Focal Stella UTOPIA EVO and Boulder 2110 join forces!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 жов 2020
- listen to the beginning stages of my focal stella evo and boulder 2110 linestage. this is only the beginning!
interested in a private consultation?
email me for further details
jayaudiolab@gmail.com
#FocalStellaEvo #Gryphonmephisto #Boulder2110 #GryphonPandora #DCSRossini #AudioquestDragon - Авто та транспорт
![FOCAL Scala UTOPIA Evo | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Eddie Higgins [4K]](/img/n.gif)
the 4th song shows clearly what can be achieved with this speaker for sure; thank you Jay
Great sound Jay
And thanks for the new track
I love it
This speaker and amp combo gives me goosebumps through my cell phone, wish I could hear this in person 🔥
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing Jay.
These Focal Stella Utopia EVOs are the ULTIMATE speakers you have auditioned for us. Thanks for the most exciting and pleasurable sonic experience on line.
Jay's setup is audio dream come true.I see in your system a lot of care and attention of the detail. Enjoy every bit of it.Be aware that your taken care by the best gear an audiophile can dream of.
IMHO, this is your best. I can hear more layers of detail with each instrument down to the plucking of each string. Sensational to my ears. I can just imagine how superb this sounds sitting in the room. Bravo! Love being on this journey with you.
Thank you
the liquidity of the music is just insane
Boulder 2110 just looks amazing! I wish you had a matching Boulder power amp/s.
wow i wish i was able to hear them in person and all different kinds of music, nice set up ,thumbs up from Winnipeg manitoba
great achievement. what a wonderful speaker and a wonderful pre-amp! i think the speaker has relaxed things significantly which i presume is down to a beautiful bass foundation. i do wonder if the boulder isn't a beautiful fit with the Mephisto. somehow less fraught than the Pandora. the clarity is so perfect and yet the musicality is there. it is less clinical than the wilson based presentation is my impression. arguably up to now a contrarian may have been able to say that high end (as on Jay's Audio Lab) is ultra high resolution but maybe not ultra fun. these speakers decisively change that i think (and maybe the pre-amp). this presentation sounds like what one dreams of hearing when u get into audio. ultimate fun! awe inspiring.
Those focal loudspeakers with Boulder, gryphon or Naim just sounds breathtaking.
Doesn’t get much better than that.
I replayed this though UA-cam, a NAD amp and my mordaunt shorts and I still listened spell bound. so many people love hifi but have no musical sensitive but as a black guy ( and I think you are) and a musics lover, you unified us all.
I highly recommend a song called The Wheel off Sohn's album Tremors. It's my ultimate reference song and Focal actually used it as their launch song for the Grande Utopia EM Evos in Munich! Happy listening, your system sounds great!
I second that recommendation. Sohn's The Wheel will have your wife kicking you out the house for a week!
Beautiful sound, I envy you those speakers 😍🤘👍
Very familiar with the last three songs you played. They sound better in your system over UTube than the times I’ve heard them played on expensive systems. You are doing great work. I’m listening with an iPad to AQ Cobalt DAC to Grado RS-1 headphones.
Thanks
I think, finally you get reason for why People want speed, Not use Wilson Audio.. I'm Glad for you, have speed în your System. You start one of The very Best audio System. Keep going with fine adjustment. BR.
Loving Focals choice of colors... especially the blue
One of the very best loudspeakers money can buy.
With top Boulder electronics, Gryphon or Naim the sound is just breathtaking.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
My headphones have never sounded this good! Serious Awesomeness!!!!!!!!
With this combo the subtle details and midrange is outstanding, however, slightly leaner bottom end. The Stella adjust perfectly to the variants in the components. Thanks Jay.
Leaner bottom on video but if you are wearing a wig and sit here, it will go flying off your bald head lol
Alison kraus my favorite song to demo a speaker. I can only imagine how the second part of the song sounds irl that deep earthshaking bass! One day i will have utopias instead of sopra 1s😍
Way out my league but very very beautiful, thanks for sharing, of such.
