[vonBaron]

No, and i never will becouse the are too poor.
I owned Spirit Classic, Listen, Elear and Clear.
Listen all Focals besides Utopia.

Do you own the Elegia? You say they’re the worst Focal..what other Focal headphones have you owned?

 

[JoePR31]

The quality of elegia sound is tempting me to look into their lineup as well. Wondering if the Clear or Elex would be equally good open-back options. But bless my wallet!

I’ve never heard the Elex, but had a brief demo with the Clear. I loved it. Great tonality, and based on memory only, I’d say slightly better dynamics and a bit more detailed than the Elegia. Being open back, they do sound more open than the Elegia. That being said, and somewhat surprisingly, the Elegia seems to me to have very similar soundstage width, which is great for a closed back headphone.

I feel that the Elegia are good looking headphones, and very well built, but the Clear is downright beautiful. They do seem a bit more fragile than the Elegia, if only because of the mesh covering the ear cups, as opposed to the more rugged and durable feeling of the high quality plastic that the Elegia’s ear cups are made of. They do both use a light gray microfiber to line the underside of the headband and the inside of the ear pads, which doesn’t seem like the best choice since they will likely show discoloration after many hours of direct contact with skin and hair. In an effort to mitigate this, I bought a headband cover for my Elegia, and I wipe my ears down with a clean moist towel prior to using the headphone.

All in all, if you like the Elegia, you’re very likely to enjoy the Clear, and it’s my understanding that the Elex is very similar to the Clear. The only downside to buying either one is that they may sound too similar to the Elegia, which would make them a bit redundant for someone who owns the Elegia.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Ah..I read a few different reviews that mentioned the same thing regarding the LCD-2 Closed mids. I love great mids, which is part of the reason that I like the Elegia so much. So, I guess that means the LCD-2 Closed wouldn’t be for me.

Everything else on the LCD2-Closed is good. And they did fix the mids a bit with the newer models. But still, I feel the mids are greatly lacking and the first batch was more worse :/

 

[JoePR31]

No, and i never will becouse the are too poor.
I owned Spirit Classic, Listen, Elear and Clear.
Listen all Focals besides Utopia.

Being that they’re fairly similar to the Clear, calling them “poor” is hyperbole. The Clear are better, but only because the Elegia makes small trade offs in detail retrieval and general openness due to their closed back nature. The Clear also have a bit more mid bass, but the Elegia counters by having a bit more sub bass. The mids on the Elegia are also more forward. The Clear‘s mids seemed are a bit more laid back to me. They do have a bit more treble energy than the Elegia, which could be good or bad, depending on individual tastes.

In regards to the Elear, you are pretty close to being alone in your opinion if you truly believe them to be better than the Elegia. I also hope that you’re not trying to claim that the Spirit Classic and Listen are better than the Elegia, because that’s not even remotely true.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

No, and i never will becouse the are too poor.
I owned Spirit Classic, Listen, Elear and Clear.
Listen all Focals besides Utopia.

Well then keep your opinions to yourself as you are just speaking clueless ideas. Many prefer the Elegia over the Elear, Elex and like it closely to the Clear. The price doesnt justify anything and I personally believe it's one of Focals best offerings. I have heard all and many other headphones to compare

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Being that they’re fairly similar to the Clear, calling them “poor” is hyperbole. The Clear are better, but only because the Elegia makes small trade offs in detail retrieval and general openness due to their closed back nature. The Clear also have a bit more mid bass, but the Elegia counters by having a bit more sub bass. The mids on the Elegia are also more forward. The Clear‘s mids seemed are a bit more laid back to me. They do have a bit more treble energy than the Elegia, which could be good or bad, depending on individual tastes.

In regards to the Elear, you are pretty close to being alone in your opinion if you truly believe them to be better than the Elegia. I also hope that you’re not trying to claim that the Spirit Classic and Listen are better than the Elegia, because that’s not even remotely true.

