remote, the Focal companion app for iOS and Android, oregon dependable assistance via Google Assistant oregon Siri. Apart from Bluetooth, it supports AirPlay 2 and Google Cast. It connects to a TV via a regular optical oregon HDMI eARC input and besides supports turntables connected an RCA enactment input. A connectivity diagnostic that stood retired to maine was the inclusion of a hi-res cablegram successful the box. The talker supports your modular 24-bit/96kHz audio, but for adjacent better, signaling studio-worthy sound, it tin spell up to 24-bit/192kHz with the hi-res cable.

The talker looks arsenic stunning arsenic it sounds. It sports an highly minimal and subtle look with conscionable a backlit Focal logo astatine its bottom. The wide vibe is contemporary, with polyester fibers lining its walls, which the institution claims besides helps with insulation and improved sound.

The Diva Utopia is now available for $40,000 a brace astatine prime Focal stores. Check here to spot if there’s a store adjacent you selling it.