Hi Jay, your demo sounds great! Noted that you have a Parasound JC1 monoblock just sitting in. Any comments how the Focal would be running with these amps, I have them myself for Martin Logan Summit X electrostatics, as well as Krell FPB700CX, and Bel Canto Ref1000m monoblock for other speakers i use. Pre amps are Anthem AVM60 and Parasound P7, all amps use dedicated power runs, 20A 240v for power, 16A for pre and source items, dCs SACD, and lots of other options.
Now that is a wicked good combo!
Jay, I'm glad you decided to go with Focal over Wilson. I never really cared for the sound signature of the Wilsons. And I'm a Gryphon/Focal guy too! Enjoy!
I feel like by themselves neither of these speakers have a sound signature that deviates too much from neutral. The big difference is how they project the sound and interact with the room.
I got the predecessor, Focal Nova Utopia Be. Magnificent speakers. I tow mine in pointing directly towards my ears. Modified ICEPower - sounds fantastic ^^
Wow, I can only imagine how good it sounds in the room. I just compared the first 3 songs through UA-cam using my RSA Intruder and 64 Audio U4SE balanced to the same direct from Qobuz using Roon. We are lucky if we are hearing 75% of what the direct music sounds like. It must be incredible in your room.
It really is !
Very good IEM
It feels like the mike is now much further from the speakers than before. So, though the impression of the sound is good, it's difficult to compare the two preamps. Even that aside, it would be good to move the mike a bit closer to the speakers.
Is sounding much better than with the Pandora preamp. At work, so only listening with the iPad for now, will have to do a critical listening when I get home. Nothing sounds blown out and no recessed vocals.
Agreed
Clearly these speakers by Focal are world class given their immaculate construction and fidelity. These speakers are the pinnacle of excellence from the bass to the midrange and on to the high frequencies. At around 400 pounds a speaker their ability to play excessively loud without a sweat is unquestionable if you have the amplifiers to drive them as such and Boulder is just the right match.
Love the Focals. Spatial and resolving speakers such as KEF and Focal are where I belong.. I’m becoming a fan of the Mephisto too. Keep doing this stuff. Amazed!
KEF! No Kef can go even near to his Focal sound.
What is that grey device that helps with the dampening?
Nice. Perhaps in homestretch.
Boulder or Soulution will get you there unless you are looking for “seasoning”
Hi,I have a very humble system and would like to thank you steve for sharing your music with us.please could you provide that piece for me.i would like to try and find it on spotify.would the Nelson amps be similar to the boulders,either way,I can't afford it.i have magnam dynalab hybrid to focal 826 w,with a cambridge cxvn2 through a 16g XLR silver.thank you.
Hallo Jay , I am your passionate follower. Need urgent answer . Can I fit Stella's in room size 6m x 5m x 2.5m ??? Please answer Thanks a lot .
question: How can I judge your system if I'm hearing it from youtube? I don't believe the people in the comment section can hear subtle differences from component to component.
Not sure. You'll have to ask the audience here.
The Wilson’s have more control over the sound, the focals feel like they’re more relaxed while doing their job. They seem more natural in the sound once you listen back to back with them and the Wilson’s. The Wilsons seem more upfront in your face. I don’t believe I would have caught all this if I had not gone back to back with better equipment than just the iPad. In a way the differences arnt huge, but the net result is pretty substantial. We may be talking the last 5-10 percent here, but with as many differences as I’ve heard within that last percentage, it’s as if it’s really 50 percent, because the last bits impart so much more to the story. It’s like you have a building with a strong foundation. In one case you go basic for the finishing touches and it looks bland, just ok, or fairly decent based on opinions. Or you could get ornate and decorative instead of utilitarian and the same underlying structure could become a work of art. Maybe it’s cosmetic, but it makes so much difference in how we perceive what we see and feel about it. There so many small little things that can be done that we say this adds one percent, or two percent, or even five, and the next thing you know you’re at fifty percent when you were already at 90-95, which we say other good systems can be, for so much less. If this is the case, it seems that there’s so much more in that last little part then in any of the prior parts that added 5-10 percent.
