Focal Utopia Scala V2 or Persona (9H/7F)

We are one of the fortunate displaying Persona dealers in the East Coast of the USA, NJ to be exact and we have a lot of experience with these speakers.

These are two fantastic speakers with some similar traits and some major differences.

Both are fast, clean and dynamic, however, Focals don't image very well their large wider baffles create a big sound stage, the Personas have a much more focused sound stage which is both wide with superb image specificity set up correctly the Personas are incredibly holographic!

Also the Personas use the same material Beryllium for both the tweeter and midrange drivers, so the sound is very coherent and remarkably detailed. Their midrange is a bit cooler then the Focals whose W sandwich cone has a bit more coloration. 

Lastly the Personas have deeper bass with the added advantage of active room correction to ensure that the bass response in your room is very tight and clean this also makes them highly adaptable and immune to room size.

We had fantastic sound in the last New York Audio show in a very small hotel room.

These are two very revealing loudspeakers so you must be very careful how and what you are using with them.

The Krell electronics are very good however, they can seem a bit mechanical and don't have the speed and articulation of some of their newer competitors, and cast does not sound as good as regular cabling. 

However, with the right digital front end, cabling and power conditioning the electronics you have may be able to work very nicely. 

If you can pay us a visit our reference system will convince you on how magnificent the Personas are when paired with the right components.

Our reference setup includes T+A electronics, Baetis music server, LH Labs Davinci Dac plus Enklein Cabling:

Here was our show setup:

https://www.facebook.com/rutherfordaudio/photos/pcb.612221115616753/612220672283464/?type=3&thea...

and after the show
show

https://www.facebook.com/122499304489958/photos/a.122500301156525.22643.122499304489958/138072913200...


Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

First off, absolutely wait for the Scala Utopia Evo.  Buying the v2 would be a mistake.  The Evo is a huge improvement to an already incredible speaker.

Moving on to the Personas.  WTF?  No , literally.

How are they this good?  I don’t know – but the Persona B, 3F, and 7F are so good when set up right, it’s hard to describe.    I haven’t heard the 5f, but the 3F is honestly underpriced severely.

I agree with most of what AudioTroy said, aside from the Utopia’s having a small soundstage due to the baffle.  While I do agree and take into consideration the baffle width - I don’t think it’s the end all determining factor.   Obviously Raidho is magical, but so would Golden Ear be.  That’s not the case (although they are good speakers).

I haven’t heard enough of the Evo in a fair environment to say anything concrete but what I heard was really really amazing.  As far as the comparison, I think you are looking in the right direction.

Either way, the Personas...  if they had a different brand label on the bottom, they’d be on every audiophiles wishlist.  They should be.  I hope Paradigm can overcome the audiophile snobs who scoff at the speakers just because they make budget stuff as well.  The Personas are something truly special.  

Sorry for the rant, you just happened to post about two of my favorite speakers.

Thanks Contuzzi 

I know you are hearing what we are hearing with the Personas.

I think if you keep on looking at the differences between the two the Personas are still really heard to beat.

The active room corrected bass is a fantastic feature that guarantees one of the most difficult to achieve things in all of audio is done properly ie, clean tight well defined bass response in room.

A passive speaker without room correction technology will be difficult to get the bass to be in the same league. 

Troy and Dave
Audio Doctor NJ 

@contuzzi  Where have you heard the EVO?  To my knowledge the speaker isn't out until September and was on static display in Munich.

Yes Troy, I agree with your comments on the Cast Cables. I am running Siltech throughout my system. DAC is EMM Labs DA2 with Bryston BDP-2. I can get a much better bang for my buck if I go for the Scala V2's with the EVO's coming out.