You read my mind. I plan to upgrade those in the next few months. I’ll be looking for a good amp.
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The Focal Clears are a great choice. I very much doubt you’ll regret getting them. As always @Torq’s advice is spot on. I can’t see there being any long term problems with regards to dirt but I can see where you are coming from. The colour of the pads whilst really nice with the Chrome grills worried me too but with care should be fine.
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Just doing a quick update on this thread as its a little out of date now. The bundle pricing is now $649 but you can also just get a plain Elear for $549.
For those that haven’t seen it as well, Focal will be showing off a new headphone at CanJam NYC.
We can’t say anything about it now but I’m sure there is going to be some shocks and surprises for everyone guessing what it is.
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New entry level headphone…priced under $500…?
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Hahaha you never know! It could be entry-level or it could be Susvara priced. There’s definitely a lot of price room in their headphone line-up right now.
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i was going to guess BLUETOOTH (i.e. the Focal Bluetopia) but then i saw wires in the image.
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That is very true…man I wish I could go… Maybe I’ll ask the wife…but we are going to So-Cal at the end of February…
I guess the more prudent thing to look for is if tickets are still available lol
We generally do CanJam SoCal and RMAF as shows. We were considering doing NYC this year but it looks like we may be doing Munich High-end in May instead which we have not done yet.
Its definitely worth it to try to get out to a show though. You get to try out a lot of gear, albeit in a poor testing environment for the most part. And you get to meet the faces behind the gear which can be more interesting than actually trying gear out!
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Well after looking at the schedule (and the fact that my wife is from SoCal) I think SoCal CanJam is a better fit… I’ll talk to her about it and maybe make a family trip of it with a side foray into audio toys ‘r’ us for me lol
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Munich is a great town. I hope you’ll have some time for sightseeing. Let me know if you want any tips.
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Nice, I definitely have CanJam socal on my calendar this year, hopefully we can all meet up!
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If they’re going flagship and can beat the Utopia, I’m definitely in for a pair.
Beyond that, the obvious pricing-holes are between Clear and Utopia (perhaps with another unit using the Be driver) or below Elear/Elex (unless you want to look at their other lineup). A higher-end closed-back is conceivable. Beyond which I’d have to think it’s a major technology shift … either adding something planar, or increasing the size of their current driver.
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This is all guessing
Something that surpasses the Utopia at like…$8000USD? (good luck with that one) or maybe something between the Clear and Utopia? I can’t see them replacing the Utopia, but I could see them introducing something at a higher price point. I suppose it could be an entry level headphone, but with the Elear down around $550 now, and the Elex, that doesn’t seem too likely. With that being said, without moving to a different technology or material (and Focal seems to like Be) the Utopia seems like it would be hard to surpass. I onno. Thoughts?
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Well I was basing it on the fact that the Elears were dropping in price, and to combat that/replace them with a lower entry point can…plus if you look at the announcement the image of the new headphone is imposed before the Elear, but also on top of the lineup…subconsciously that implies to me an entry level headphone…but like @ufospls2 stated this is all guess work.
I think to combat the declining Elear but not interfere with their partnership with Massdrop and the Elex… the Elear seems like a likely candidate as getting shelved and a new headphone put in its place. I don’t think they would replace the Utopia just yet, and the Clears are still holding ground as a premier headphone below the Utopia. But I’m not a marketing person or a market strategist by any means.
But the Clears have also seen some pretty massive sales as of late, and could be a candidate for a refresh? All of the Focal lineup (exception to the Elegia) have been out for a couple years now, which gives Focal plenty of data on what the best headphone iteration should be and what the market (higher end audiophile) is looking for.
This is all speculation of course…
we should do a competition (best guess bingo type thing lol) the winner can have a thumbs up/high five from me 
lol
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I still pick Focal Bluetopia and that photo showing cables is just to throw you off the trail.
Or maybe Focal will surprise us with actual usable cables this time!
Edit: though the item is glowing in purple… so its gotta be the best. So Utopia usurper?
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I didn’t want to comment on the purple…as to not get my hopes up…
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Focal Utopia Professional Purple Edition. The next in the series of Focal Professional headphones after the Focal Clear Professional, Focal Spirit Professional and Focal Listen Professional
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Or … Focal Clear - Professional Imperial Purple Edition, a.k.a. “PImP” Edition.
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For the “PImP” model the grills should be gold/platinum…with highlights in ivory…and an inlaid feather on one of the yokes…
I may have put too much brainpower into this now…
but I also now need Purple pads for my clears…well for all my headphones…but specifically the clears…I think the Silver/purple would look slick
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