HF&MS Product of the Year - Focal DIVA UTOPIA

Best Product of 2025

The Hifiandmusicsource award for Best Product of 2025 goes to the Focal DIVA UTOPIA.  Having revisited all the 2025 reviews and whittled them down to the Top 10, it came down to two quite different products.  The DIVA UTOPIA arrived first thing in 2025, and the MoorAmps manaDAC last thing in the year, causing the Award Season to be delayed!  The manaDAC is a pure HiFi source that excelled in its simplicity as a DAC experience, and I said;

This manaDAC is truly in a league of its own, in my view, offering what could be described as the most analogue experience available from a DAC.

However, after much soul-searching at the end of the year, it came down to the product that gave me the most profound jolt to my system and considerable joy: the Naim-powered DIVA UTOPIA.

It has won the award because it changed my view on HiFi products as we advance.  It showed that a complete musical experience can be delivered with just two (good-looking) cabinets.  The fact that they were £30,000 a pair was a problem, but it also revealed that a properly streamed active solution is possibly the way forward in HiFi products.

Of course, this doesn’t do anything for the HiFi components we know and love; it does little for cable companies, DAC manufacturers, and turntable builders, let alone HiFi tweakers like me.  But look at any house website and see how many ‘stereos’ are in the sale pictures.  There are very few.  I am the only person in my circle with a two-channel stereo pair in my lounge.  This is a sad state of affairs, but it reflects the times.  A more affordable two-channel solution similar to the DIVA UTOPIAs could herald a new phase in HiFi; all the knowledge is there, and source components are racing ahead.  To arrest the Chinese invasion, I challenge our finest to offer a solution at half the price that delivers profound value for money and puts the music back into more homes.

Congratulations and thank you to Focal for this fantastic product.  Some baby DIVAs may well win this award next year, if they get anywhere near these loudspeakers!

So that’s it, these are the Best of 2025 winners. Congratulations to all. It has been a fun year, thank you to all those who have supported HF&MS over the year.

Day 1 – Focal DIVA UTOPIA

Day 2 – REL T/9x SE Subwoofer Stereo Pair

Day 3 – Tellurium Q Ultra Silver II loudspeaker cable

Day 4 – Fell Audio integrated amplifier and CD Player

Day 5 – A&ultima SP3000M portable audio player

Day 6 – Merlin Cables, Tarantula loudspeaker cables

Day 7 – Avondale Audio NAP 250 Upgrade

Day 8 – Focal Bathys Mg luxury headphones

Day 9 – iFi Audio GO Blu Air portable DAC dongle

Day 10 – MoorAmps manaDAC DAC