- Focal launches Diva Alta Utopia wireless floorstanding speakers
- The powerful speakers look like Daleks and boast Naim amplification
- Cost $200,000 or equivalent… and probably worth every penny
Do you hear the faint “Ex-ter-min-ate!” war cry on the horizon? Well, that’s not from these; Focal’s new Diva Alta Utopia speakers are not, in fact, classic Doctor Who-era Daleks, but they don’t look dissimilar. (It’s the felt that gives them away.)
Following on from the company’s outstanding five-star Focal Diva Utopia floorstanding speakers, released in 2024, the brand has re-teamed up with sister brand Naim to offer a bigger and more expensive model: the Diva Alta Utopia.
These are monoliths which come in felt or gloss, and offer the very best the brands have to offer: various W cones, a hunched build to balance the dome pressures, dampened driver suspension, and many other things which make little sense to the average music lover but, doubtless, are genius examples of audio engineering.
Before you add these to your Prime Day wishlist, just be warned that the price is not for the faint of heart. Costing $199,999 / £165,000 (about AU$330,000), these things cost roughly the same as the new Porsche 911 GT3.
That’s five times the price of the non-Alta model. And that’s for the felt finish; the glossy model costs even more, at $210,000 / £175,000 (about AU$350,000).
Audio quality? It’s a focal point
Specs-wise, the Diva Alta Utopia have four drivers per tower: an 8-inch bass, 6.5-inch mid-range bass, 5 1/8-inch midrange, and a prism 1 1/6-inch tweeter, all driven by Naim-designed power, ranging from 90W and 280W.
They seem to be primarily wireless speakers; they can connect via UWB for 192kHz/24-bit playback, or 284kHz/32-bit if you use the Naim Pulse streaming platform. They also work with Spotify Connect, Qobuz Connect, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, you name it. So, a solution meaning you won’t need separate amps cluttering up your home? Lovely.
That said, if you want wires there’s capacity for that too, with Focal mentioning an HDMI eARC connector as well as optical, RCA, USB-A and ethernet ports.
As you can tell by the design language (and the price), Focal isn’t messing around. Are these speaker ready to exterminate any wireless towers of power that stand in their way (provided there are no flights of stairs to manage)? You bet they are.
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tom.bedford@hotmail.co.uk (Tom Bedford)
