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Focal/JM Labs Nova Utopia Be

I'm going to be acquiring these speakers next week as replacement to my Dynaudio Countour S3.4s (a significant upgrade to say the least). Provided the size of the speaker and the low frequency response, I am wondering if any owners or previous owners of similar speakers have experienced any difficulties incorporating beasts such as these into a moderately sized room. My system resides in a 20' x 13' room with the speakers/electronics along the short wall. The corners, first reflection points and rear walls are acoustically treated. Additionaly, the stated nominal impedence is 8 ohms with the minimal impedence dipping to 3.6 . Would it be advisable to utilize to 4 ohm taps of my Mac amp rather than the 8s? Thanks in advance. New speakers is always both an exiciting and daunting venture...
adamg
wrm57
985 posts
 
Brett, I'm still liking your PBNs a lot. I've upgraded literally everything else in my system and they've risen beautifully to all challenges. Thanks again, and good luck with the next move. Either Focals would be marvelous, I'm sure.

Bill
lubes3
35 posts
 
Bill, that is great to hear. System synergy is something we all work on, and sometimes we get lucky! Enjoy.

I was hoping to hear from Adamg about his impressions of the Focal Nova, in his slightly smaller than my room.

Would also appreciate anyone else's feedback regarding Focal Novas or the newer Scalas. I was told by a Focal dealer that the Novas would be too large for my room, but the Scalas would be an ideal replacement for my Watt/Puppy 8s.

Thanks,
Brett
adamg OP
89 posts
 
Hi Brett

Sorry for the delayed reply. I have been thrilled with the Novas over the past three weeks. I was expecting some difficulties assimilating them into my listening space but I could not turn down the opportunity to acquire them locally at a great price. There is an evident bass hump at 50-60Hz. On a very limited number of recordings, the execess bass is distracting enough to prevent me from enjoying the music. I will emphasize that this occurs on a very small percentage of my listening material thus far. Furthermore, my previous speakers, the Dynaudio Contour S3.4, is several definable and categorical leagues away from the W/P series 8. Certainly a large part of my enjoyment of the new speakers is that they are simply much more elaborately engineered than my preceding floorstanders. This certainly wont be the case with you. My instincts tell me that the Scalas would be a more ideal replacement than the Novas in your circumstances.

Adam
focalfan
53 posts
 
brett,the scalas should work wonders in your room size, in my opinion. the novas have a bump in the 5060 hz region by design , to fatten the bass a bit for the usa market.
this is not the case with the scalas ,maestro ,stella em and g.u.em very smooth and consistent across the frequencies.
good luck!
lubes3
35 posts
 
Thanks guys. I think you're right about the Scalas being the better fit for my room. I'm also considering Rockport Ankaas(though I just heard they are discontinued), Coincident Pure Reference, and SP tech revelations. Unfortunately, no where to hear them, except the Coincidents at a local enthusiasts home.

Adam there are many mfgs of sound attenuation to get rid of that 50-60 hz bump. My PBN EPS2 were like that-much worse than the WP8s.

I'll keep searching and playing with the WP8s positioning. One inch any direction makes a big difference!!

Thanks again,
Brett
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