Amp for Focal Stella Utopia

[joeling]

Well, more than a year has gone by & I consider the Focal Stella Utopia fully burned in. On well recorded materials, totally no complaint.

However, with less than well recorded music especially those that's brighter, sibilance haunts me. So, I am now low-key looking for a pre / power combo that is as good as the Naim Statement but a little more mellow that will alleviate this. Any recommendations welcome. I was told that Moon by Simaudio may b a good choice. Anyone with experience ?

Much appreciated.

 

[ecwl]

I have found that with slightly bright speakers, the solution often is to simply toe the speakers outward slightly. Because the problem usually is that the tweeter has excess treble on axis for the listener’s preference and usually the tweeter horizontal dispersion pattern is that the treble will drop off off-axis. So toeing out the speakers generally work great. Sometimes by toeing out the speakers slightly, you may find that you have to readjust the speaker position but often it’s not necessary. Even 5 degrees can make a huge difference depending on the tweeter.

 

[LL21]

Hi Joeling,

Wow...what an amp! I imagine you have already played around with cables...I recall that the dealer for Focal here changed the interlink cables on the Focal Grand EM to Transparent Audio jumpers and also used TA Opus in the system. And really recommended those TA jumper cables as 'required reading' for any Focal Grande EM acquisition.

I have to imagine you are bloody close to getting a lot right with what you have?

In any event, if you are really minded to switch...given your description, I am intrigued by what the latest Gryphon amplification could do for you. Either Mephisto or Apex with the Commander preamp or Pandora.

I am a big fan of the Robert Koda Class A monos obviously, preferring the amps over our prior Mephisto...but respect the Robert Kodas are very hard to find to audition.

 

[Gregm]

You have put together a world class, high resolution system - congrats! --
I suggest you look for the sibilance culprit upstream in simple things, before tearing apart thatnice piece of kit!
*speaker adjustments: you've probably already done that, but how about adjusting the Stella mids, i.e. repositioning them a bit upward, for example
*speaker placement: the does Stella have a powerful tweeter, what about reducing toe-in?
*Room treatment: again, surely this is nothing new to you -- but how 'bout absorbing first reflections on the side walls. In extremis, diffusers on the ceiling 1st reflection area...
*cabling: try cleaning out the contacts; failing that, try out any other speaker cable just to compare

Surely there is a solution hidden somewhere in there.

The Moon driving the Stella, but what I have heard of it, it doesn;t compare with your amplification

 

[infinitely baffled]

Sack the Naim amps, replace with a valve pre amp and a Boulder 2160. You'll never look back.
To my eyes the marriage of Naim and Focal is not a happy one. Naim amps sound dry, scratchy and sibbilant to my ears. Wheras Boulder are lush, authoritative and musical.
The incredible resolution of the Stellas just opens the window onto the Naim amps, and it ain't pretty....as you have discovered.

Naim - Focal is a marriage of convenience. Your system is capable of so much more.
Boulder - Focal is a marriage made in heaven, an 'end game' combination. Incredible definition, musical yet forgiving.

If you're in the UK you would be welcome to come and have a listen?

 

[LL21]

Sack the Naim amps, replace with a valve pre amp and a Boulder 2160. You'll never look back.
To my eyes the marriage of Naim and Focal is not a happy one. Naim amps sound dry, scratchy and sibbilant to my ears. Wheras Boulder are lush, authoritative and musical.
The incredible resolution of the Stellas just opens the window onto the Naim amps, and it ain't pretty....as you have discovered.

Naim - Focal is a marriage of convenience. Your system is capable of so much more.
Boulder - Focal is a marriage made in heaven, an 'end game' combination. Incredible definition, musical yet forgiving.

If you're in the UK you would be welcome to come and have a listen?

Interesting...I believe that Boulder themselves have a Grande Utopia EM in their listening room. They may well have other speakers, but I have definitely read about the Focal Grande EMs in their listening room.

 

[infinitely baffled]

It's certainly no accident they sound so good together.

Happy Christmas Lloyd

 

[joeling]

Quite some time has passed. At this point in time, my take is that the Stella Utopia is a rather misunderstood pair of speakers. Most people who aren't owners or maybe even those who are but are prone to quick fire swaps will find them bright and shrill as I did for the first year of ownership. I am now at the tail end of the 3rd year and many many thousands of hours of break-in & listening. They have mellowed considerably. So much so that I have to do something to make them a bit more bright to bring out the edge in rock songs. For potential owners, the journey is hard but worth it (until the next best thing of course).

To infinitely baffled, thanks for the heads up on Boulder.

 

[LL21]

Quite some time has passed. At this point in time, my take is that the Stella Utopia is a rather misunderstood pair of speakers. Most people who aren't owners or maybe even those who are but are prone to quick fire swaps will find them bright and shrill as I did for the first year of ownership. I am now at the tail end of the 3rd year and many many thousands of hours of break-in & listening. They have mellowed considerably. So much so that I have to do something to make them a bit more bright to bring out the edge in rock songs. For potential owners, the journey is hard but worth it (until the next best thing of course).

To infinitely baffled, thanks for the heads up on Boulder.

I have heard the Grand EM and Naim demonstrated by Naim's late CEO at the time. I knew the room and only somewhat the speaker but not the amp. Certainly heard incredible resolution and the amp certainly did not seem to be straining at all.

Would love to know more about how you came to focus on it over other great SOTA amps. In our case, we focused on Gryphon, FMA, thought about Dartzeel and Boulder and after hearing the Robert Koda K15EX preamp...decided (for only the 2nd time in 30 years) decided to trial the amps made by the same designer. Hooked!

What other amps did you consider before settling on the mighty Naim Statements?

 

[joeling]

LL21,

A bit of a story if you don't mind it being boring.

Before the Stella, I had the ProAc Carbon 8. Paired them with ARCs and Gryphon. Naim was never in consideration. My acquaintance, who also has the Carbon 8s, paired them with Naim 500 series amp. His set is the next town over. One fine day, I took a ride with him & went to his place to listen. I was blown away. This was 2014. Decided to order a set of newly released Naim Statement. Delivery was in 2015.

Then oil price downturn happened for next few years. 2018 came along & oil price started to recover a bit. 2019 was full swing back to work but we all knew what happned the next year...

Anyway, in 2019, I decided that maybe I could do better in the speakers department. Went to Singapore with the intention to autition some Steinhelm which I had heard a couple of years prior during the downturn years. Dealer was all out but had the Stella on demo. It just happened that the same dealer also carried Naim & DCS. Had them hook it up to have a listen (amp was 500 series). Very impressed. Went back a couple of months later for another autition. Still impressed. So, bit the bullet & bought the Stella.

Dealer was supposed to deliver in early 2020 but was delayed till end 2020. They could not come to set the pair up due to obvious reasons. I thought to myslef, well ok I wait for a year to get them in my room. From here on out, I should be enjoying them & bliss all round. That could not be further from the truth...

So in short, the amps came before the speakers.