Focal Diva Utopia: The Future of High End Systems

We’ve listened to dozens, if not hundreds, of High End systems. And every time we thought we had heard it all, something like the Focal Diva Utopia comes along, and it’s clear: no, the limit hasn’t been reached yet.

Focal Diva Utopia is for those who aren’t afraid to experiment and are ready to take a step into a new era of High End acoustics.

Philosophy

Focal is taking a big risk by releasing wireless speakers in such a conservative segment as High End audio. Essentially, this is the first ever fully wireless system of this caliber, and we all know how digital and, even more so, wireless technologies have struggled to gain acceptance in the High End world.

Well, in this case, we can only praise Focal — the speakers are exceptional, proving that technology is advancing and wireless audio can now sit comfortably alongside the top High End systems. Let’s take a closer look.

Design: When Acoustics Are Art

Have you ever wondered why some speakers you don’t just want to listen to, but also admire as a work of art? Diva Utopia is exactly that. They look as though they were designed by someone with an architectural background but with the soul of an audiophile. Smooth lines, perfect proportions, and a chassis that exudes elite minimalism. This is not just equipment; it’s part of the interior that immediately says: "Here lives a person with taste."

The combination of a smooth black body and felt side panels looks stunning. It feels like these speakers would fit effortlessly into almost any room, beautifully highlighting the owner's refined taste. By the way, Focal has promised to release additional side panels so owners can easily change the design.

Technical Specifications and Package

Acoustically, the Diva Utopia is a three-way active system. The front panel features a 6.5-inch midrange driver and Focal's signature beryllium tweeter. Four 6.5-inch woofers (two on each side) handle the low frequencies. The port is directed downward. The claimed frequency range is 30 Hz - 40 kHz.

The digital and amplification components are handled by Naim, which has been part of the same parent company as Focal since 2011.

In the box, you’ll find only two speakers, spikes, a protective grill, an Ethernet cable, and a remote control — everything you need to set up your Diva at home. Pure minimalism.

The system is designed so that one speaker is the "leading" one, and the other is "following." But don’t think it’s like cheaper systems where the amplifier is only in one of the enclosures. Both Diva Utopia speakers are active and equipped with a 400-watt amplifier each. The difference is that one has all the inputs on the rear panel, while the other only has an Ethernet port for connecting the speakers together.

Don’t be misled –– the Diva Utopia is a fully wireless system, meaning the speakers connect to each other over the air. So, why bother with a cable? The reason is that with a completely wireless connection, Diva Utopia can reproduce music up to 24 bit/96 kHz. If you need higher quality, you’ll have to connect the speakers with the provided Ethernet cable, in which case the maximum quality with wireless sources increases to 24 bit/192 kHz.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Diva Utopia supports Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Universal Plug’n’Play (UPnP), or Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Adaptive compatibility. Through the proprietary app, you can connect to streaming services like Tidal, Qobuz, and QPlay.

There’s also a variety of physical sources available for connection: on the rear panel of the main speaker, you’ll find connectors for analog stereo RCA, optical digital, USB, and HDMI ARC/eARC. When connected to a digital source, you’ll get the maximum resolution of 24 bits/384 kHz and DSD128.

Setup and Acoustic Room Calibration

Setting up the Focal Diva Utopia is incredibly easy. There are small wheels under the speakers, so if you have a flat floor, you can easily move them into place. We recommend experimenting with speaker placement first, and only after making sure you’ve found the optimal spot, should you install the spikes.

We decided to start with the wireless connection, and when we powered the speakers on… they immediately connected to each other. We expected to have to press the pairing button on the back panel and wait for the speakers to sync, but no — each pair is pre-synced at the factory, and the button is only needed for manual pairing in case of a factory reset. Well thought-out.

To address any questions you might have — the speakers don’t connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Instead, they use UWB (Ultra Wide-Band) — a wireless technology for short-range communication that ensures lag-free data transmission at speeds of up to 1 Gb/s. Focal claims that the UWB connection for the Diva Utopia is stable up to 10 meters, which should be more than enough. However, they recommend a minimum distance of 5 meters between the speakers.

