Utopia (Original)

Have you ever heard the OG Utopia? I wonder how you’d like it compared to the 2022 that you tried. It’s a little brighter, so it has more treble sparkle, but still maintains good note weight and lush sound signature. I’ve never felt the need to seek out something else. I’m only curious to try the 2022 for comparison’s sake.

Focal Utopia. I’ve stopped caring about audio equipment since getting them. To me they sound practically flawless and it’s hard to imagine there being much better.

What else have you heard? I have the Utopia too and it’s hard to imagine there being much better out there, but I’ve never heard the Susvara.

For me it’s the Utopia. But it’s probably the HE-1.

Bit out of your budget but that's exactly the Focal Utopia OG, very 3D soundstage, great tuning with a hint of warmth, and punch that blows your socks off :) just don't buy it new unless you're rich

Endgame does exist, the LCD5 just wasn't the one for you? I could sell everything I have and be perfectly happy with either my Focal Utopia, DCA Stealth or Susvara, all terrific allrounders that work with any genre

It does get better! Turn off Dolby Atmos, and try a pair of Bower and Wilkins PX8 S2, or Focal Utopia. But if you’re into your APM2, enjoy them.

I've tested all of these and have similar conclusions. The E3 absolutely floored me. It's my new "white whale" headphone that I hope to be able to afford one day. Utopia and HEKSE are also excellent. I didn't have any issues with the Arya organic's treble but I would still EQ them to make them more in line with my preferences.

I just wrote this comment about a week ago on another post: Off the top of my head, the best headphones I've heard are: 1. Stax x9000 2. Hifiman Shangri-la Sr (After these 2, it's in no particular order) 3. Focal Utopia 4. LCD-5 5. DCA E3 (I prefer it over the stealth and expanse, my current dream headphone.) Other favorites: ZMF Atrium Open, Hifiman HEKSE (not a fan of the Susvara line), RAAL Magna (prefer over Immanis), Austrian Audio Composer I've been to Axpona 4 times so I've tested a lot. Still have not tried the HE-1 though.

Whoops, missed the whole open back part lol. It is considered semi-closed so it is more open than a true closed back. Large soundstage and punchy bass is sort of the magical combo people look for but it's usually one or the other. The hifiman Ananda nano fits this criteria but you have to EQ it. DCA expanse and the Utopia also fit what you are looking for but they're both very expensive. Edit: ZMF Atrium open is also a great option but also expensive.

I was stunned at how amazing the Utopia sounds for a dynamic driver and it definitely made me reconsider my opinions on the "planar vs dynamic" debate, but that said I still think Susvara is overall superior in sound. And I'd hope so also, it's a neat bit more expensive than Utopia.