[cel4145]

Everybody says you need leather pads to increase bass on this HP. Just to be clear, is that Dekoni leather pads or by another manufacturer?

The Dekoni sheepskin are the ones to get. Do not get the feenstrated ones, as these will not enhance the bass, and will decrease isolation.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I ran into various references to these headphones being sold (brand new) for very good prices in the U.S. and Australia. Are similar deals to be had in the EU? I see the price on focal.com is the full 900 EUR.

 

[Malevolent]

I ran into various references to these headphones being sold (brand new) for very good prices in the U.S. and Australia. Are similar deals to be had in the EU? I see the price on focal.com is the full 900 EUR.

It wasn't too long ago that Adorama had a sale on the Elegia; it was going for $500, brand new. Through an acquaintance, I jumped on the deal; I just had to pay a little extra for shipping and handling.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

It wasn't too long ago that Adorama had a sale on the Elegia; it was going for $500, brand new. Through an acquaintance, I jumped on the deal; I just had to pay a little extra for shipping and handling.

And customs fees, surely? For me that would be $500 + $60 or so shipping, + 17% VAT, plus 25 EUR processing. Plus a long, long wait.

So my question again is, are there sellers/vendors in the EU that sell this EU-made product for the prices seen in the U.S. and Australia?

 

[rickydenim]

I’m not 100% certain, but it looks and feels like aluminum to me. Looks like you scuffed the finish.

Yeah that's what I thought too. So strange, I'm so careful with these! Not sure what's the best way to try clean it up. Maybe a metal polish. Geez if these are being used for commuting etc then I can imagine they wouldn't hold up too well!

 

[Malevolent]

And customs fees, surely? For me that would be $500 + $60 or so shipping, + 17% VAT, plus 25 EUR processing. Plus a long, long wait.

So my question again is, are there sellers/vendors in the EU that sell this EU-made product for the prices seen in the U.S. and Australia?

In all, I paid a shade under $550 for my Elegia.

I hope you'll be able to locate a similar deal in Europe. It is a great headphone that deserves the fanfare.

 

[Wyville]

And customs fees, surely? For me that would be $500 + $60 or so shipping, + 17% VAT, plus 25 EUR processing. Plus a long, long wait.

So my question again is, are there sellers/vendors in the EU that sell this EU-made product for the prices seen in the U.S. and Australia?

I have been looking for a good deal on the Elegia for a while now and out here the best I have seen is €695. Kinda steep for a blind buy.

 

[Odin412]

Does anyone here have any experiences with what the sound differences between the Elear and the Elegia are? I have the Elear and I really enjoy it, but I'm interested in a closed headphone.

 

[cel4145]

Does anyone here have any experiences with what the sound differences between the Elear and the Elegia are? I have the Elear and I really enjoy it, but I'm interested in a closed headphone.

Elegia are even easier to drive. To me, Elear has bigger soundstage, little better highs, more bass. Elegia will sound significantly more mids forward and bass light. I think the soundstage is good for a closed headphone.

Unless you get the Dekoni sheepskin pads (non-feenstrated). That gives the Elegia a little more subbass and midbass than the Elears. I reduced the sub bass a little with my Dekoni pads, and then the sound is very balanced to me with a warm tilt.

Elegia also have a sucky cable. Instead of the car jumper cable that comes with Elear, you get a very short cable with microphonics. I replaced my Elegia cable with the same cable replacement I use with my Elears.

