Article: Focal Elegia Full Review

[Josh Mound]

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[wdw]

Great review.  Thanks.  Love to hear your thoughts on the Stellia at some point.

Your comparisons to the HD820 were of great interest as we are looking for closed back design and are considering both the Elegia and the Stellia.   The HD820 is also of interest but no one in town is willing to bring them in for audition without prior purchase.  

[Deyorew]

Thanks for reviewing something at a high but not astronomical price point. While I love the site I feel it caters to a real high end on average so it's nice to see products in the $500-$1500 range that are not tweaks or "lifestyle" products but actual serious core electronics/gear to an audiophile.

[jhwalker]

Nice write-up.  

 

I recently switched from Aeon Closed to Elegia as my main device, and have been very pleased.  I've found with just a minim of EQ, these really shine.

[Josh Mound]

19 hours ago, wdw said:

Great review.  Thanks.  Love to hear your thoughts on the Stellia at some point.

Your comparisons to the HD820 were of great interest as we are looking for closed back design and are considering both the Elegia and the Stellia.   The HD820 is also of interest but no one in town is willing to bring them in for audition without prior purchase.  

 

I haven’t heard the Stellia, but I’d love to. According to Jude’s measurements, they’re a little more U-shaped than the Elegia, which makes me somewhat skeptical at that price point. But Focal’s won a lot of trust from me. Even the issues with the Elear were minor. 

 

In terms of price and target market, the Stellia and the HD820 are apples-to-apples, but that’s why I was so impressed by the fact that the Elegia outshines the HD820 at a much lower price point. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, JoshM said:

 

I haven’t heard the Stellia, but I’d love to. According to Jude’s measurements, they’re a little more U-shaped than the Elegia, which makes me somewhat skeptical at that price point. But Focal’s won a lot of trust from me. Even the issues with the Elear were minor. 

 

In terms of price and target market, the Stellia and the HD820 are apples-to-apples, but that’s why I was so impressed by the fact that the Elegia outshines the HD820 at a much lower price point. 

I've always been a big fan of Sennheiser and all the engineering that goes into its products. However, I recently talked to Focal about its headphones and what it took that team to produce the products it has now. There is so much engineering that goes into creating a headphone from the ground up and doing it right. After reading your review and your comments I now even more respect for Focal headphones. Great stuff. 

 

P.S. Nothing against small shops making them to the best of their abilities, but it's difficult to compete with companies like Sennheiser and Focal because of their engineering resources. Hats off to those who are competing!

[wdw]

7 hours ago, JoshM said:

 

I haven’t heard the Stellia, but I’d love to. According to Jude’s measurements, they’re a little more U-shaped than the Elegia, which makes me somewhat skeptical at that price point. But Focal’s won a lot of trust from me. Even the issues with the Elear were minor. 

 

In terms of price and target market, the Stellia and the HD820 are apples-to-apples, but that’s why I was so impressed by the fact that the Elegia outshines the HD820 at a much lower price point. 

 

We did a very brief but interesting comparison using my PONO player switching between the Elegia and Stellia.  They were easy to drive with this portable player.  To our ears the Stellia had a higher level of fidelity and was our first choice.  The Sennheiser HD800S had a more expansive soundstage, albeit less dynamic, as it was a hard load for the PONO.  As mentioned, we have yet to hear the HD820.  The bearded one at Audiostream posted a positive review of the HD820 claiming it exceeded the performance of the HD800.

[WAM]

I am afraid the bearded one does not do reviews, he does "reviews"... But no doubt the HD820 will be nice.

[Josh Mound]

21 hours ago, wdw said:

 

We did a very brief but interesting comparison using my PONO player switching between the Elegia and Stellia.  They were easy to drive with this portable player.  To our ears the Stellia had a higher level of fidelity and was our first choice.  The Sennheiser HD800S had a more expansive soundstage, albeit less dynamic, as it was a hard load for the PONO.  As mentioned, we have yet to hear the HD820.  The bearded one at Audiostream posted a positive review of the HD820 claiming it exceeded the performance of the HD800.

