This is really interesting because I’m coming off years of using an ATH-M50x and I was terrified that I was so used to the way they sound that I’d hate anything else. Similar to how I grew up in the UK drinking cheap tea bags, and many decades later, although I appreciate gourmet tea, I actually prefer to use cheap tea bags.
When I compared my ATH-M50x to my son’s Sennheiser 6XX, I hated the 6XX, and I wonder if mental burn-in, combined with the very different sonic signatures was really what caused that reaction.
On the other hand, I’ve had the Focal Stellia for 3 days and have been enjoying it straight out of the box. I can can tell it sounds different from the M50x, but I haven’t been doing any A-B testing, just enjoying the music.
So I wonder why I didn’t have a negative reaction to the Stellia? Is it because it’s so much better than the M50x throughout the frequency range, so my brain didn’t even put up a fight and sat back and enjoyed the ride?