[silent-circuit]

The stock cable is trash, too.

Focal Elegia: $600 on perpetual "clearance" sale, $99 on aftermarket pads, $50+ on a replacement cable. Result? "They're pretty good." For $750-850 they better be. Here's hoping you never have issues with the drivers.

 

[Cordies]

I'm not a big fan of the stock pads either. With them, the bass was a little too anemic; it felt devoid of character and oomph. I've since been using it exclusively with my Celestee pads; the lows are a touch weightier, adding some much-needed body to the lower registers. The treble retains its sparkly presentation, resulting in a signature that's more musical, more engaging for my tastes.

i dont mind the stock pads so far, u bought a set of the dekoni fenestrated sheepskin pads for my hifiman he400(2020) that i sometimes swap onto the sundaras and they're ok but honestly are not as comfortable as the default hifiman pads. and as they were $129(AUD), I'm somewhat reluctant to buy more unless they're significantly better than the detault ones on the Elegia.


they seem to have quite a few available that i can find here
all prices below in AUD$
Dekoni Audio Limited Edition Earpads for Focal Stellia $199
Dekoni Audio Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin Earpads For Focal Elear, Clear & Utopia $149
Dekoni Audio Elite Hybrid Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $149
Dekoni Audio Elite Sheepskin Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $129
Dekoni Audio Elite Velour Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $89

for those that use any can you please let me know which ones, and what difference they make to the fit, feel and sound profile

 

[Cordies]

The stock cable is trash, too.

Focal Elegia: $600 on perpetual "clearance" sale, $99 on aftermarket pads, $50+ on a replacement cable. Result? "They're pretty good." For $750-850 they better be. Here's hoping you never have issues with the drivers.

i knew the stock cable would be garbage before i even ordered them, but thankfully they use 3.5mm plugs so one of my sets of hart cables i use for my hifimans works fine

 

[Undun]

i dont mind the stock pads so far, u bought a set of the dekoni fenestrated sheepskin pads for my hifiman he400(2020) that i sometimes swap onto the sundaras and they're ok but honestly are not as comfortable as the default hifiman pads. and as they were $129(AUD), I'm somewhat reluctant to buy more unless they're significantly better than the detault ones on the Elegia.


they seem to have quite a few available that i can find here
all prices below in AUD$
Dekoni Audio Limited Edition Earpads for Focal Stellia $199
Dekoni Audio Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin Earpads For Focal Elear, Clear & Utopia $149
Dekoni Audio Elite Hybrid Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $149
Dekoni Audio Elite Sheepskin Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $129
Dekoni Audio Elite Velour Earpads for Focal Elear/Clear/Utopia $89

for those that use any can you please let me know which ones, and what difference they make to the fit, feel and sound profile

My personal favorite is the Elite Sheepskin, it makes the seal a little better for me and really brings the bass to life. It pulls the mids back just a hair though, and to my ears the treble is pretty unchanged between the two.
The Limited Stellia pads are good too, but I felt as though they didn't really improve much over the Elite Sheepskins to warrant the higher price (bought and returned them), and I actually prefer the slam from the Elite, the rest I use EQ to fill in anyway.

 

[Preachy1]

i knew the stock cable would be garbage before i even ordered them, but thankfully they use 3.5mm plugs so one of my sets of hart cables i use for my hifimans works fine

The stock cables have been a point of contention since they were first release. I also use Hart cables and they JEP.

 

[HipHopScribe]

The stock cable is trash, too.

Focal Elegia: $600 on perpetual "clearance" sale, $99 on aftermarket pads, $50+ on a replacement cable. Result? "They're pretty good." For $750-850 they better be. Here's hoping you never have issues with the drivers.

Forget $600, Adorama is still selling them for $400

 

[550591]

The stock cable is trash, too.

Focal Elegia: $600 on perpetual "clearance" sale, $99 on aftermarket pads, $50+ on a replacement cable. Result? "They're pretty good." For $750-850 they better be. Here's hoping you never have issues with the drivers.

I paid even more.

539€ for the elegia. 110€ for the Dekonis Stellia pads and around 100€ for a 3 meter balanced cable.

