Focal Utopia monitors: Diablo vs. Micro Be

Hi guys,

Sorry for the late reply.

I have decided not to buy the Diablos for two reasons. First, I was not able to do a direct comparison as the seller was living quite far from me (200 Km or so). As I have mentioned in the beginning of this post I like my current system very much and I do not want to change things just for the sake of changing. Second, the guy did not have the boxes of the speakers. This seems unimportant, but I have learn this lesson the hard way, i.e. last year when moving to a new house one of the Be tweeters of my Micros got shredded because one of the boxes was a bit damaged and it did not keep the speaker inside safe. Focal replaced the tweeter immediately (within 2-3 weeks) but it cost me almost 700 euros.

I am still interested in the comparison (and probably I am not the only one), so I hope the post will not stop here.

Best regards,
Paul

Hi guys,

I want to thank you all for trying to help me. Here are my answers to the last three contributors to this post:

Elviukai, thanks for taking the time to write such a long post. I associate the sound of electrostatics with quickness and presence in the midrange and highs. Diablo definitively had those characteristics when I've heard them. Nonetheless, even though the Diablos did not sounded quite like panels, their presentation of the music reminded me of electrostatics.

Johnsonwu, thanks for the tip. It is not the first time I hear stories like yours (I have read some of your other posts). Every time I get very angry with these companies and the hifi industry. (Of course, this happens not only in the hifi industry, but every where in today's market economy.) These people have not decency at all. Using 1.5 $ caps in a 5000 euros speaker ... it's not like a single crossover network would require 50 caps so the savings/expenses would be significant.

Phaelon, I do not know whether or not Diablo is a easier load than Micro Be. However, I can tell you that currently I am driving my Micro Be speakers with an Accuphase E-550 class A amplifier. The amp has only 30 Watts per channel into 8 ohms. I can assure you that it has more than enough juice to drive the Micros. I did not even consider the possibility that my amp would not be capable of driving the Diablos. At this level quality is much more important that quantity. Of course, 30 watts (into 8 ohms) are not enough to reproduce the dynamics of a full orchestra but if that would be your goal you would probably not look at 30 watts amps and monitor speakers.

Best wishes,
Paul

I now understand your description of ES, yes Diablo have some Bloom in lower mids and tranparent extended hights and its realy one of the fastest speakers out here. However I completely disagre about midrange presence- Diablo have better than electrostatic IMHO. its pin point unlike ES.

Your Accuphase integrated is 60w with Micro Be not 30W. I would cosnider 80-100w and 100-130w optimum(bigger wont hurt either) to reach both speakers maximum spl abilities..
You shouldnt worry about protection of Diablo tweeter BTW, as it have good protective grill(I STRONGLY recomend pick up grile in place when not listening if you have kids, pets or wifer who like to clean around..)
I looked at Your system, its realy nice and simple (uncomplicated) good luck.

Elviukai, according to the Focal documentation the nominal impedance of both Diablo and Micro Be speakers is 8 ohms. As I have mentioned twice in my post my Accuphase outputs 30 watts into 8 ohms loads. The E-550 amp will output 60 watts into 4 ohms loads, however, according to the Focal documentation the lowest impedance of Micro Be is 5 ohms. Thus, unless the information on the Focal manual and site is wrong my amp will not output 60 watts when driving the Micro Be speakers. Into 5 ohms loads the Accuphase E-550 amp will output 48 watts.

Paul

Hmm.. my expierence says that specifications on websites is for.. comaparision with other manufacturers, nothing more. and its fine for that purpose (assuming all says the same "true")

OK I checked, the lowest Micro impedanse is 4.2ohms , while rdc is 3.7ohms its definately 4 ohm speaker and your accuphase will deliver more current. Diablo have very similar results, thought its electrical pahse shift and impedance changes is much smoother than Micro. both speakers are easy to drive (this is not Maestro with 3 drivers overlaping with total 1.6ohms!) but theese impedance changes and ~1db more eficienty on Diablo may be considered as better for amp.