Focal Utopia monitors: Diablo vs. Micro Be


I have a pair of Micro Utopia Be speakers (complemented with a REL Stentor 3 subwoofer) which I drive with an Accuphase combo, i.e. the E-550 amp together with the DP-500 cd player. I like the speakers very much and I was not really thinking of getting rid of them, nor am I feeling the need for a change/upgrade. However, an audiophile friend of mine informed me today than one of his friends is selling a pair of Focal Diablo Utopia 3 speakers for about half the retail price. Since the speakers are less than a year old this seems to be a good bargain.

I am interested to here opinions from anybody who has compare these two speakers. Are the differences so significant to justify a 5K (euros) investment?

Thanks!
nvp

Elviukai, my last answer to you regarding the output of my Accuphase E-550 amp into the Focal Micro Be speakers was too intransigent. Sorry, you seem to be knowledgeable in this regard. Please read further for clarifications.

Of course, the concept of nominal impedance is a vary vague concept that practically tell you nothing about important parameters like the lowest impedance, the frequency where it occurs, phase angle, etc. Not to mention that the impedance of a speaker as seen by an amp also depends on many other parameters, e.g. cables, how loud the speaker is played, room temperature, position of the speaker in the room, etc.

Since you have measured the speaker (I did not) you are probably right that my amp will delivery more like 60 watts when driving my Micro Be speakers. However, at the levels that I listen this is not a problem for my amp, i.e. according to the onboard meters my Accuphase has more than 20 dB of headroom (before clipping). This was actually the point I made in my answer to Phaelon.

You probably read quickly my answer to Phaelon and missed this point. This bother me a bit as this seemed not to be the first inconsistency in your answers (I have read many of your post about the new Focal Utopia line). The most striking example in this regard are your posts about the differences between the 2nd and 3rd Focal Be tweeters. In this thread you write:

"I would not consider word "blow away" right here."

whereas in a different thread. i.e. "Utopia Skala / Alto speakers anyone hear them both", you write:

"Scala is much better.its deisgned by another enginier in Jm Lab the tweeter itself is 3x better than old ones."

Regards,
Paul
hi NVP, you post wasnt intransigent, neither mine(I hope so) Structure of this forum is quite free from science and objective data(its audiophile forum) and inviting to write (and also read) fast.

as for my(I belive other poster) phrase "mind blowing" and that scala better 3 times there is no contraction. its how we imagine this phrase. for me diference in scale reproduction from Diablo vs Micro Be is small but stll significant, diference form Diablo to Maestro is big, diference between Diablo and Grande EM is even more bigger. but there is nothing to "blow" even mind. mind blowing diferencies can be between triangle titus and some custom 2800 pounds line arrays with aditional 800cm2 cone area as subwoofer section, with overall cone size 134 times bigger than triangle. also theese arrays will lilkely "blow" you of your socks in some materials ,which neither Titus or Grande EM will do- they are bot limited in its structure. this diference can be heard and felt by my, my wifer, my wifes grandma, and grandmas kid kids.. and however diferencies in utopia III and previuos utopia generations is noticeable. for me- in midband=which sounds faster and smoother and more integrated. With Alto in some records I just can easily pin point localisation of sound origin- tweeter. And I hate that. With Scala (which is identical in structure and its nature Alto ) speakers starts "dissapear" and midband blends to wholeness and convince listener to performance. at least for me. No metter how clean and transparent speakers sounds-if there is no 3D image they will not convince me in performance. so yes Scala performs three times(300%) better in this respect for me. but nothing to be "blown".
Does anyone know of a qualified technician located in the Chicago area that could re-cap my Micro BE’s as described above by johnsonwu?

No need for a "qualified" technician. Just anyone who has quick hands and hot soldering iron and nylon tie wraps. This is not nearly as difficult as a preamp job. Carefully open the crossover panel from the back with Torx Wrench and you will see how simple it is.
Johnsonwu... Thanks for your encouragement but soldering caps on a crossover is something altogether out of my league. Hopefully someone can refer me to someone who can do this for me.

Thanks again.

Rich