News

Flagship loudspeakers are usually designed to stand out but as range toppers go, few models are as instantly recognisable as Focal's eye-popping Utopia III Evo series. The Utopia DNA has been around since 1995 and as with any crowning model or series, the current Utopia III Evo lineup is the very embodiment of what the company's ambitious team of designers, engineers and craftsman can achieve and a complete showcase of the French company's impressive audiophile capabilities. 

Back in May, the brand chose the High End Show in Germany (see Show Report in the July issue) to introduce two revamped models to its flagship Utopia III Evo series, which is now in its tenth year, with the Grande Utopia EM Evo and Stella Utopia EM Evo floorstanding loudspeakers.

Focal has been in business for more than 35 years and all its products are designed and developed at its base in Saint-Étienne. The revamped models are said to employ a redesigned crossover to achieve more accurate sound; aluminium reinforcement rings around key drivers to increase cabinet structure strength and new acoustic wadding, which is said to help the ported cabinet design to produce a more controlled bass performance. 

Costing £159,999 per pair, the Grande Utopia EM Evo is the bigger of the two floorstanders measuring 654 x 2,012 x 880mm (WxHxD). It's a four-way configuration with a 270mm mid/bass driver with multiferrite magnet, two 165mm midrange drivers placed either side of a beryllium inverted dome tweeter and a 400mm electro-magnet (EM) bass driver.

Costing £89,999 per pair, the Stella Utopia EM Evo (pictured) is a three-way design measuring a slightly more room-friendly 553 x 1,558 x 830mm (WxHxD) and employs the same twin 165mm midrange drivers either side of a beryllium inverted dome tweeter with a 330mm electro-magnet (EM) bass driver. Both models claim 94dB/1W/1m sensitivity into 8ohm.

The silhouette of the Utopia Evo remains unchanged and there are 1,458 possible driver alignment adjustments for what the company calls 'total sound personalisation' offered by the Grande Utopia EM Evo, and 243 adjustments for the Stella Utopia EM Evo. All models are available in automotive-inspired colour finishes that include metallic blue, ash grey, British racing green, as well as black lacquer and carrara white. The loudspeaker cabinet is fully lacquered, with the front and side panels in one single colour and the tweeter cabinet is finished in graphite black. All models come with removable midrange and bass driver grilles and are on sale now. Click here to find out more.