Utopia Skala / Alto speakers anyone hear them both

yes. its like night and day. I have compared both and older TBU was very good tweeter but compared to new is harsh, spizzy , and annopying. and the main advantage - new one is efortless and are more imediatly sounding . i will not go deep in to technical data or measurements-its intelectual propertie of jmlab , but this tweter is litle miracle in high end audio,both fo my ears and my measuring equipment.I did not heard better dynamic tweeter tweeter . and what I want to ad to this- diablo, scala, maestro, nova EM and grand EM is completely new xover, and its very diferent from previuos. also they for the first time use real high end components in xover parts. i didnt heard grand and nova,but they should have similar character.and I think with 2009years jmlab for the first time really will be real concurent for real high end manufacturers like wilson audio, kharma. and other speakers brands , why? because its drivers(tweeter, EM woofers and particulary ferit woofers and midrange an-midrange and ferit woofers is still weakest link comparing to tweeter and EM woofer)to my opinion ) are head higher than any other and its xover topology now will let hear theese drivers ability. I wasnt jm lab sound fan for previuosly mentioned reasons but now they are(will be ) on top. and here is tip - Diablo or Nova EM is golden egg of whole line :-)

and by the way experimenting with 2002 year utopia Be line I find that there is one litle and absolutely no cost require upgrade which will make treble sound more efortlessy without stress on trasients or badly recorded male vocals. it will do a revolution but it will be noticeable I woud say many times more than any cable influence.

I didn't think that there is a Nova EM or Maestro EM. Currently, there are only three speakers in the new Utopia III line (as listed on Focal's website): Diablo, Scala and Grande EM. Do you have information to the contrary? I do agree that the Diablo is extraordinary having heard it at Audio Unlimited.

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).