Focal Stellia Closed-Back Headphones - Official Thread

Welcome to the forum @Frabera

I was about to ask the same question… as @newernow :wink:

It is great to endorse a headphone but, try not to push it too hard in different threads… If you don’t see a thread with your headphone of choice or company feel free to ask a mod to create the thread if you don’t have access to that functionality yet =)

Cheers, your friendly neighborhood mod!

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The Modius is interesting, but I’ve learned my lesson with the Stellia: just get the thing you want instead of going for the cheaper version and eventually realizing you should have just bought the thing you wanted from the get-go, so I think I’m going to get a Bifrost 2.

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Good Morning! Have a quick first impression,

Just got the Stellia in last night, the unboxing experience was really fun. If you have ever bought a higher end luxury car(BMW M /Mercedes AMG & up) and it came with a fancy welcome kit this had that same vibe.

My girlfriend enjoyed the unboxing presentation and attention to detail on all of the leatherette covered packaging although got a bit concerned over the Beryllium warning pamphlet.

I was tired from a pretty long workday last night not ending til about 10pm so waited on listening until this morning and got up right before the sun to have total quiet for a few hours.

My reference album I almost always start new gear with is a DVD of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows - Live From The Basement” recorded in Maida Vale Studios. It is on YouTube if you want to check it out but there is a big difference with the 32-bit/48 AC3 Stream on the DVD if you can find a copy or good DVD RIP.

Initial impression running full balanced Schiit Modius into a THX AAA 887 is…just amazing.

This is weird to say, I will be honest that halfway through the track “Nude” I had a deep emotional response and started to tear up for a moment, this never happens. It was that feeling when you have heard a song for 12-13 years but with this setup it feels so intimate that you are inside the music and the veil between artist and audience is gone for a moment, borderline hallucinatory but in a good way.

I am hyper-crtitical when it comes to tech and value/performance and with my setup running about ~$2800 for the DAC/AMP/HP I am relieved more than anything else about how good this sounds. I know in time as I learn the boundaries of what this can do and the “new car smell”(literally) begins to fade that I have great reference headphones to explore other front-end gear. Next on the list is a Musical Paradise MP-701 MKII balanced Tube Pre-Amp.

Will put together a full review once I have spent some time with the Stellia.

Have a great weekend and if you are in the U.S., be safe with your fireworks :slight_smile:

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Great write up.

That live performance of In Rainbows is one of my favorites (I’m a fan of Radiohead)!

Glad you’re enjoying them so much.

Cheers!

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Congratulations on your new Stellias! They are truly spectacular. That emotional response is what we are all seeking in music. It sounds like you have crossed over from just “listening” to that track to truly feeling it. Magic.

Beautiful photo as well. Enjoy. :headphones:

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A post was merged into an existing topic: My first impressions of buying Kennerton Russian Made headphones

Excellent impressions @Anhedonius. Those Stellia’s are beautiful. The look has really grown on me.

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Hey everyone, a quick thank you for the positive feedback. It is a bit daunting to share somewhat intimate experiences on the internet and to me this community continues to be positive and supportive which is hard to find considering how critical we have to inherently be as Hi-fi enthusiasts.

A preface before asking some questions to you all:

I am spending the near future playing with my existing AMP/DAC combinations to get a feel for how the Stellia responds as far as Tonality, Detail Retrieval and Separation/Sound-stage go. I am usually trying to find a balance between Warm/Detailed/Dark/Punchy when it comes to sound characteristics and have found it hard to check the right boxes.

As you can see from the above picture I am using the Schiit Modius DAC and Monoprice THX AAA 887 Balanced amp. While I am sold on the Modius with the AK4493/LME49724 balanced output and threw away the box within 2 days and no thought of returning it, however I am not entirely sold on the 887 with the Stellia and the 887 is still within its return policy for a few more weeks.

I find the 887 to feel more like lab equipment that is giving a cold but detailed representation of what I feed it, which I respect from a technical standpoint but I wouldn’t call it “fun”.

Question 1:

Before I start throwing my checkbook at the computer screen and continue my grail quest , what would be some recommendations to look into Balanced if possible headphone amplifiers that would compliment the Stellias detail retrieval capacity and warm-neutral tone without being harsh?

Some extra context:

  • I have a rough budget of about ~$2000 set to put towards a headphone amp, if I can spend less then great but if I need to spend more I can make the exception if it is absolutely needed.

  • I only have experience with Solid-State but am not against tube or hybrid tube/solid if detail retrieval is not compromised beyond an acceptable degree

  • I like balanced so far and if I can use the headphone amp as a pre-amp into a balanced speaker amp that would be awesome if possible but if I need to use SE/RCA that is ok too.

