The PrimaLuna EVO 400 formed the heart of our separates system, with an Aurender A200 as the digital source.
All-in-ones are great for all, but separates are truly yours
We were being a little tongue in cheek with our 'Battle of the Boxes' in-store event on March 8, 2025, but even so, pitching a $40,000 all-in-one against a similarly priced separates system was instructive, for it showed us this truth: there's no wrong way to spend $40,000.
On the all-in-one side, the Focal Diva proved that if you love high-end sound but hate the idea of fiddling with boxes, cables, and component matching, you can actually get "real" hi-fi with none of the fuss. Our salesperson Joel Bennett described the sound of this room as having "breathtaking transparency." A longtime customer and regular event attendee Robert I. said that the Diva really "sparkles."
The Focal Diva Utopia is an all-in-one reference system with streaming DAC and amplifiers on board.
Across the store in the separates demo room, a PrimaLuna and Focal system proved that taking the time to build a system reaps great rewards. This is especially true if you're chasing a particular sound or philosophy and use your picks to enhance the attributes that bring you sonic joy.
Our team chose to really show off what a tube system could do, building on a core of the PrimaLuna EVO 400 integrated amp with Focal Sopra No3 speakers. As we predicted, the weight, warmth, and musicality of the PrimaLuna's EL34 tubes paired beautifully with the speed, detail, and incisiveness of the Sopra's beryllium tweeters and W-cone mid and woofers.
We had two source options. One was the Aurender A200 streaming DAC, offering the rich sound Aurender is known for. The other was a Technics SL-1210G direct-drive turntable with the EBI Khumar cartridge and Manley Oasis phonostage.
The EBI Khumar moving coil cartridge combines lushness with surprising speed and bass agility.
The Khumar is a stunning moving coil cartridge from India (look out for an upcoming story on it) with a beautiful midrange, and a weighty sound that is really quick, even on the bass. The Oasis might be a tube phonostage, but with the highly engineered Manley Power switching supply, it combines tube magic with solid-state speed.
The result was a system that brought the "marbling and oil and gravy" that Joel, and most of us, love about tube audio, but also with a fleet-footedness that made it very hard to walk away from. "It's like a blanket around you," said Robert.
Robert's test track that day was Aisha Badru's 'Splintered (Instrumental)' from the album Pendulum. The clean, clear Diva made you marvel at how every beat of the hand drums stood out, and the separates system added the near-visual experience of fingers hitting the drum skins.
Putting together that perfect system is not easy, but that's why we're here: to listen closely to all the gear we sell, and then listen closely to you. Contact us to start your journey, or if you simply want to reach your destination, get a Focal Diva today!
When we say we will have a spread at our events, we really mean it. You will not go hungry.