Remember I never used boulder 2110 with Wilson...the linestage is relaxed...not in your face...let's wait until I get the Pandora back on my channel
Love focal, nice vidéo but man you need at least 1 good light to showcase those amazing gears.
Hi Jay, did you ever come across a pair of EMM Labs mtrx2 in your listen room?
No
Nice looking speakers . I know the sound very well and what you hearing on your computer does not do this fine speaker justice . Please continue with the comments on the sound though . Audiophiles are a crazy bunch and the laughs are part of this crazy hobby .
Lol yes indeed the laughs are
congrats Jay!
Focal stella evo is a magnificent speaker.
I think you haven't heard the real sound of the stella yet. Everything was changed when i used a jumper cable instead of wbt jumper.
Changing the wbt jumper is very big upgrade for stella.
your videos are great 👏👏👏
Thank you
Which jumper did you use ? Do you have evo ?
I'm rolling speakers and amplifiers just like you. but I'm not as fast as you 😁
I used the focal stella em two years ago, the evo model was not released yet.
my speaker cable was transparent reference xl. I used it with a transparent ref XL jumper cable.
My friend is using stella evo. In the same way, changing the wbt jumper worked very well.
Stock for now
Congrats. Not big fan of Focal but heard just lower models. Is the mid as magical as the Alexias?
Both are awesome speakers. At this level it's about preferences
Very Nice. What are the dimensions of you room ? Where did you end up on the placement of the speakers ?
These speakers take a while to burn in. I am shooting for 800-1000hrs. When I took delivery a month ago, I wanted to throw them out due to shearing bright highs and sibilance. After 500+ hrs of burn in with the XLO burn in track on repeat, things are looking up. Next step is proper placement.
17x22. They are 4 feet away from side walls and 8 ft from the wall behind them
@@jaysaudiolab Mine is 16 x 26. I will emulate your placement and adjust from there. Much appreciated.
I have mine EM also on low setting with tweeter slope on low as well but mid range setting on high. I am a sucker for mids.
Sounding good! What's the front end? DCS? CD? Streaming?
Dcs
I wonder how TAD would score in this system
nice instrument separation
Did these have wheels?
They are massive speakers
I wish Focal made these out of aluminum cabinets like YG Acoustics or Magico instead of MDF. I was a little disappointed with the Sopra No2. I wonder how much the Utopia is improved over Sopra?
Not even in the same conversation.
@@jaysaudiolab I am sure they are lightyears better. The crossover's on the Utopia are significantly upgraded and adjustable.
Listen to ; thanks to you ,from Boz Scaggs , around 1:50 in the song and you hear it a couple more times you should feel something:)
Today I listened combo Sopra N3, Diablo 300, emlabs dv2/ns1, with synergistic foundation cable. They absolutely blowed me away. Goose bump all the way. Imagine these big boys.
Wow....100 k speakers.
I have the niagara 3000 home for review, and first impressions is mixed. I hear more Black background, but some of the "life/magic" has dissapeared. I listen to it in my system for around 4 hours so it might improve. Also i need to find a way to Ground the unit. It should perform 50% better with Ground connected.
it may take 250 hours of use to burn in. that has been my experience with power products.
@@steve777ization the second day in my system was much better. Never have My system sounded this good! The unit i used, is normlly for display/demonstration in a store. it might have more than 250 hours of playng time! What was really crazy, was the power cables effect on the sound. The audioquest Tornado in combination with my amplifier, made the sound much more dynamic and detailed.
I hear a completely improved presentation now, the question might be which change makes the most improvement. On second thought - Who cares, keep them both.
Good recommendation lol
By the way, subwoofers are needed just for organ music (10Hz) and a much larger room, of course.
these look a lot better than the wilsons
why did u keep the volume so low,it is way to low?,,sorry,so we cant tell much
By the way, subwoofers are only needed for organ music (10 Hz) and a larger room, of course.
Jay I’m not sure if you have spoke on break in time. As we all know bro these speakers will change their character over a few months.
Over a few months? That is a load of crap.
What was the name of the first track?
