Focal Utopia Scala V2 or Persona (9H/7F)

Dear Shpitz,

Yes there are always buys on the older model,  and should not be the answer, if you purchase a great product that you can buy and keep for a long time you will gain much greater satisfaction and not be shopping for the next deal for a long time, 

It has taken us 3 years to build our reference system and quite frankly we wouldn't want to change it just tweek it. 

Once you create a system that sounds magical you will want to get off the merry go round. 

We could show you a lot of tricks that will make you take notice of how real a system can sound. 

If you purchase a great anything you will not be tempted to exchange it for a long long time, that includes cars, watches, women, etc. 

Find what works and keep it you will be happier and wiser in the long run.

That is our approach to audio, we have the best sounding turntable one that costs $7k and it sounds nearly as good as a $40k one, so why would we be looking for another? Same thing with our choice of T+A electronics and the LH Labs Davinci dac, which we compared to the DA2, no contest there at all. The LH Labs Davinci can be upgraded from MK 1 to MK 2 for a reasonable cost, so if you purchased one 5 years ago, you would still be happy today again long term satisfaction vs models which can't be upgraded such as DCS, and Meitner. You can do board upgrades but you can't turn a Dac2xSe into a Da2 different platforms for examplel. 

Different philosophy if you want a deal, we have a pair of $68k Polymer Research MKXS which use all Aucton pure Diamond drivers, for $28k probably the best speakers ever made, dropping the line due to lack of marketing otherwise buy a pair of Personas or the newer Focals and keep them for 10+ years.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Well, the guy above never responded and it really doesn't matter anyway, nothing Focal can do to the Scala is going to make it a Maestro - which is the big jump in performance.  If you are going to get the Focal, what you're thinking is correct - you pick up a V2 on a steep discount which is going to be a way better buy versus the EVO which will cost 20% more MSRP versus the V2 and be unlikely to be offered at any significant discount since it sill be brand new.  Plus the V2 as is is an excellent speaker so its not like you're not going to be very happy with the choice.

I agree.

What do you all think about the SASHA 2's being added into the equation??

Plus my listening room is on the smaller side, 12’ x16’ with 8’ ceilings. My room is heavily treated as a result with absorption on the side wall reflections, rear walls. Deflection behind the listening position and bass traps in the corners. Carpet on the floors. Haven’t had a chance to do anything with the ceilings yet aside from bass traps in the upper corners. I can listen at fairly loud levels. I am also planning on auditioning the Wilson Sasha 2’s as they are available here. Focals Scala V2's  I listened to while on a trip out east and liked them very much. They were in a larger room and were quite a bit brighter than my current C4’s. I worry they may be to bright with the Be tweeter in my smaller room and worry about the bass as well. Hence my interest and hesitation in the Persona with Be tweeter and Mid-range plus ARC room tuning tech. My concern is the added cost for this technology, class D amps,  over perhaps non amplified 3 way speakers. I have heard the Persona 3F and they were OK but again on the brighter side of the spectrum. No chance to audition their 7F or 9H and hence my hesitation. I guess the other small concern is re-sale if ever I get the bug (lol)  to change down the road. I am hopeful the Sasha 2’s sound great with the music I enjoy...... Anyone with experience in smaller rooms with Sasha's 2's please chime in. My listening is mostly at moderate levels and mostly, Jazz, Blues, Contemporary, easy listening. Not much rock or orchestral. I listen to Flacs thru my DA2. Cabling is Siltech.

If the reason you’re considering anything other than the Scala V2 is that they might be bright, I wouldn’t sweat it much - there’s a jumper on the base in the back that shelves treble down slightly if you have any issues. I’m really sensitive to treble and that took away the brightness. Same option on bass if you need it. It’s a great feature that Focal has included on all of their current Utopia models that almost completely reduces the risk of the speaker not working in a room.

In 50+  years of this game, I never heard a French speaker I didn't like .