Hi everyone, first post here. My name is Karl hailing from Quebec City, Canada. Originally from Maine, USA. I couldn't find a members intro forum and hope this brief bio info won't annoy more seasoned members. I have had a passion for collecting headphones ever since my teens, 1977 to be precise.
My newest acquisition is the Focal Stellia, a closed-back Utopia of sorts. Problem is, it doesn't nearly perform as great as its siblings Elear and Clear with this DAC/HAMP despite allegations to the contrary by the manufacturer (Focal-Naim Group), that they had made sure performance would not be an issue despite the closed-back design. Well it is an issue. I relish the V1's sound sig on the open-back and notoriously cantankerous Elear, whose wonky dynamics are perfectly tamed by the V1 which comes as no surprise considering Naim had designed it specifically for the Elear and Utopia even though it does very well with many other non-Focal reference phones including planars from HFM and Audeze. I contacted Focal North America but all they did in return was a strong suggestion that I use the Arche with the Stellia. Well I'm certainly not gonna throw that kind of money on equipment that carries a risk of being only suited to one specific can. Being somewhat irrited at Focal (but not anymore) I reacted like a frustrated brat and on an impulse I splurged on a make that audiophiles drool and dream over. Moon by Simaudio stuff that sucked my wallet dry. Heck, I'm sure I lost 10 lbs in less than five minutes at the local authorized retailer.
With these the Stellia fared much better but still, the Focal Touch was missing. The sound is accurate and detail retrieval is unreal however it is pretty obvious Sim designed their
My newest acquisition is the Focal Stellia, a closed-back Utopia of sorts. Problem is, it doesn't nearly perform as great as its siblings Elear and Clear with this DAC/HAMP despite allegations to the contrary by the manufacturer (Focal-Naim Group), that they had made sure performance would not be an issue despite the closed-back design. Well it is an issue. I relish the V1's sound sig on the open-back and notoriously cantankerous Elear, whose wonky dynamics are perfectly tamed by the V1 which comes as no surprise considering Naim had designed it specifically for the Elear and Utopia even though it does very well with many other non-Focal reference phones including planars from HFM and Audeze. I contacted Focal North America but all they did in return was a strong suggestion that I use the Arche with the Stellia. Well I'm certainly not gonna throw that kind of money on equipment that carries a risk of being only suited to one specific can. Being somewhat irrited at Focal (but not anymore) I reacted like a frustrated brat and on an impulse I splurged on a make that audiophiles drool and dream over. Moon by Simaudio stuff that sucked my wallet dry. Heck, I'm sure I lost 10 lbs in less than five minutes at the local authorized retailer.
With these the Stellia fared much better but still, the Focal Touch was missing. The sound is accurate and detail retrieval is unreal however it is pretty obvious Sim designed their