Kylie,frommisa criolla
Went to the national audio show yesterday. It was being held in a convention center so I had to walk through a lobby area to get into demo area where the exhibitors were. I could hear a live band playing in the distance but wasn’t sure what group was playing ,but sounded like pretty good cover band. As I entered the room I saw that there was no band ,only a pair of EVOs playing! I could not believe my ears. The best sounding speakers I have ever heard. Truly amazing ..
When are you going to test Piega Master Line?
Never. Not interested in it
@@jaysaudiolab Ok. I was planning on giving you a pair for free. But I'll ask someone else instead then...
The soundstage is larger for sure. The Wilson’s are clearly inferior to these Focals. Give Jazz variants- The O-zone percussion group a listen, it will blow your socks off.
It is unfortunate that Focal did not design this speakers as active speakers. I am pretty sure that they would have been even better with one amp assigned to each loudspeaker, something in a similar way to what Cabasse used to do in the 60s-70s and 80s with their active speaker line especially with the Albatros. An active design UTOPIA would certainly be an modern hommage to the Albatross.
for bass try Dark Knight Rises....by Hans Zimmer.....or Nicole Scherzinger ...Killer Love
Jay, if you want to try new songs, listen to "the big blue" (overture) by Eric Serra and "the millennium" by Michel Jonasz you will find impact, finesse and dynamics! Sorry for my english, i'm french...😉🙃😁
I can't place it, but I like the Griffin sound better. my 2 cents>
It’s Gryphon not “Griffin”
word.
Nice looking beautifully built BUT i don't like the driver configuration,there is a compromise from the bass driver to the upper bass.These need a ten inch or there abouts which will offer a faster transient response.The bass driver in this configuration for money your paying also for the output you is trying to achieve is asking to much for the best possible sound.
When are you going to play my music?
amasssin
Electromagnet means it needs to be powered to be magnetised, that's what the Stella power supply does.
Thank you
@@jaysaudiolab you're welcome :)
With this technology you can directly change the magnet behaviour via the PSU.
the volume is to low
Electrocompani ( Nemo + pre 4.8, cable transparent) go with that speaker much better.
Mon sang circule mieux , je peux compter mes poils dresser un par un!!! Impossible de ne pas aimer Focal , moi même fidèle depuis 30 ans , même mon auto en est pourvu ❤👍
Focal EVO’s vs Wilson Alexia... Impressions...
I heard those speakers weigh 800 pounds each. How do you move them?
I had to get acupuncture after I finished moving them
BASS.....BASS......BASS......UNBELIEVABLE BASS😎 T.C....BYE👍🙂🙂
This made my smartphone sound like it cost $150,000
You must be sending your home owners insurance agent constant updated photos'. I bet he/she's head is spinning trying keep-up with a proper dollar amount for your premiums.😄
It may vary by insurance company, but mine doesn't care what I have in my system as long as the replacement cost is below my policy limit. It's not a car, they don't need to know when things change.
We will have to wait and see, these speakers at this point don’t sound better than the Wilsons or the Maggies and the Wilsons are better than the Maggie’s, but break in is real and you are using a different preamp and cables, so we will all see together, but based off what you have shown us and my perceived perception of you Jay, I think you will get a little comfortable but you will never be satisfied with the Focal over the Wilsons. I think the sound of the Focal will change, but not enough to be your main speaker and based off what you presented they wouldn’t be mine either at this point. I think we will all see this experiment together, but the Focals are not horrible, they are just different. I think you should if you have not already done so eventually take things back to where they were before with even cables so that the only change is the speakers because it becomes easier to identify changes then.
You need a tube to warm it up a bit. A little to lean. I know how focal can be. Lol
Warm it up ? Lol I am trying to brighten it up in here.... It's very relaxed sounding. Zero brightness. And the lean aspect has to do with positioning and speaker settings. I think you forgot the mephisto lol.
Lol, have you heard the new focals, sopra and evo series of utopia stephan? They are far from the older focals, not bright, harsh or something lile that. Just transparent and superdetailed yet smooth.
Play some metallica 🤘🏻😁
It gets banned. Copyright protection
☹️thx for fast response
Why do you persist in calling the electromagnetic power supply a "servo unit?"
