20% more I could live with, but 50% is a rip off. Any US friends who can help? Or a shipping service. They'd ship you the package after it was sent to them? Although I'm unsure how the import duties would work. I had someone overseas suggest undervaluing the package and I've gotten stuff from...

Is that because of VAT? $200 more is a lot though IMO. That's another 50%.

I think you're saying you don't buy the excuses and will probably get banned if you get express that. I get the frustration. Looks like this may be common with headphones announced, but with hiccups in the initial release. Meze had this issue before everyone forgave them because the...

Honestly IMO, if you spent $400 plus tax(or more if you're overseas) but aren't going to use them much; it's better to return them. Sounds like they really aren't your cup of tea.

I know this post is well over 2 years, but I saw you mention this twice. I put the Headphone Accommodations on vocal and moderate; and that fixed the mids issue for me. Some songs do sound better than others. I may try the strong to see if the mids and vocals come through even better. P.S. I'm...

Did you ever sell these?

For the member questioning the 60 pages: Apple bought Beats and upgraded them, so this isn't exactly the same cheap feeling and sounding but overpriced brand they used to be. Plus there have been lots of sales so you can find some deals out there. Studio 3 is $70 off at Best Buy and Apple in...

Clear is a great deal for sure! You have all you need unless you really want to buy extra cables and another case anyway. I would still try the Utopia because it's really a different headphone than Clear and Elear. Lemo connectors and beryllium drivers. Tuned differently also, by what people...

Which is why I would be more inclined to buy them at the $3K range than $4K. I can't confirm they're "overpriced", but their official authorized sale price makes me wonder. They should just simply sell from now on at $3K IMO. Not that Focal's going to listen to me but I bet a lot more people...

I'm a bit disappointed people in this thread dislike the Utopia so much. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty much sold on Focal's higher ends because of the Elear. It didn't wow me at first either but after trying with all my preferred music and an amp, it's not going anywhere. Plus Utopias...

Not sure that's true in my case, because I use mobile and portable. I've benefited, both volume and sound wise. I haven't tried any of the mind-blowing ones yet(budget limits right now) and still I see benefits. It probably only gets better if I were to spend real money. Now if you have a...

I get the feeling he believes some audiophiles are pretentious and name droppers. I found the email with the original post before the mod edited it and that's the impression I got when he said can you identify your favorite sets blindly without their names(something like that). I have to say...

I didn't say I didn't agree with the price. Not sure where you read that. What I said was I'm going to be more critical when spending $4K on a set. I'm going to be judging build quality, sound quality, etc. much more than a $300 set.

I've been following this thread via email again. Ok so rutter rubs people the wrong way. But he wasn't entirely wrong IMO. If I gave my honest 2 cents, I'd be disappointed too that a $4K set didn't wow me. If the demo is indeed using the wrong amp, they need to remedy that situation ASAP. But...

Many manufacturers protect from nothing and restrictive warranties benefit them and them only. This is speaking of warranties in general. Focal doesn't seem consistent since they have serviced used or unauthorized dealer buys, at least if you believe some posters here.