Overall, I'm very happy to have the Elegia with Dekoni pads as my primary closed headphones. So if you try them, find them bass light, give the Dekoni pads a try.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Well I done something..... Something I have slight regret with.... And honestly it hurts . But I sold my Elegia. Never thought I'd do it, but I did. Only had them for a few months but my cousin wanted headphones so I sold them to him for a pretty good price ( $500 Aud) but damn do I miss them. But I am honestly beyond happy with my Ultrasone Edition 11 and Audeze Sine DX. The Edition 11 have been getting the most time on my ears. I am truly wowed by them and they are still burning in and getting better and better. What will I do with the money? Well I am thinking of getting myself some Verum Audio Verum 1. The Focal Clear were an option but the Edition 11 has stopped that itch. They just do so much so well. On my SMSL M500. :O mind blowing good. The Audeze Sine DX is a nice breathe of fresh air every now and then. So I feel the Verum 1 would be a nice headphone to have , I still highly rec the Elegia to anyone that is thinking of getting them though. They truly are an amazing closed back headphone. But after more usage, I found that when I do go out I use iems more. And at home open backs are my way to go. Happy listening to everyone. time for the rabit hole again . But I can say, I am reaching my end game set up. The Ultrasone Edition 11 are just amazing, truly amazing. The Sine DX I love them, the imaging on them is insanely good. The Verum 1 will be my replacement for the Elegia. I have the Tin Hifi p1 which sound insanely good with the E1da 9038s gen 2 ( will get Gen 3 ). And a few other iems for portable use. I am thinking of the Focal Clear though....... But I think the Verum 1 has me caught.

 

[Malevolent]

Well I done something..... Something I have slight regret with.... And honestly it hurts . But I sold my Elegia. Never thought I'd do it, but I did. Only had them for a few months but my cousin wanted headphones so I sold them to him for a pretty good price ( $500 Aud) but damn do I miss them. But I am honestly beyond happy with my Ultrasone Edition 11 and Audeze Sine DX. The Edition 11 have been getting the most time on my ears. I am truly wowed by them and they are still burning in and getting better and better. What will I do with the money? Well I am thinking of getting myself some Verum Audio Verum 1. The Focal Clear were an option but the Edition 11 has stopped that itch. They just do so much so well. On my SMSL M500. :O mind blowing good. The Audeze Sine DX is a nice breathe of fresh air every now and then. So I feel the Verum 1 would be a nice headphone to have , I still highly rec the Elegia to anyone that is thinking of getting them though. They truly are an amazing closed back headphone. But after more usage, I found that when I do go out I use iems more. And at home open backs are my way to go. Happy listening to everyone. time for the rabit hole again . But I can say, I am reaching my end game set up. The Ultrasone Edition 11 are just amazing, truly amazing. The Sine DX I love them, the imaging on them is insanely good. The Verum 1 will be my replacement for the Elegia. I have the Tin Hifi p1 which sound insanely good with the E1da 9038s gen 2 ( will get Gen 3 ). And a few other iems for portable use. I am thinking of the Focal Clear though....... But I think the Verum 1 has me caught.

The fact that you are still in this thread has me thinking that you are open to the possibility of purchasing another Elegia in the future.

 

[xxx1313]

I am a new Elegia owner, having bought one recently because I was looking for a good closed-back headphone for a reasonable price. I do not often need a closed-back (apart from my Oppo PM-3 which I use on travel because of its good seal and its smaller form factor), so the Stellia (which I used to own too) is too expensive for a few dozens of hours of use per year.

I had the chance to test an Elegia already soon after its launch. At that time I liked it, but it did not fully convince me with the stock pads. I read that the Brainwavz HM5 leather pads would improve the sound without meaningfully changing its tonal balance. And yes, these ear pads imo really do make the sound slightly more balanced, with bass reaching a bit lower and, even more important, they enlarge the soundstage. The seller of my Elegia (who by the way went for the Stellia) advised me try the Elegia with an (expensive) OCC silver headphone cable. This reminded me that I still own a (much cheaper) OCC silver cable which I used for the Stellia before. The silver cable further improves the Elegia, tames the slight forwardness of the mids and improves both bass and treble. The Focal stock cable seems to have its own distinct sound, which I like in combination with the Utopia, but much less so with the slightly mid-centric Elegia. Now my modded Elegia is very close to the tonal optimum imho and I like it a lot.

