Samuel Wines
Here at Man of Style, our focus has always been on finding the best quality, premium products that we genuinely have an interest in, and would readily recommend to friends and family. Our philosophy revolves around one fundamental doctrine: buy less, but buy the best. So naturally, when the option to review a pair of the world’s finest headphones from Focal came onto our radar, we jumped at the opportunity.
World-renowned French loudspeaker manufacturers Focal stepped onto the scene in 2016 with a pair of headphones that quite literally, changed the game forever. Manufactured in Saint-Etienne in France, utilising Focal’s thirty-five years of experience in the high-end speaker drivers and loudspeaker market; the Utopia headphones are an audiophile’s dream come true.
The Focal Sound
They are the world’s first headphones to utilise open backed full range speaker drivers, equipped with Beryllium ‘M’-shaped domes. The result? The sound quality of the is simply unparalleled in terms of realism, neutrality, dynamics and clarity—offering a user experience like no other. When wearing these works of art, the auditory sensation is astonishing; there is no change in the perception of your surroundings, more specifically, the room size. In other words, it quite literally sounds like you are aurally immersed by surround sound speakers in a room. An acoustic sensation that must be heard to be believed. For someone like myself who has a strong affinity to the sensation of music, it’s heaven.
The Design
Most high-end headphone manufacturers tend to focus fully on product functionality. Resulting in a product that offers excellent performance, but compromises on comfort and aesthetics. After four years of collaboration between their R&D and production teams, Focal has managed to unify functionality, comfort and aesthetics. When wearing the Utopia headphones, one will notice the equal distribution of weight of the headphones over the head, ensuring there is no pressure on the head or ears. The lambskin leather ear-piece also deserves a special mention. Aside from being strikingly elegant, they are equipped with high-density memory foam. Providing the perfect sealing that adapts seamlessly to the wearers head shape. There’s been many a time whilst using these headphones and have got lost in sonic bliss and genuinely forgotten that I was wearing them. They are by far the most comfortable over-ear headphones I have ever had the pleasure of using.
The Price
It should be noted that the Utopia headphones aren’t just big on sound. Coming in at around $5,500, they’re also big on price. Ruling them out of the price range for most casual music listeners. Whatsmore, you’ll need a premium audio player such as the Astel and Kern AK70 Mk II to get the most out of your headphones. However, for those who settle for nothing but the best, it’s a small price to pay for auditory perfection.
The Man of Style team would like to thank Busisoft AV for partnering with Man of Style on this project.