Some candidates that have caught my eye:

  • SPL Phonitor X Solid-state HP amp w/pre-out - 2500

  • HeadAmp GS-X mini - 1800

  • ZMF Pendant Tube HP amp - 2000

  • Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum hybrid Tube/Solid State - 650

  • PrimaLuna Evo 100 integrated amp w/headphone out(would double as near-field speaker amp) - 2300

  • Musical Paradise MP-701 MK2 Balanced Tube Preamp(would be between Modius and amp) - 700

  • Rupert Neve Designs Fidelice Precision Headphone Amplifier - 1200

  • Feliks Elise MKII Tube Headphone Amp - 1500

  • Woo Audio WA2 Headphone tube amp - 1200

  • Woo Audio WA6 - SE Tube Headphone amp - 1200

  • Woo Audio WA22 Balanced HP amp & Preamp - 2500

I appreciate you taking the time to read this far and any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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I technically haven’t heard any of the amps listed or the Stellia, but I do own a pair of Rupert Neve Designs RNHP’s and they are essentially the same as the Fidelice branded amp but with different case work. Those are only $499.

@Rhodey owns both the Stellia and the RNHP, so maybe he could give you his take.

@TylersEclectic owns the Stellia and the Phonitor XE, so he could give you impressions on that pairing.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the Stellias. :+1:t4:

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I use the Stellia+Pxe as my home office headphone rig. (See Current Set-Up Pics - Official Picture Thread - #460 by cwichura for photo.) I have been very happy with the combination. I do not consider it sterile or harsh at all. The SPL headamps have a reputation for being pretty neutral to the source yet still “musical” (I hate that descriptive for head-fi stuff).

Of course, everyone is different, so the real solution is find a way to demo the SPL before purchasing, if you can. Or make sure the place you order from has an acceptable return policy.

The GS-X Mini has also been getting a lot of praise lately. I’ve never heard one, so can’t say if that’s the new-gear hypetrain or not. The SPLs are not hypetrain – they’ve been around a long time…

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Before getting into what I am about to say I greatly appreciate the feedback and PMs with insights into possible gear combinations I have received recently.

With a week having passed with the Stellia and averaging about 6-8 hours a day with them I unfortunately have initiated a return. The Stellia are phenomenal headphones and especially with what they are able to achieve with a closed-back design and are the only ones I have heard that trick my brain into thinking are in fact open and it’s just the world that magically became quiet.

With that being said, two reasons came up that prevented me from holding onto them them and I think they put me in the minority.

1.) I am about 6’5 and have a relatively big head & ears albeit somewhat proportional-ish , they do not fit in the Stellia comfortably no matter how hard I tried. This prevented listening sessions going longer than about an hour without getting uncomfortably sore without a break for 10-15 minutes. I researched possible replacement pads and couldn’t find any that had both an increased depth and ear-hole size that would make the Stellia a comfortable fit and not drastically alter the sound signature.

2.) Treble, from an engineering standpoint the Stellia are an amazing feat and push the boundaries of what a closed-back headphone can do. In my case, there is a crisp aspect to the treble that also made them quite fatiguing for me personally. I have more sensitive than average hearing( huge ears remember) and after trying the Stellia with about 6 different sources and even more forms of amplification in every combination possible the same brightness was unavoidable for me and I consistently needed to lower the volume to the point where it defeated the purpose of having a flagship $3000 headphone.

Using a car analogy, I have driven cars that I know from an engineering standpoint are simply great and achieve something entirely novel and push the benchmark forward for what a car can do but that doesn’t necessarily mean I could live with it as a daily driver. And while we are at it, also as a car analogy, there are many cars I can’t fit in comfortably anyways which makes them an immediate non-starter no matter how rose-tinted I can get about them.

For any prospective Stellia buyer, even though they were not for me, they might be perfect for you. I do not fault the Stellia on detail retrieval, sound-stage, dynamics and practically every aspect I compare headphones/loudspeakers by.

With that being said, as my grail quest continues I see a RAAL/Jotunheim R peaking over on the horizon. You don’t have to worry about earpad size if there aren’t any in the first place.

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I have large ears as well, and the Focal Clears that I own do have a small ear opening. I have to slightly ‘roll my ears’ into the cups, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. I can see how this would be an issue with larger ears than mine.

The RAAL is beloved by its owners so I think you should be happy with them.

Good luck with the SR1a, I hope it works out for you. :+1:t4:

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I am 6’3" and also have a relatively big head and ears, and I experienced the same problem. My solution was to take a stack of books and put them between the earpieces of the Stellias for a few days. Now they are very comfy.

I don’t have the same problem with the treble that you do, but you can easily cut back on that with some simple equalization.

My other problem with the Stellias was the cable. I found it too stiff and producing microphonics. I solved that with a Lavricables Master and am quite satisfied now.

