[Anaz]

...
considering I like the Mojo sound signature? or other recommendations?

The Meier Audio Jazz ff is a neutral (but not dull) sounding amp and I think you'll like it, but the gain may be be too much for the Clear if you can't reduce the sound level from your DAC - I believe the Meier Audio Classic has less gain but I haven't heard it. The Arcam rHead is a good choice with a sound that's slightly darker than the Jazz ff and Mojo. (Edit: my ranking for your use case is 1- V200, 2- rHead, 3- Jazz ff)

I haven't heard the Lyr 3 or Jotunheim, but most of what I've read seems to indicate that the Lyr 3 is the better amp because it is more resolving/detailed. With all that said, I believe your EL DAC will have more effect on the sound than the amps I mentioned. Good luck with whatever you decide to buy!

 

[gLer]

Save yourself some money and try an Audio-gd R2R-11. Since you’re after a desktop solution, you’re not going to find a better dac/amp combo for even twice the price, especially for lower impredenace headphones. If the NOS R2R sound isn’t quite to your liking, the NFB-11.38 should do the trick.

Contact Joss at Magna Hifi in Holland, great guy to deal with and he’ll give you all the advice you need. He’s also the European agent for Audio-gd.

 

[makne]

Thanks for the answers.

I don't want to get the Mojo because I don't like battery for desktop use (which I need the Amp for). When I tested the Chord Mojo with the Clears I loved it though. To my ears it sounded like it made the music slightly softer and easier to listen to, so if there is an Amp with a similar sound signature under 600€ I would buy it instantly.
Also, I occassionally play rhythm games and the Mojo adds to much audio delay.

The LCX and Lyr 3 (not 2) sound interesting, but I live in Germany so Massdrop isn't the best option. Would i get the Lyr 3 over the Jotunheim?

The Focal Clears are my only "end game" headphones so variable gain is not a must have, although I probably want it because of the low impedance of the Clears? I could look for a used V200.

The Lyr 3, Jotunheim, Lake People RS 02 and V200 look like good options. Any opinions on these Amp considering I like the Mojo sound signature? or other recommendations?

you're right that the Mojo makes the music slightly "softer" or warmer. I haven't heard the Lyr3 myself but have heard only positive impressions of it. its a hybrid tube so I don't think you'll get that warm tubey sound, but perhaps a little warmer than something like, say, a Jotunheim. The Lyr3 is also crazy powerful so should be able to drive higher impedance headphones if you do decide to purchase that in the future. The Lyr3 also comes with several tube options from schiit, that should allow you to tweak the sound signature a little.

 

[chronicl]

Thanks again for all the answers.

After looking up every Amp and their characteristics I narrowed it down to either the V200 or R2R 11.
I could get the V200 barely used for 570€ and the R2R 11 new for 370€. If I was to get the R2R 11 I would sell my EL DAC (I don't think I will get a lot for it, maybe a bit more than 100€) so that makes the R2R 11 about 270€ for me.

What do you guys think? Would the extra 300€ for the V200 be worth it?

 

[Anaz]

Thanks again for all the answers.

After looking up every Amp and their characteristics I narrowed it down to either the V200 or R2R 11.
I could get the V200 barely used for 570€ and the R2R 11 new for 370€. If I was to get the R2R 11 I would also sell my EL DAC (I don't think I will get a lot for it, maybe a bit more than 100€) so that makes the R2R 11 about 270€ for me.

What do you guys think? Would the extra 300€ for the V200 be worth it?

I have both an R2R 11 and V200 and for me the V200 would be worth the extra money for a Clear. (I would probably say no if you had a less resolving headphone). The R2R 11 is a warm, relaxed sounding DAC/amp that is great value considering the price, but IMO for a Clear you need a better amp and DAC that provide more detail*.

* I haven't heard an EL DAC, but for reference I think a Mojo has better detail than the R2R 11.

OK, I'm going to shut up now, because all this Clear talk is making me want to buy one to replace my Elex

 

[catscratch]

I'll toss in the Headamp Gilmore Lite Mk2. I compared it vs the Lyr 2 and it won on clarity and smoothness. Haven't heard the Lyr 3 though. The Lyr 2 sounded punchy but it ran very hot, the stock tubes sounded bad, and the channel balance would sometimes go haywire after adjusting the volume. On the other hand the Gilmore Lite hasn't given me any problems at all.

