Upgrade from B&W 802D1 to Focal Utopia Scala Evo


If you had the chance to upgrade from  the B&W 802D1 to the  FOCAL UTOPIA SCALA EVO, which would you choose and why? 

onehorsepony

@onehorsepony there are few options 

1. make the necessary placement and room acoustics changes to make these speakers work in your room

2. Trade in your Focal speakers towards a new or preowned set of B&Ws

You’ve made an expensive audio mistake. I know it’s frustrating. But it happens.
You can either fix or live with it. Continuously expressing your grievances about this  won’t fix the problem. 

OP,

I can understand your concern. I would try and relax. I can understand why the circumstances are very frustrating. But it sounds like patience is the best policy for now. 

I’d recommend taking photos of your system and posting them under Virtual Systems. This sometimes can be really important of us to be able to see exactly what you are working with. It might really help. 

In the mean time, I’d go ahead and get the 500 hours on them, just in case that makes a difference. I would definitely not do any thing rash like trading for some old B&W. You’re retired and will have lots of time to figure this out. Loosing a whole bunch of money by getting rid of the would be very frustrating in the long run. 

Suppose I forget about the old B&W's and opt for a new pair of 802D4? What difference would I expect from the Focal's?

Cheaper to try different preamps, EQ and gear. The D1 was relatively neutral, smooth bass. The D2 was a tad brighter, bit more elevated bass but still neutral when compared to my neutral speakers IMO. The D3 was a tad brighter and more edgy around 2kHz. The D4 was about the same. Soundstage and focus should be about the same for all. B&W tweeters won't have the speed and detail of Focal. Personally, I'd prefer the headroom with the ability to tone it down.

OP, If you decide to open up the question of which speakers you should buy... I recommend starting from scratch. Audition all the major categories: new B&W, Wilson, Sonus Faber... maybe a planar (although this can make swapping electronics mandatory) and DynAudio. Take your time, maybe travel if you need to. If you think you jumped to quickly last time, take your time this time.