The Stellia is still the king of closed-back headphones, faster and superior with very complex music, but the Elegia comes fairly close now. Focal could easily charge double the price for an Elegia with more synergistic ear pads and cabling.

Those interested in measurements of the Elegia with stock pads vs. Brainwavz leather pads may take a look at the following review (in German language):
https://www.miniklangwunder.de/arti...sener-high-end-kopfhoerer-der-referenzklasse/

Cheers,
Bernie

P.S. My Elegias with the leather brainies:

 

[KCXT]

With my EQ now locked in and a couple of weeks under my belt I'm just so hot-and-lukewarm with this headphone. Sometimes I put it on and am just immediately engaged in/thrilled with the sound and other times it's just... OK. Probably a 75% awesome/25% meh split right now. It's always the same source and general setup so that seemingly shouldn't be a variable; perhaps the fit/seal really is as picky as it seems?

In contrast every time I throw on my A-pad DT 1990s I'm very pleased but man, the times the Elegia hits the spot - as it's doing right now - I daresay I even slightly prefer it to the 1990s. Satisfying soundstage, precise imaging, solid bass depth and exceptional tightness, effortless detail, and great isolation (valuable for working from home). All of the recent posts about earpads and cables and whatnot just make me wonder about taking the plunge on all that or just keeping it simple with the 1990s and cashing out.

The definition of a first-world problem

 

[xxx1313]

Well, trying another pair of ear pads does not break the bank, but I understand people who do not want to mess around trying different things. By the way, as a heavy Focal Utopia user I had to change the Utopia pads after two years of nearly daily use, but I kept the plastic rings which I now use with the Brainwavz pads on the Elegia. The Brainwavz pads also improve the isolation, so they are really worth a try, imo. Their tonal difference to the stock pads is rather small, but they improve the technical quality of the sound (tighter and lower reaching bass, slightly better balance, much improved soundstage).

The Brainwavz pads are a bit larger, but the following picture exaggerates the size difference because of its angle. Their inner diameter is approximately 7cm x 4.8cm, so not much different from the stock pads.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

The fact that you are still in this thread has me thinking that you are open to the possibility of purchasing another Elegia in the future.

You know what. You are right haha. I truly absolutely love them. But for the meantime it's an open back headphone I want. If the Elegia go down in price or Focal makes a new successor of the Elegia, then most likely im in . But I do have my eyes on the Elegia just incase an insanely good deal comes along. But the Ultrasone Edition 11 has seriously grown on. Mids are not as forward like the Elegia but to my ear, feel clearer? Or more seperated...It's strange but maybe it's due to the soundstage and imaging of the headphone. Low end is just more satisfying. Sub bass is great and never find it lacking but damn, mid bass is insane. Really gets your feet tapping and detail and texture is right on point. Mids on the Edition 11 are great. Male vocals are slightly back and I mean very slightly but this gives more air for vocals and instruments to breathe, separation is truly 15/10 with these. Treble has a fair bit of energy and with some songs it can be just slightly bright, very very slightly but most of the time I never have an issue, usually it's because of the song. But I feel burn in is fixing this. Soundstage no contest, the Elegia only wishes to sound this wide and deep. Detail is suprisingly very very close. But I still feel the Edition 11 takes the win but also the texturing of sounds, instruments for me win on the Edition 11 as well. Only thing I can say the Elegia have over the Edition 11 is dynamics. Focal has amazing dynamics. But the Edition 11 took the spot of King for me. They pretty much are my end game. Only thing I'd change, not because I have to but I want to is the cable. Would like to upgrade. But yup Edition 11 is ❤. Just want a nice companion now for them. . It's either the Verum Audio Verum 1, Focal Clear ( maybe ) or something out there I don't know of yet. Had the chance to try the Verum 1 on my set up and damn. They really are bloody amazing. They are for me better than the Audeze LCD 2 fazor and LCD 2-C. They just really need clean power and a great dac. They arent power hungry but do need very clean power and the SMSL M500 V2 does that . So in a few weeks time, I'll be back haha