 

[pbarach]

My Focal Clear set just arrived today. My headphones of choice to date have been Sennheiser HD-600, with a Marantz HD-DAC1 amp. I listen almost exclusively to classical music. Initially, I used the cable with the small plug and the screw-on adapter. Compared to the 600's, I noticed deeper and better-defined bass and smoother mid-highs that, however, sounded a little muffled (I have hearing loss above 10K, so no comment on the higher frequencies). The differences were minor and I wondered if the Clears were worth the cost.

However, when I changed the cable to the one with the 1/4" plug, there was much more of an improvement or the Senns. Now the mid-highs were clear as a bell on acoustic piano recordings, and I noticed better imaging than I'd heard with the other cable. SInce both cables seem to be made out of the same gauge of wire, I considered that I might be imagining the difference between them. I have no "accomplice" to help me run a blind test, but after switching back and forth a few times, I believe I heard a real difference. Anyone else noticed this?

I don't have an amp with balanced output, so the balanced cable is staying in the box.

 

[chronicl]

I bought the V200 now.
Will receive it on Monday and I will give my impression on how it sounds with the Clears after testing it.
I’m very excited.

The head fi community is amazing! I’m very thankful for the useful help on deciding what amp to pick.

 

[AmusedToD]

Hi everyone,

Looking to get the Focal Clear as I am in the process of selling my relatively high end stereo setup (TAD speakers, Gryphon amp, dCS streamer, dCS DAC and Kubala Sosna cables) for financial reasons.

Not much experience with headphones either, apart from the B&W P7 wireless which I owed for several months last year and eventually sold it due to discomfort while using them.

Before getting a proper desktop DAC/amp, I am looking at portable options like DAPs and/or phones. I have the iPhone 7+ which is not very good for driving headphones, especially without the 3.5mm input. I have a large collection of high res flac and DSD files, and also have the HiFi account on Tidal, so MQA reproduction is important to me as well.

I am considering the LG V30/G7 since it can play my entire music library, but it can also play MQA files which is a big plus. Few DAPs on the market can do this.

Do you think an LG phone with the quad DAC will be sufficient for driving the Clear before getting a proper desktop combo?

 

[nlwouter]

Hi everyone,

Looking to get the Focal Clear as I am in the process of selling my relatively high end stereo setup (TAD speakers, Gryphon amp, dCS streamer, dCS DAC and Kubala Sosna cables) for financial reasons.

Not much experience with headphones either, apart from the B&W P7 wireless which I owed for several months last year and eventually sold it due to discomfort while using them.

Before getting a proper desktop DAC/amp, I am looking at portable options like DAPs and/or phones. I have the iPhone 7+ which is not very good for driving headphones, especially without the 3.5mm input. I have a large collection of high res flac and DSD files, and also have the HiFi account on Tidal, so MQA reproduction is important to me as well.

I am considering the LG V30/G7 since it can play my entire music library, but it can also play MQA files which is a big plus. Few DAPs on the market can do this.

Do you think an LG phone with the quad DAC will be sufficient for driving the Clear before getting a proper desktop combo?

I own and have used this combo, although it sounds great. But's that's more because the clear sounds good with everything.
But an amp makes these shine, have you considered an iphone mojo combo?

For portable maybe also look into the Focal Elegia. Its closed back and early reports say it sounds very neutral (like the clear).

Hope this helps.

 

[AmusedToD]

I own and have used this combo, although it sounds great. But's that's more because the clear sounds good with everything.
But an amp makes these shine, have you considered an iphone mojo combo?

For portable maybe also look into the Focal Elegia. Its closed back and early reports say it sounds very neutral (like the clear).

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I had the Mojo last year and I used it with the B&W, and while sounding rather fine, I found it not very user friendly, not very portable either and with a finicky USB input. The Mojo is nether a true desktop nor a true portable device, so it’s a no for me. And having an iPhone + CCK kit + USB cable + Mojo + headphone cable looks like a “spaghetti” setup that I don’t intend to mess with, plus such setup requires 2 devices to be charged. I want a “clean” portable solution, if you know what I mean.

