Focal Scala or Diablos with subs?

Anyone have any idea how the newer viva utopia may compare to scala at a very similar price point accounting for stands? Viva a contender if 2 channel is the main usage? They Are marketed as multichannel LCR products.

Tubesrule, Scala seems to be very flexible. Not only it allows one to adjust the level of the bass and treble, but one can also adjust the position of the tweeter and midrange drivers to time align them at the listening position. IMO these are very important features that can make a huge difference if used properly. I do not think Viva has these features. Also, the Scalas go much lower than the Vivas.

Neuphonix, room correction systems can make a huge difference in the bass. However, electronic corrections should be applied only in the last step. Running the room correction procedure without optimizing the system first (i.e. place the speakers and subwoofer(s) in the best positions in the room) will almost always suck all the life out of the music.

I find it a bit hard to make a recommendation in this regard. I use an Accuphase DG-38 with great results. However, they are expensive and not that easy to use as the instruction in the manual are extremely vague (I know quite a few people who dumped them as they where not able to figure things out). Lyngdorf system seems to be more user friendly. However, I heard them doing both good and bad things, i.e. wonderful music when used with decently optimize rooms/systems or sucking the life out of the music when used in bad rooms. Probably your best bet will be to find a dealer that has some experience with room correction system and ask him to demo whatever he/she is using in your home.

Regarding your father comment about the price of the Scalas, I have found it very funny. However, I am not surprised at all. I get the exactly same comment every time a professional drummer sees my drum kit. Unlike we hobbyists, professional (drummers, sound engineers, etc.) can do their job just fine with much less expensive equipments. :)

Finally, it is interesting to see that dealers (all over Europe) have problems getting rid of the Scalas. I do not think it is their performance, just this bad economy. Most likely, getting rig of other large and expensive speakers is just as problematic.

In the past I sold Tact, to be unnest I never was convinced about the quality. The lyngdorf makes a big misstake. The sound is loosing it's emotion. People even call it dead. Audessey Pro give a more musical sound. The test I did with the Velodyne were all too slow. Buy Jacintha is her name. use track 6. The controbass need to be small in dimension also wenn you use the sub. Wenn it changes and voices and instruments become bigger or you image gets less focused it is too slow. For me it is that obvious. Scalas are even sols for less than 12000 euro. I still prefer the mid's of a three way system compared to a monitor. That is why I now use the Monitor Audio PL-200 with the PLW-15. This gives me stealth low quality starts from 16 hz. Speakers which can play to 117db without stress. And extreemly 3d holographic sound. It is stunning because with my Pass I play about 4 metres behind the speakers, mote than 1 metre beside the speakers. Even some recordings soms parts play beside and in front of you. This make the stage even bigger. But I even got an extreme sharp focus of voices and instruments within the deep and wide stage. Wenn you are in this business and yoy hear so many systems. My goal was: I want everything in my system. Wenn you use the right stuff at the end it is possible. Just use those tools who have the properties to make this happen!

Bo1972, the Lyngdorf room correction system can indeed suck the life and emotion out of a system. However, IMO that happens only when the unit is misused, e.g. one has a lively room and runs the room correction procedure too many times in order to obtain a perfect response.

If I remember correctly the Lyngdorf room correction module lets one know how much correction have been applied. Of course, things will not sound good if 20 - 30 % corrections were applied. One should understand that room correction should be done as little as possible and only in the last stage of the set-up. That is, only after everything else was optimized properly.

The Tact Millenium MK2 which I sold to one of my best friends I don't think it is that special. The latest Lyngdorf demo's were not that special. Wenn you look at depth, it is quite poor. Individual focus is okay but never stunning. Most important part the sound. It is not the best sounding amp. Even classical music is not that involving. In real in still sounds a lot different. We do every week new tests with Audyssey Pro and it is great. Sound is improving by Audyssey. Stage is becomming wider and deeper. I even had not such a deep and wide stage witht my Pass labs XP-20. Low freq go very deep, are tight with lot's of defined details. Focus is stunning. And there is a lot of air around voices. There is even a lot of black. I do not say that it is an easy system. There is no room for mistakes. And you have to work and think very precise. After that the results are great. I like the system a lot and it is so much fun to work with.