Loudspeakers

‘This is for people who want to get them out, plug them in and be listening’, is Steve Sells’ in-a-nutshell description of the Diva Utopia. And Naim Audio’s Technical Director would know, of course, as his involvement dates to the beginning of the project around 2018.

The intention was always to launch with a flagship – ‘opening at this price point allows us to do some proper exploratory stuff, and to target a new market’, says Steve. ‘There are customers who will love this sound quality, but the thought of having lots of boxes is just too much. This is aimed at those people who never got into high-end hi-fi.’ Steve also reveals this determined the Diva Utopia’s use of multiple, small bass drivers, rather than the larger types of its passive Utopia floorstanders. ‘This loudspeaker is a complete hi-fi system, and that luxury packaging is really important. To stick a 13in woofer on the front would have killed the aesthetic.’

Speaking of aesthetics, Steve Sells explains there are plans for different finishes for the Diva Utopia, including leather and wood, and these will be swappable. There’s also the prospect of additional features, such as parametric EQ, being added over time, a benefit of the system’s networked, DSP architecture.

But with the Focal website now having space reserved for ‘Connected Speakers’ – note the plural – does that mean another model is on the way? Here Steve was a tad coy, going only as far to say that the Diva Utopia’s platform is ‘very reusable’. Watch this space!