2023 Golden Ear: Focal Stella Utopia EM Evo Loudspeaker

$149,998

Focal calls its second from the top Stella Utopia EM Evo a technological twin sister to its pinnacle Grande Utopia EM Evo. Indeed, the Stella shares the high-efficiency field coil or electro-magnetic (EM) woofer concept, the TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) driver suspension, NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit), MRR (Machined Reinforced Rings), “W”-sandwich composite cone material, Power Flower magnet structure, Focus Time driver alignment, and OPC+ filtering multi-adjustment sound personalization, integrated into a 3-way design with more svelte dimensions than the larger 4-way Grande Utopia. With crossover frequencies of 230Hz and 2200Hz, the speaker has a single 13″ electro-magnetic woofer, a 1″ beryllium inverted dome tweeter, and dual 6.5″ midrange drivers. The midrange and tweeter are in a physical midrange-tweeter-midrange (M-T-M) arrangement, sitting above the EM woofer’s enclosure.

One of the more interesting features of the Stella Utopia EM Evo—not often talked about but which I find essential to getting the most from the speaker—is the combination of OPC+ filtering and EM-woofer power-supply sound-personalization adjustments. The EM woofer power supply has three settings for bass output that can be selected based on the amplifier used, user preference, and/or the speaker’s room interaction. The OPC+ filter (hidden behind a trap door on the rear panel of the lower midrange module) has four frequency-band adjustments (bass quality, midrange, tweeter slope, and tweeter level) allowing three settings for each. All OPC+ filter bands and the EM woofer control contain a nominal setting followed by a level adjustment allowing a setting above and below normal. Together, the sum total of settings available on the Stella adds up to a healthy 243 combinations! These adjustment features allow the end user to tailor the Stella Utopia EM Evo’s sound to personal preference—in addition to the all-important process of room integration—to deliver the most satisfying sound achievable.

Once properly set up and adjusted for the listening environment, the Stella Utopia EM Evo is an excellent sounding speaker. There is an uncanny amount of transparency reminiscent of electrostatic loudspeakers. Unlike many ‘stats, the Stella has frequency extremes to balance the sound and bring things into a more holistically complete perspective. The ability to keep up with the lightning-fast rhythm and pacing of music while maintaining bass performance that is tight, controlled, and realistic sounding is a highlight of the speaker’s performance. The soundscape and imaging are excellent in terms of instrument placement laterally across the stage, with very good image height for such a large speaker. The speaker acquits itself well with additional characteristics of seemingly near-unlimited dynamic playback capability (with the right amplification) and great instrumental separation. With so much adjustability and tunable performance, the Stella Utopia EM Evo well deserves this Golden Ear Award. (338)