 

Nice to hear positive impressions of the Stellia. It doesn't seem that many people have it in their hands yet.

 

I've also read some negative takes on the Stellia's looks. (Someone compared it to a glazed chocolate donut!) But I like the looks. (Of course, I like glazed chocolate donuts, too! 🤣) 

[wdw]

1 hour ago, JoshM said:

 

Nice to hear positive impressions of the Stellia. It doesn't seem that many people have it in their hands yet.

 

I've also read some negative takes on the Stellia's looks. (Someone compared it to a glazed chocolate donut!) But I like the looks. (Of course, I like glazed chocolate donuts, too! 🤣) 

 

 

the look when in hand is all luxury Hermes.....surprisingly light and comfortable....think their market strategy with the Stellia and Arche Amp offers a headphone system as an easy use luxury music system for non-audiophile music lovers which could easily fit in a well-designed home.

 

would love to audition the new DAC/Amp by Focal, the "Arche"...understand it has Micromega internals and customizable output for their product line...looks like a promising one set solution

 

https://www.focal.com/en/headphones-0/headphones/headphones-electronics/amplifier-dac/arche

[crenca]

Another nice review Josh.  I like the way you explicate technicalities such as tonal balance, microdetail and the like - simple (knowing your target audience in a general review) without being simplistic. 

 

Would be interested in your opinion as to the more subjective side of this HP.  At SBAF and elsewhere there is a diversity of largely negative opinion around theese HP's -  that there is a "sheen", "metallic", "shoutiness", and "lack of body" to be found in the mid/upper mid/lower treble to these HP's.  At first I wrote off much of this negativity, it being probably due to so many HP users familiarity with the Sennheiser/ZMF "smoothness"  and how the Focal speed/dynamics/clarity is such a different and largely opposite presentation.   However, when you say "...The Elegia can’t compete with the Clear’s detail retrieval and realism..." I wonder if there is something to it, as Focal speed/dynamics without realism/accuracy/body in between would indeed be an odd sound.

 

@jhwalker, what does your EQ look like - where and how much are you adjusting?

 

[Josh Mound]

23 hours ago, crenca said:

Another nice review Josh.  I like the way you explicate technicalities such as tonal balance, microdetail and the like - simple (knowing your target audience in a general review) without being simplistic. 

 

Would be interested in your opinion as to the more subjective side of this HP.  At SBAF and elsewhere there is a diversity of largely negative opinion around theese HP's -  that there is a "sheen", "metallic", "shoutiness", and "lack of body" to be found in the mid/upper mid/lower treble to these HP's.  At first I wrote off much of this negativity, it being probably due to so many HP users familiarity with the Sennheiser/ZMF "smoothness"  and how the Focal speed/dynamics/clarity is such a different and largely opposite presentation.   However, when you say "...The Elegia can’t compete with the Clear’s detail retrieval and realism..." I wonder if there is something to it, as Focal speed/dynamics without realism/accuracy/body in between would indeed be an odd sound.

 

@jhwalker, what does your EQ look like - where and how much are you adjusting?

 

 

With Focal headphones (and KEF speakers, for that matter) there are always a contingent of people who describe them as having a “metallic” sound because they don’t like metal drivers. In my view, a good metal driver can sound incredibly realistic (lots of instruments are metal, after all!). But some people just don’t like what they perceive as the “sheen” of Focal headphones or KEF speakers. 

 

I think the driver material issue is different from frequency response. It’s hard to look at my measurements or Jude’s measurements and conclude that the Elegia is brighter than the Clear or Elex. Now, as with many closed headphones, seal is crucial. So it could be that some people wearing glasses or with various face shapes don’t get a good seal with the Elegia, thereby reducing the low end and making them seem bright or shouty. 

 

In terms of my comment about detail retrieval, I’m not at all surprised the Clear out-resolves the Elegia. It’s open versus closed and a higher MSRP versus a lower one. For a closed headphone and for the price, the Elegia’s detail retrieval and realism is outstanding.