I too bought the Adorama 429$ special and am really enjoying these phones. I have never owned a Focal product prior to this and always thought their lineup of speakers were a bit tight and technical sounding on the whole, but these Elegia's are right in the sweet spot. Firstly I would like to humbly mention that I am acoustician, who has recorded and mixed over 200 records, owned recording studios for over 20 years, owned a mastering studio for 8 years, built many many studios and theaters and currently consult in architectural acoustics which all adds up to that I know how to listen for me, but not anyone else. I also know my opinions may be just as useless as a newbie. I respect newbies as much as seasoned professionals and do not think that my experience adds any credibility whatsoever to my observations compared the some really good points made earlier in this thread.
What I like about these phones is overall design balance, all of the design tradeoffs fit well together, they are very cohesive, they do not fight themselves. That in itself is impressive. Many Elegia users favor EQ and this is a great phone to EQ because of the design balance. Adding in any frequency range does not cause chaos in other regions. That is very rare and speaks of the lack if inner fight I mentioned. I have decided for now not to EQ but if I did it would a slight bass increase, a decibel or so nothing drastic. An interesting note, I was using an Oppo HA-2 which is a nice little travel unit, in every other headphone I used with that over the years, the bass boost function threw every phone into a tizzy, but not the Elegia, I still won't use it but it was nearly acceptable. Very interesting to me. It would suggest that the phase coherence of the Elegia and the impulse responses would appear to be very good.
I like the depth and imaging, the dynamics are never a hammer; just relax and you and find yourself in the music. Other reviewers stated that these were better for acoustic music but I really didn't feel that at all, its just good all around. I had listened to the original HD 600's until they decomposed around my head, and I went back to the tracks from that time and I was shocked how many new details I heard in the tracks. How everything just seem integrated and mature. That made me think about the HD lineup evolution, they just could never deliver a single version that hit the sweet spot in depth, detail, imaging, weight and here Focal nailed it. While I fully expect that Focal will soon replace the Elegia, I would never assume that the replacement would automatically be better. Thats why at this price, this is another headphone that may yet decompose on my head.
I compared the Elegia to numerous HiFiman phones which I enjoy, starting with an old set of 400i's and going up the line. While I very much enjoy the transients of all of those phones, its only Arya and the HE1000V2 that would move me away, but I ask myself why? 429$ is a great number to pay for this much fun. Why in the world would I pay 3 X or 4 X, really get a life. I'm good here, with a closed back.
One thing thats a bit of an issue; so the Elegia is essentially a partially ported design or a pressure realease design which I think is a big part of this phones acoustical solution. Sleeping next to my wife where I do a fair amount of hardcore listening, a lot more sound escapes than I would have imagined. Since Focal designed the headphone like a small room with an energy or pressure release vent which is akin to a bass trap or air space in an acoustical room, I can feel her stir when I turn it up. Hadn't expected that.
Too bad she bought me these for my birthday.
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