I also have the Raal SR1a and find them to be a great complement to the Stellias, since the Raal are totally open, and the Stellias are quite closed.

Which ever way you go, you are experiencing the best that headphone technology has to offer!

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Different stokes for different folks. In my albeit brief time with the Stellias at a show, I thought they were nearly plush in comfort (not Empyrean level but really nice feeling). The Focal pads seem to “just” fit my ears. But having had a similar unhappy experience with the Campfire Audio Solaris IEMs, which would not stay put in my ears no matter what I did, I understand. I picked those up used, and had to resell them at a loss of about $100 – wish I’d gotten them from Headphones.com and relied on the return policy! Well, next time. Good luck with your quest!

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My experience with the Stellia has been nothing but positive. Across the board, the frequency response has superb clarity, detail, and depth. I’ve come to appreciate the virtues of closed back headphones, which allows the listener to get deeper into the recording.
This was really brought home while listening to a Reference Recordings Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony. This symphony has tremendous dynamic contrasts, and the Stellia’s allow the listener to hear subtle details not normally revealed. The amazing thing is that even with the louder passages, one can still hear the subtle details clearly. The only other headphones that provided a similar experience were Stax SR-007, and the dynamic contrast from the Stellia is even better.
If one uses EQ, such as that provided by a DAC such as the RME ADI-2, one can smooth/flatten out the frequency response. IMHO, NO headphone is flat, and EQ done correctly can only improve a given headphones performance.
The output from the DAC goes to a Mjolnir Audio Pure Bipolar headphone amp. The Pure Bipolar does a much better job driving the Stellia.

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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: The Off Topic

After spending more time with the Stellia, I’m becoming more convinced than ever that these headphones are very special, amongst the very best there is at any price point.

The entire playback response, is amazing, from deep bass, life like midrange, and perhaps the best treble response I’ve ever come across in a headphone. These headphones manage to get the sound of brass instruments right, something almost no headphone does properly. I attribute this to the beryllium drivers. To me, the treble is accurate, which some folks categorize as too bright. Real live music has scads of bright treble. I think this is why brass instruments sound so right.

Would like to compare the Stellia to the Utopia at some point. Using a RME ADI-2 DAC, I can adjust most headphones to get a flat response, which is godsend. The Pure Bipolar amp does an amazing job driving the Stellia being fed from the ADI-2.

May actually hang on to this combo for the foreseeable future. (I know,right). :slight_smile:

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I agree entirely in regards to what you have highlighted, especially the way Brass instruments sound. On a specific 1965 recording of Malaguena on The Glory Of Spain -The Manhattan Pops there are really dramatic and emotional crescendos that were amazing on the Stellia to the point I went full eyes-closed “pretend armchair conductor” a la Bugs Bunny towards the end and had no Idea my girlfriend was next to me watching the whole thing.

I recently tried the Utopia with the Schiit Modius which is at least similar in chip to the RME without the EQ functionality although I mostly use a Schiit Loki passive EQ or soft-ware side through Roon. They are really similar from a tonal standpoint but the utopia is faster and can simply give more detail although I think the Stellia is remarkably close and closed-back, which to me is insane from a engineering standpoint.

I personally think any comparison of the Stellia vs an open-back TOTL headphone is a little unfair because how many bonus points the the Stellia deserves for noise isolation. If I have a computer nearby or Fan/AC with someone eating a bag of chips , that is going to affect my perceived micro/macro detail retrieval.

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Your point about the sound isolation with the closed back headphone is very valid. In order to enjoy open back headphones, the environment really needs to be quiet. With closed back headphones, low level background noise tends to not interfere with playback to the point it becomes annoying.

My decision to get the Stellia vice the Utopia was based on two items:

  1. The Stellia, being closed back, would naturally have better bass response, which would translate to dynamic contrast/slam.
  2. The drivers between the Utopia and Stellia are both beryllium, so I figured they would be very close sounding. The increased isolation provided by being closed back would more than make up for slight reduction in detail. Truth be told, the Stellia detail is outstanding to begin with.

Guess that’s why there are so many headphones available, as everyone has their own unique priorities for listening.

THe EQ in the ADI-2 does change impressions somewhat, as the five band EQ can adjust frequency deviations for any given headphone, which does change one’s perspective of the phones.

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Anyone know of replacement pads that are synthetic in material so I can workout with these cans versus messing up the super soft leather? I’ve currently demoted my Aeon 2 Closed to workout duties, but rather pack them up for traveling duties. First world problems, I know. Lol

Also, any Arche owners try the Bifrost 2 for DAC duties? I’m liking my Mojo as the DAC and am contemplating adding the Poly to it so I can control it from my listening position.