[hifitodd]

Hello,

Have you heard the Focal Arche and compared to other similarly priced headphone amps?

Any good? What are your thoughts or impressions?

I would be using it to driving either/both:
- Focal Clear
- Sennheiser HD650

Does it have enough juice for the HD650?

Thanks!

 

[Deolum]

I think it's hard to find people who tried it. I only know one person who tried it and he didn't recommend it in it's pricerange. I know he heard a lot of amps and knows what he says. So no first hand experience but better than nothing.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Another guy here who has no experience with it

Was interested though and took a look at the spec sheet. I would say it does not have particularly noteworthy anything, especially not for the price. If the power is linear (often it is not) then it will be marginal for the 650s. From my experience with the 600s, they need a lot more power than the facts would suggest to sound their best, and they scale incredibly. They sound lifeless without enough amp even though they can get loud enough or even too loud.

The Arche connectivity looks good and the weight of the unit is encouraging. It has analog input which can be very nice.

What other dacamps are you considering?

 

[hifitodd]

Thanks for the inputs guys. Appreciate the feedback, though in my experience the devil is in the details and spec sheets do not tell the whole story. There really is no substitute for 1st hand listening experience.

I'm also considering a Feliks Elise, though would need to put a DAC in front of it

 

[kupco]

I hate to do it, but check out the thread over on headphones.com forum

 

[Ultrainferno]

This weekend we’re giving Headfonia readers our early impressions of the Focal Arche headphone amplifier, DAC, and preamplifier.
https://www.headfonia.com/focal-arche-first-look/

 

[hifitodd]

I ordered a clear + arche combo! I will post and let you guys know how it sounds

 

[boxster233]

I ordered a clear + arche combo! I will post and let you guys know how it sounds

What’d you think?

 

[Gadget67]

Just received an email from Focal telling me about a $1,000 discount on the Arche. Here’s a link to the info on Focal’s web site.

https://www.focal.com/en/exceptiona...m_content=fr&utm_campaign=focal_voucher-arche

 

[boxster233]

Just received an email from Focal telling me about a $1,000 discount on the Arche. Here’s a link to the info on Focal’s web site.

https://www.focal.com/en/exceptiona...m_content=fr&utm_campaign=focal_voucher-arche

Same here. That’s why I opened thread again.

 

[Gadget67]

Same here. That’s why I opened thread again.

Looks like Focal is trying to sooth those who purchased headphones before they announced the combo deals. I own the Utopia and Stellia (received discounts on both) and then purchased a Clear/Arche combo with plans to sell the Clear. Oh well...wished I’d waited. For what it’s worth, the Clear is also quite a nice headphone as well and the Arche is a great pairing for all three. I would have appreciated a remote as the single knob approach gets a bit tedious to use.

 

[hifitodd]

What’d you think?

I love it! I bought it with the Clear so I got the $1000 discount. I can't speak to comparisons with other $2,500 headphone amps, but for $1500 I think it's a really good value as it's a robust headphone amp and a flexible DAC, and the built in headphone stand is nice.

I haven't A/Bed it with another amp, but I can tell you that I'm pretty hard to please, and the Clear/Arche setup is absolutely next level. The bass on this kicks in and it's like WOW. I thought my Sennheiser HD650 had pretty good bass, but these are like a whole nother level. Also the detail in general is really good.

So yeah, I'm a happy customer and I strongly recommend the Clear/Arche combo.

I would like to A/B it with my RNHP amp that I use with my HD650, I'll let you know when I do that and what the results are. Built quality is much better on the Arche.

 

[pbarach]

I love it! I bought it with the Clear so I got the $1000 discount.

So there is a review of the Focal Arche on The Absolute Sound website in which the reviewer complains about the excessive heat from this 100% Class A amp/DAC, when left on standby, being not so healthy for headphones left on its built-in stand. The reviewer also says that the amp sounds better when it's been left on (and generating heat) overnight. I already have the Clear and was considering the Arche (with the discount) until I read this. What have you noticed concerning heat?

Absolute Sound review of Arche

 

[Gadget67]

So there is a review of the Focal Arche on The Absolute Sound website in which the reviewer complains about the excessive heat from this 100% Class A amp/DAC, when left on standby, being not so healthy for headphones left on its built-in stand. The reviewer also says that the amp sounds better when it's been left on (and generating heat) overnight. I already have the Clear and was considering the Arche (with the discount) until I read this. What have you noticed concerning heat?

Absolute Sound review of Arche

Well, I’m sure others will have things to say about the heat issue, but I personally did not find it to be excessive. On the other hand, I don't like to leave my devices on when not in use so I can’t tell you what the long term effects might be. Obviously my headphones are on my head when using the Arche so I haven’t noticed any heat issues since I’m not slow roasting them by leaving the device on. I haven’t found heat to be an issue after 1-2 hour listening sessions. The device is warm but I wouldn’t characterize it as “hot”.

Asto the Arche itself, I also wish it had a remote but it wasn’t a deal killer for me. I also wish it simply remembered my last setting rather than returning to the default setting and the single dial as a multiple controller is tedious to be honest. I am currently using the Arche As a DAC in conjunction with my SPL Phonitor 2 (a phenomenal combination) but it is a very capable amp as a stand alone and plays well with my Utopia, Stellia and Clear. I purchased the Arche/Clear package and wish I’d waited a few weeks when Focal began offering the $1000 discount for which I would have qualified. I’m still deciding what to do with the Clear but I will probably just keep them.

i believe the Arche is worth having and the $1000 savings makes It a sweet deal. Here’s my current listening set up.

 

[hifitodd]

The Arche gets hot yeah, but it's not an issue for me. I do not think it is going to roast the headphones. I wouldn't worry about it.

As for complains, I agree with Gadget67:

- I would prefer a dedicated input control instead of pushing in the volume knob
- A remote would be a nice-to-have, but I can reach the control from where I sit at my desk so not a big issue
- I've had 2 random shutdowns when using it, both while rotating the volume control. I've since updated the firmware and haven't seen it again, so hope it was a glitch that's been worked out.

Other than that (a bit nitpicking but hey, it's $2,500 unit) I think it's freaking great.

Huge wins:
- Amazing sound, mega dynamics and authority with the Clears. Detailed without being bright
- Balanced input (not easy to find!)
- built-in stand
- DAC
- Volume control feels great
- Very solid build quality