Utopia Skala / Alto speakers anyone hear them both


Also curious if anyone has run conrad johnson lp140's or premier 140's through either of these speakers and had any luck with there sound. I'm just trying to see what I want to do to the system I am building. AAAHHH God help me!!!.

Thanks Mike.
rediculus

Showing 8 responses by bar81

It's Scala Utopia fyi. I'm interested as well although I'll be listening for myself at some point.
Linkster,

There will be a Nova replacement (whether called the Maestro or otherwise) and a Nova EM which should slot in around where the old Grand Be used to be. The last I heard (which was several months ago)they are scheduled to be released this fall.
Elviukai,

Thanks for the information. It will be interesting to compare the Alto to the Scala to hear what Focal have been able to do when comparing apples to apples; it's particularly interesting to hear that the new line has a more intimate presentation. However, I'm even more interested to hear how the Nova replacement compares against the Isis as the pricing I'm hearing on the Nova EM is a little bit crazy imo (although one would hope that given the euro's decline against the dollar, Focal would adjust their prices accordingly).
I know I am reviving an old thread but the original question was never answered and I finally had the chance to compare the Scala head to head with the Alto the other day.

What Focal has done with the Scala is pretty impressive and something I am still having a hard time comprehending given what I thought were the similarities between the designs of the Alto and the Scala. While the Alto remains a great speaker, the Scala improves upon it in every way top to bottom and most impressively, makes the Alto seem slightly veiled in comparison (which is pretty shocking considering how veiled most other speakers sound in comparison to the Alto ime).

Were the prices the same, it would be the Scala hands down, but given the marked price differentials between the Alto on the used market and the Scala new, it's a decision that will be personal to each buyer.
From a very short comparison listening session, the things that stood out between the Maestro and the Scala are: (i) punchier, tauter bass of the Maestro, (ii) more transparent midrange of the Maestro and (iii) removal of the last semblance of warmth by the Maestro.

If you have the space, the Maestro is clearly the superior speaker to the Scala; unfortunately, I don't currently have the space or I would probably own the Maestro.
Lucky_boy,

The Scala should work in that room but you will likely need to treat the room acoustically.