You have a field coil, or EM, woofer. As such, it has no magnet. For it to work, it requires DC power. Your external unit is a variable DC power supply. What it is not is a "servo unit."
Thanks for the correction
Jay's Audio Lab 👌
I also learned two things in this- a technical point that also will help me better at this hobby in terms of my understanding AND another dimensions in how Jay is a stand up guy and thanks his subs for these small corrections. Class act and stand up guy- THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING to get these rigs set up. If you ever need some help for tweaks from your sitting position- hit me up sir.
PuertoRican Audiophile Very cool post.
The thin sound that reminds me of monitor speakers with an added subwoofer is really an explosion of high metal tones which, in my opinion, are annoying.Bat everyone has their own taste and I'm glad you found the sound that suits you. These speakers have technology similar to wilson audio alexandria x2 with really different midrange units and advanced technology but x2 have very similar inverter tweeters(focal) and w wofer(focal) is the technology that wilson replaced years ago in my opinion with better units.
I can tell you one thing: my stellas easily best my Alexia 2.... Easy...no battle
@@jaysaudiolab All the best , thanks. Time for music, not a matter of pride-mike silver.👍
Hi Jay
I also have a Focal Stella Utopia EM that’s being driven by Gryphon Essence combi. Front end is Plinius Toko fed by QNAP NAS 261+
And it sounds just amazing. Your impressions are spot on. I really enjoyed your confirmation of my own experience
Thank you
When you will test out the Dynaudio Confidence series, containing the wifely regarded best tweeter in the world: the Esotar 3? Here is a sample of it: ua-cam.com/video/Mmm5y6lEeiQ/v-deo.html
ok
Big Wilson audio fan...Focal not so much. As the years pass I would say 60-40 in favour of Focal.
WISH SOMEONE WOUL PLAY ISAAC HAYES SHAFT INSTEAD OF ALL THAT DEAD MUSIC
If you are interested in listening to particular music, i will be doing a service for a small fee
The best pre amp is no preamp. Also save some money and get some pro amps like Crown or RAM.
Lol
It's a pity focal make their speakers out of nasty MDF board
They aren't the only ones. Many other brands do this. I also don't know why people get all worked up about it. I can't hear s difference with this or aluminum
@@jaysaudiolab Yes many do it, but considering the price tag this company is asking I wouldn't expect anything other than ply laminate
Why are you comcentrating on Bass. The Focal Stellas have great bass but its much better with transparency and emotion. You sound like you like some like Beat audio headphones.
Who ? I love the bass...I never complained...
@@jaysaudiolab Can you play my music on the Focal please?
Sounds ok but a bit polite. Very clear and detailed but just too polite IMHO
What system do you have? Doesn't sound polite to me.? :)
add tube :)
IMHO dont really know how to evaluate hi performance loudspeakers with this kind of music. This music made of a guitar and a voice is just too easy to deal with for any system. Why not to use a more dense and articulated sound program, like a real drum, electric bass, electric piano, hammond organ and maybe electric guitar or brass players and not just a single voice but maybethe choir too? Why not use simphonyc? Why not to use something well recorded, from DIre Straits or Sting, o name the first two I will use to understand something? Why not use something harder to reproduce well, especialy with transients sounds?
It's youtube my friend...you won't get a feeling for the real thing unless you listen in person... This is only for you to get an idea...nothing else...don't go overboard overanalyzing this.. go listen to them in person if you can.
Too much talking, but excellent speakers.
HORRIBLE SONG BUDDY PUT ON SHAFT OR THE LOVE I LOST HAROLD MELVIN BLUENOTES
Need to stick to the same songs I've been using
@@jaysaudiolab OK U SHOULD TRY THE ONES I ASKED SEE IF U LIKE?
"Wake up everybody" by Bluenotes remains one of my all time favorites, I have the 7 inch 45 rpm. Shaft works, I like it a lot. At the same time I agree on staying with the same songs for comparison, just makes a comparison work. By the way, right now perhaps everyone should hear "Wake up everybody" at least once a day - don't you agree ?
Lacks the transparency of an electrostat. Nothing great here.