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Enough with the nonsense now 
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I don’t know about that. I was listening to the livestream on my Stellia and it really brought out the resonance in @Resolve’s voice. In fact, I may add one of his reviews to my test track list, because if his voice doesn’t sound wonderful (which let’s face it, is unlikely), I don’t want those headphones. 
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Agreed. I want to see the overlaid FR graphs of Celestee vs Radiance vs Elegia with the Dekoni sheepskin pads.
You can check out @Torq’s measurements of the Elegia with the Stellia pads and see that the FR gets quite a bit closer to the Radiance/Celestee compared with stock pads: Focal Pad Rolling - Experiments & Measurements - #24 by Torq
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I should mention a bit about the methodology for ensuring the measurement is as close to accurate to how I hear it as possible.
As mentioned, when taking measurements with the GRAS, you get pretty crazy variation in the bass and in the treble depending on the clamp pressure. So I had to use in-ear mics to see where the bass level actually was when worn on the head, and then adjust the clamp on the rig to match that as closely as I could. Now, obviously I can’t use the whole in-ear mic measurement to compare with because of all the various ear gain features that show up in the mids and treble that are past the pinna (so think ear canal and drum effects). But for bass level and coupling integrity, the in-ear mics are actually more accurate in the sense that they’re a more realistic representation of the clamp and coupling for me.
Another way to do this would be to just align the in-ear mic measurements with the GRAS measurements where they overlap (and they do, around 700hz), effectively taking just the bass and lower mids from the in-ear mics and then getting the rest of the gain features from the GRAS. This is something I may still do with other Focal headphones, but… at the very least this result I ended up with for the Celestee on the GRAS was close enough eventually. I just had to discard the majority of the other measurements I took because they showed weirder features in the bass than I got with in-ear mics and the headphone on my own head.
Unfortunately I’ve also seen a number of graphs pop up from closed-back Focals with stronger contours in the bass as well, and this makes me think they don’t have the same clamp either. To be clear, those measurements may be just as accurate for the average person (or for the person who has a head size/shape that would cause a similar clamp to the method/rig that what was used) - they’re just not accurate for how the pad compression ends up working for my head.
Nobody is at fault for that, I don’t think it’s something anyone could expect unless they are actively comparing directly with in-ear mic measurements in the bass, but this explains why there are some differences around - and even some of my previous measurements of Focal closed-backs failed to look into this. You think, “I’ll just put the headphones on the rig and take a number of measurements from different seatings”, like every other time, but in reality it’s a much more in-depth process.
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Damn, now I need to get a better mic.
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Thanks for the explanation.
I have a stellia and several open back cans. I want to get another closed back for some variety. Is the Celestee, in your opinion, like getting another Stellia, or close to one, or should I look towards the Audeze LCD -XC to get that variety I am looking for?
If you don’t go Celestee, don’t forget the closed ZMF lineup!
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Actually, i have thought about that, waiting 3 months is a long time
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The wait can be pretty torturous. I would refresh the status page daily hoping it would change.
I think the wait is better than it used to be. My B-stock Aeolus only took about a month.
The delay-related angst caused by their move to the new workshop probably exaggerated the reputation for months-long waits, but ever since the move, I’ve heard that turnaround is a lot quicker. Irrespective of how long it takes, having expert craftsmen put together a unique wooden headphone for you from scratch is worth the wait, in my opinion.
I have a Verite Open and Aeolus to go along with my Stellia. The Aeolus probably has the biggest contrasting sound to the Stellia. I think the closed equivalent to the Aeolus is the Atticus, but you don’t hear much about that on this forum. I’ve seen the most rave reviews about the Eikon and the VC.
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Thanks for the message. Very helpful, and I will definitely consider strongly the ZMF!
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Can go used instead; there’s always some sets floating around if you don’t care/prefer it be custom to your specs.
Also can recoup the cost pretty easily that way if you want to sell to try something else. Custom can be a pretty big commitment if you can’t demo them first too…
Focal really designs some beautiful headphones and I love that they listen to feedback - fix what needs to be fixed (add some bass tuning) without changing what works (design of the headphones, comfort). The Celestee look phenomenal - love the navy blue! Bet it would look spectacular with a silver dac/amp like the Chord Hugo 2.
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Silly question, but seemingly the build is identical to the Stellia, just navy blue vs browns… I know the cable is slightly different. I also know the law of diminishing returns for high-end audio, but is the beryllium drivers in the Stellia really the only difference at $2,000+ between the closed back Celestee?? If so the Celestee seem like a steal.
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The pads look firmer and fuller. The beryllium is a big difference.
Pads are different, the clamp is different, and the acoustic treatment may be different as well. I asked Megane a question kind of about that, but it may have been in reference to the Celestee vs Radiance - but I got the sense that they did something a bit different from the Stellia as well.
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Can you say anything about any sound leakage? I am listening at home mostly, sitting next to another person in a relatively quiet room and I am worried to irritate the other person. Would she be able to hear what I am listening to?
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Good to hear, the more things I hear that make them different - the less bad I feel about spending that much on Stellia’s when these look and sound great from your review @Resolve 