That's 869 USD. And I still feel like it's a great headphone even at that price

 

[lpd2]

I posted earlier last year about these, before the cable split error caused loss of channel. I didn't care about the cable stiffness, but it was too short. Was't sure if periapt would be loose, as they have a retaining snap on the stock cables. So without a left channel I returned them. Was also using a dac amp combo with an undervolted dac issue (A3 4490). Have they fixed the cable issues? Is there a reasonably priced cable that is secure? I want to try them as one prolific online reviewer says he thinks they are better than or equal to Stellias which he owns and that they are the best Focals. I enjoyed them quite a bit but not that much. I need a do-over. Good thing about them is the heavy weight if you are lying down on a plush pillow or recliner your earlobes stay in place bc the headphone is heavier than the pillow can push against.

 

[mainguy]

I posted earlier last year about these, before the cable split error caused loss of channel. I didn't care about the cable stiffness, but it was too short. Was't sure if periapt would be loose, as they have a retaining snap on the stock cables. So without a left channel I returned them. Was also using a dac amp combo with an undervolted dac issue (A3 4490). Have they fixed the cable issues? Is there a reasonably priced cable that is secure? I want to try them as one prolific online reviewer says he thinks they are better than or equal to Stellias which he owns and that they are the best Focals. I enjoyed them quite a bit but not that much. I need a do-over. Good thing about them is the heavy weight if you are lying down on a plush pillow or recliner your earlobes stay in place bc the headphone is heavier than the pillow can push against.

zeos doesnt think theyre better than the stellias at all lol, he said he’d take elegias and 2k over stellias. But goes on to say stellia is way more detailed.

 

[peterinvan]

I posted earlier last year about these, before the cable split error caused loss of channel. I didn't care about the cable stiffness, but it was too short. Was't sure if periapt would be loose, as they have a retaining snap on the stock cables. So without a left channel I returned them. Was also using a dac amp combo with an undervolted dac issue (A3 4490). Have they fixed the cable issues? Is there a reasonably priced cable that is secure? I want to try them as one prolific online reviewer says he thinks they are better than or equal to Stellias which he owns and that they are the best Focals. I enjoyed them quite a bit but not that much. I need a do-over. Good thing about them is the heavy weight if you are lying down on a plush pillow or recliner your earlobes stay in place bc the headphone is heavier than the pillow can push against.

Look at Meze or New Fantasia cables. Both have the single pole 3.5mm plugs for the Elegia. I like the balanced out from my Fiio M11Pro.

https://headphonebar.com/collections/focal

I auditioned the Stellia when I purchased the Elegia. I could not justify 3x the price for a small improvement (my ears, my opinion).

I have both the Dekoni sheepskin pads. Mostly I like the fenestrated pads for neutral profile. Also I like to install the sheepskin pads for more bass (i.e. to make them sound like like the Radiance).

 

[Garak]

Forget $600, Adorama is still selling them for $400

Seriously, this. They go on sale new for $400 on Adorama probably 10 times a year. And when they jump back to $600 new, they have open box for $389 (like right now).

And then you can go ahead and sell the new case without any issue for $100. Nothing is really beating this.

 

[mainguy]

So these came today, and i've spent most of the evening with them.

Superb. Magnifique, very unexpected actually. I spent some time with the Celestee recently, and these feel like a 'fixed' Celestee, for me the latter had serious problems with soundstage. It felt tiny, so constrained, whereas the Elegia is open, especially for a closed back.

These are brilliant headphones, remind me more of the Clear than I expected. At $400/£400 it's pure robbery, nothing at that price will come close.

 

[lil BANE]

So these came today, and i've spent most of the evening with them.

Superb. Magnifique, very unexpected actually. I spent some time with the Celestee recently, and these feel like a 'fixed' Celestee, for me the latter had serious problems with soundstage. It felt tiny, so constrained, whereas the Elegia is open, especially for a closed back.

These are brilliant headphones, remind me more of the Clear than I expected. At $400/£400 it's pure robbery, nothing at that price will come close.

Just out of curiosity, what is your source?

 

[mainguy]

Just out of curiosity, what is your source?

Hi Bane,

These are now my portable headphones so I use them exclusivey with a WM1a running WM1z firmware. Its quite a lush sounding player and I think it adds some warmth and body to the Elegia which really makes them shine. Initial impressions anyway

 

[dixtatorx]

Hi Bane,

These are now my portable headphones so I use them exclusivey with a WM1a running WM1z firmware. Its quite a lush sounding player and I think it adds some warmth and body to the Elegia which really makes them shine. Initial impressions anyway

How can you flash the WM1a with WM1z firmware and what sort of difference are you experiencing?