The LG V30/G7 looks like an all in one variant, a player that can read all my files, has the fastest OS when compared to any DAP in the market, has good battery life, reads MQA and doesn’t require additional cabling. What I am not sure is whether it is worth the cost sound quality wise, and whether it’s a match for the Clear. I am aware it won’t sound as good as a iPhone + Mojo combo, but is it very far behind or not?

And finally, I can get a 6 months old V30 for less than 300€, which I think is a great deal.

 

[nlwouter]

Thanks. I had the Mojo last year and I used it with the B&W, and while sounding rather fine, I found it not very user friendly, not very portable either and with a finicky USB input. The Mojo is nether a true desktop nor a true portable device, so it’s a no for me. And having an iPhone + CCK kit + USB cable + Mojo + headphone cable looks like a “spaghetti” setup that I don’t intend to mess with, plus such setup requires 2 devices to be charged. I want a “clean” portable solution, if you know what I mean.

The LG V30/G7 looks like an all in one variant, a player that can read all my files, has the fastest OS when compared to any DAP in the market, has good battery life, reads MQA and doesn’t require additional cabling. What I am not sure is whether it is worth the cost sound quality wise, and whether it’s a match for the Clear. I am aware it won’t sound as good as a iPhone + Mojo combo, but is it very far behind or not?

And finally, I can get a 6 months old V30 for less than 300€, which I think is a great deal.

No, you'll just miss some small refinement. But as i said before the clear sounds great on anything. So the v30 is no exception.

(Edit) one last thing i forgot to mention is the v30 has quite a bad screen. So if you use it with low brightness everyting looks a bit too black and the blacks even smudge with movement. But if sound quality is the most important then the v30 delivers.

 

[cardeli22]

Thanks. I had the Mojo last year and I used it with the B&W, and while sounding rather fine, I found it not very user friendly, not very portable either and with a finicky USB input. The Mojo is nether a true desktop nor a true portable device, so it’s a no for me. And having an iPhone + CCK kit + USB cable + Mojo + headphone cable looks like a “spaghetti” setup that I don’t intend to mess with, plus such setup requires 2 devices to be charged. I want a “clean” portable solution, if you know what I mean.

The LG V30/G7 looks like an all in one variant, a player that can read all my files, has the fastest OS when compared to any DAP in the market, has good battery life, reads MQA and doesn’t require additional cabling. What I am not sure is whether it is worth the cost sound quality wise, and whether it’s a match for the Clear. I am aware it won’t sound as good as a iPhone + Mojo combo, but is it very far behind or not?

And finally, I can get a 6 months old V30 for less than 300€, which I think is a great deal.

I have the LGv30 and I use it with the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 pro, MD+ iem, & MH40s. The beyers are 250 ohm headphones and it powers them just fine. I feel, sound wise, my ifi micro BL has more bass presence even with the bass boost off. Sound wise I enjoy the phone.

 

[nlwouter]

Greetings to all. My 1st post & would like to start here as a recent new owner of the Focal Clear. I am very impressed with the investment. Love the unique sound & stage signature. The balance is SO nice.
I am running it through the Fostex HP-A4B which is, IMO, a stunning match for this headphone. I'm looking forward to becoming more familiar with the performance of the pairing.
Haven't had a chance to read through the whole thread as yet & apologize if this has been addressed previously : Does any of you have experience with pure silver litz headphone cable? I'm sure you guys are aware of the controversial subject of interconnects & speaker wire & electric guitar cable etc.
Secondly: Anyone tried cleaning the pads or headband yet?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
B.

Hi,
I Just recieved my silver cable last week.
I posted a more detailed impression on the norne thread.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/nor...pression-thread.606500/page-226#post-14525775

But quick impressions:
I really love the combo of the Norne Silvergarde S3 with the Clear.
For me it makes the music more calming and detailed without losing attack.
But i know cables a controversial so i won't talk more about it here.

Hope this helps

 

[AmusedToD]

I have the LGv30 and I use it with the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 pro, MD+ iem, & MH40s. The beyers are 250 ohm headphones and it powers them just fine. I feel, sound wise, my ifi micro BL has more bass presence even with the bass boost off. Sound wise I enjoy the phone.

Great, thanks for the reply.

I ordered the new LG G7 ThinQ through my phone company, should arrive in a day or two. The G7 has the same DAC as the V30.