Focal scala utopia evo

Anybody out there using the focal scala utopia evo if so what size room are they in.?

My room size is approximately 50m2, however i have a very awkward setup where my speakers are sitting in the first half of the room and a pool table sits in the other half. So not really symmetrical.

Used to have the Focal Sopra 2 and upgrade to the Scala EVO III, woooow what an upgrade, complete transformation.

Thanks I do have sopra 2 myself my room is L shape I might go for utopia next did you find the utopia fill the space more than sopra?.

My room is approximately 35 sq m the L part makes up about 7 sq m.

It certainly did, i was a little skeptical at first and was considering a source upgrade, however my NAIM dealer suggested i go with the Scala and the improvement it will bring will be phenomenal, and it did.

Everything has improved and i started enjoying the music far more than i used to, however it started to highlight some culprits in my system, hence i upgraded my NDX to NDX 2, and this week i get a new 252 to be traded in with my current 282, and i am sure i will go through a few other upgrades this year, something i was not really considering with my old Sopra 2.

Good luck if you do decide to take the plunge.

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i went 282 for new 252 and the 252 has more control it’s has more of a grip it’s works very well with 300dr.

I took a picture of both speakers before before my dealer took away my old Sopra 2s, as you can see in the picture, the EVOs are much bigger in volume, though the height is almost the same, the EVOs are a little taller though.

My 252s are hopefully coming in this week, cannot wait to see how they will perform compared to my current 282.

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Yes great photo will you let me know how you get on with your 252.

Transformation? In what ways? More details please. :grinning:

Well, usually you need the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) when considering serious upgrades which do affect the looks of the living room (this is where my music system is, and i guess also for most forum users), funny enough this upgrade was requested by my wife who did not like the orange colour of the Sopra 2, and she was always hinting that she would like to see something else which is more appealing to the eye and blends more with our living room. Hence, i saw a goal wide open with no goal keeper, hence started looking at the best speakers i could go for considering that i do not plan to change them in the future and they will not fall into my upgrade wish list.

Spoke to my Naim dealer who is a also a Focal dealer, and happened to have a brand new pair of Scala EVO in stock, and was willing to do a very interesting swap deal. I took my wife to see the speakers and she absolutely loved how they look. So i went for it.

As for how they compare against the Sopra 2, they are on a completely different league, i had a listen to a Stella once in Singapore, and I would say that they are closer to the Utopia Stella than the Sopra 2. The power of those speakers is staggering, along with my 282/300/NDX, they offered a lot more power, my roof was shacking even at low volumes (which hence has drawn me in to start some room treatments), the separation is must better, you can hear the musical instruments separately with more coherence, precision and detail, if you turn the lights down and close your eyes, the speakers disappear and you cannot tell where they are. The vocals are more crystal clear, you can hear more details in the artist voice and you can hear more clearly every breath the artist takes. The music just sounds more natural.

After installing them and allowing them some time to break in, i was gobsmacked the first time i heard them, my music was elevated to completely new heights. The drawback is that it pushed me to consider the weaker spots in my system and an uncontrollable itch to do other upgrades, hence i went for the NDX2, through in a Cisco 2960, i have a new 252 arriving this week, and i can see myself going for the 555ps in a couple of months.

Also, since they speakers are very powerful, i do not have the perfect room setup, and hence i have to also consider room treatment.

In a nutshell, this is my observation :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the details Hani. They might be close in size, but not in price. :astonished: That’s the problem with upgrading…you expose the weak link. Then when you upgrade that, something else becomes the weak link. It’s never ending!

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I have heard them myself on naim statement with nd555 555ps and they where incredibly musical .

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I’ve heard them too, on a full 500 system and they were great for hifi pyrotechnics but for enjoyable music, no thanks.

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It’s amazing the way people hear different qualities with loudspeaker but I feel alot of it is room dependent any speaker will only sound as good as the room. Get the room set up properly and your nearly there.

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Hi Hawkmoon,
I used Focal Scala Utopias with Naim amplification for about five years until the dealer offered the chance to try ‘pre-owned’ Maestro Utopias which I now own. That change was 3+ years ago.

My room size is H 3.8m, Length 6.7 m, Width 4.6m.

Amplification was 552/300 for most of the time. Initially from new the sound took a while to settle and benefitted from careful tuning of position and angle. Throughout the period the Scalas were exceptional, sounding natural, dynamic, detailed and unobtrusive. I had not thought of changing them until the dealer got in touch about the Maestros.

I understand that the latest Evo 3 changes are generally considered to be very beneficial, though the price has increased a lot too!

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Hawkmoon, I wouldn’t bother trying to convince the “Focal Bashers” out there that the speakers are any good. They’ve quite clearly never gotten over the fact that their beloved Naim was merged with a speaker company they don’t like. They’ll take any opportunity they can to take a pot shot.

By the way - awesome speakers, buy them!

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Very jealous of your wife mate. :wink:

Well, you have the lovers and the haters, fair enough, but in no way I would call the Scalas “hifi pyrotechnics but for enjoyable music, no thanks.”, no chance at all. I have heard top end speakers like Magicos and Wilsons, the Scalas do not fall short when compared to them, and are certainly musical and engaging. All what matters is what you think as the speaker owner.

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Finally got my 252, today is the third day and surely it needs more time to break in, but so far they are quite a transformation compared to my previous 282, it has taken the music to a new level, and am sure given a few more weeks, the 252 will start to shine and show off it’s capabilities. So far, am loving it and far better than my previous 282.

Great to hear yes it will get better and it will grip the bottom end better than 282, l had the 282 and the 252 i had home demo so I had 2 preamp at the same time and the 252 wins on every aspect. Do you find it has more control more blanced sound.