The Focal & Naim app is intuitive, beautiful, and easy to use. You can connect to your preferred services and adjust the sound. Essentially, it acts as another remote control. We immediately connected to Tidal and began testing tracks.

After the listening session, we decided to try adjusting the sound using the built-in ADAPT system (Adaptive Acoustic Personal Tuning).

The system is fairly simple, and the sound adjustment takes no more than 10 minutes. It's not fully automatic — you'll need to input the distance to the walls and the listening point, then adjust the test tones to match reference levels. It's not difficult; in fact, it turned out to be quite enjoyable — almost like an exercise for ear training. After the adjustment, we can choose the level of sound correction to our liking. We'll discuss the sound before and after the adjustment below.

Sound: Are These Really Wireless Speakers?

As soon as we turned on the Diva Utopia, the first thought was: "Wait, was this really possible?!" We all agreed — if we had been listening with our eyes closed, none of us would have thought this was an active, much less wireless, system! We played our reference tracks for a long time — there was no trace of digitization in the sound.

• High Frequencies: As is typical for Focal, they’re very transparent and natural. Layered, detailed, and very fast. The beryllium tweeter does its job — violins and cymbals sound so natural that you almost want to turn your head and look for the musicians in the room. Yes, we know that not everyone loves Focal tweeters — some find them too sharp and bright. There are even some of us who feel that way. But in the case of the Diva, the system is tuned so well that everyone was satisfied with the tweeter’s sound.
• Midrange: Focal truly works magic in the midrange. Every brand has its own character, and Focal has always been praised for its vivid and musical midrange. The separation of instruments and vocals is magnificent. There’s no distortion or unnatural timbres. Everything sounds like it’s from High End systems that cost several times more. At the same time, the signature Focal sound adds an extra emotional layer to the music.
• Bass: Let’s be honest — these aren’t the bassiest speakers. But in 99% of cases, the low frequencies will be more than enough unless, of course, you’re throwing a techno party. The bass is very deep, enveloping, and powerful enough that on some tracks, we could feel pressure in our chest. It’s incredibly impressive and completes the overall sound of the Focal Diva Utopia.

Soundstage

This was the most interesting part, as we listened to the Diva completely wirelessly. And doubts crept into our minds — could there really be wireless audio without delays? How will this affect phase and the stereo image?

We listened to a variety of tracks and... didn't notice any phase issues. The Diva has a clear and well-defined center, and there is depth to the soundstage. You can hear the foreground, midground, background, and at times, even a fourth layer. The soundstage extends far into the distance. Instruments are placed exactly where they should be. We base our experience on listening to systems that cost six figures (in US dollars), and Focal holds its ground incredibly well against those.

Wired Connection and Sound Correction

Out of curiosity, we connected the speakers via cable. Among our test tracks, none of them had a resolution higher than 96 kHz, so the interest was purely in the difference between the two types of connection.

Yes, there is a difference. But in everyday use, this difference will be almost imperceptible. Keep in mind that the Diva Utopia is a system for those who need simplicity, speed, and quality. It could also serve as a secondary system for a dedicated audiophile. In these scenarios, you can easily overlook the 5% difference that you’ll hear when using a wired connection. But if you want to get the absolute best, Focal has made sure you have all possible connection options available to you.

Sound Correction

The sound correction feature was an interesting decision. Our room is good, but not perfect (are any rooms ever perfect?). After correction, the sound became more… linear, we’d say. It felt like listening to precise, analytical studio monitors. And that’s not a bad thing — many people actually prefer that kind of sound.

In the app, we tried different levels of correction — you can choose how much of an effect you want it to have on the sound. In our case, 40% was the ideal setting — the system maintained its emotional quality while eliminating some of the room’s obvious issues. Very impressive!

Verdict

Focal Diva Utopia isn’t just active speakers. It’s High End in a new format. They break down preconceptions, showing that active speakers can sound just as good, if not better, than traditional passive systems. This is one of the few systems in recent years that truly impressed us!

Wireless connectivity, built-in sound correction system, overload protection systems, a wide range of inputs, and absolutely uncompromising sound quality — all of these features make Diva Utopia one of the most exciting and revolutionary speakers on the market.

We invite you to test Focal Diva Utopia in our store. Book a free listening session or come in at your convenience!