I can say with slight EQ, the Elegia for me actually has the better tonality and faster low end with more texture and detail down low. The Clear has more detail in the mids, but just slightly more. The treble I prefer on the Elegia, it is smoother while still having great energy, sparkle and detail. Soundstage goes to the Clear, imaging is very similar, instrument separation goes to the Clear, isolation goes to the Elegia. Dynamic goes to the Elegia, I feel it plays faster music better than the Clears and delivers much more punch while the Clear has a softer approach. Now judging alone by just the price difference... It shows how good the Elegia are . Oh the Elegia feel better built as well.....

 

[descloud]

Well then keep your opinions to yourself as you are just speaking clueless ideas. Many prefer the Elegia over the Elear, Elex and like it closely to the Clear. The price doesnt justify anything and I personally believe it's one of Focals best offerings. I have heard all and many other headphones to compare

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - telling someone to keep their opinions to themselves is just equally bad as one person stating a blunt opinion that is contradictory to the many.

That aside, I have been looking into getting an Elegia sometime in the future as a home closed-back headphone. There are others like metal571 who claims that the highs have this metallic quality to the highs, which is a bit concerning to me. Would you agree with his impressions on it?

It's hard finding a closed-back home headphone that has a balanced frequency responseand that somewhat resembles the HD650 tonality overall. The other options I found under the 1K bracket are the AFC, Cascades, and LCD-2 Closed. Each of them having compromises that I don't think I could agree with sound wise.

 

[vonBaron]

I'm sorry that you don't agree with me but this is what i feel.
IMO Elegia is nowhere near Elex or Clear, even Elear are better, but this is my opinion and you can hate me for that

I’ve never heard the Elex, but had a brief demo with the Clear. I loved it. Great tonality, and based on memory only, I’d say slightly better dynamics and a bit more detailed than the Elegia. Being open back, they do sound more open than the Elegia. That being said, and somewhat surprisingly, the Elegia seems to me to have very similar soundstage width, which is great for a closed back headphone.

I feel that the Elegia are good looking headphones, and very well built, but the Clear is downright beautiful. They do seem a bit more fragile than the Elegia, if only because of the mesh covering the ear cups, as opposed to the more rugged and durable feeling of the high quality plastic that the Elegia’s ear cups are made of. They do both use a light gray microfiber to line the underside of the headband and the inside of the ear pads, which doesn’t seem like the best choice since they will likely show discoloration after many hours of direct contact with skin and hair. In an effort to mitigate this, I bought a headband cover for my Elegia, and I wipe my ears down with a clean moist towel prior to using the headphone.

All in all, if you like the Elegia, you’re very likely to enjoy the Clear, and it’s my understanding that the Elex is very similar to the Clear. The only downside to buying either one is that they may sound too similar to the Elegia, which would make them a bit redundant for someone who owns the Elegia.

 

[vonBaron]

Well then keep your opinions to yourself as you are just speaking clueless ideas. Many prefer the Elegia over the Elear, Elex and like it closely to the Clear. The price doesnt justify anything and I personally believe it's one of Focals best offerings. I have heard all and many other headphones to compare

So you won't let me say what i think?

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - telling someone to keep their opinions to themselves is just equally bad as one person stating a blunt opinion that is contradictory to the many.

That aside, I have been looking into getting an Elegia sometime in the future as a home closed-back headphone. There are others like metal571 who claims that the highs have this metallic quality to the highs, which is a bit concerning to me. Would you agree with his impressions on it?

It's hard finding a closed-back home headphone that has a balanced frequency responseand that somewhat resembles the HD650 tonality overall. The other options I found under the 1K bracket are the AFC, Cascades, and LCD-2 Closed. Each of them having compromises that I don't think I could agree with sound wise.

Yes that was a bit mean of me, I just wanted to say it's best if he tries them first before commenting negative of them. For me I don't find the highs to have a metallic quality but in a way, they are slightly bright maybe due to the low end presentation which can be light for some songs. But I personally feel the Elegia is the best sounding of them headphones you mentioned then comes the AFC, Cascade and Audeze LCD-2 Closed. With some slight EQ in the low end, it helps warm up the sound and tame the percieved brightness. I do like the treble of the Elegia very much and same with mids, I just felt that the mids needed just a touch of warmth which is easy with slight EQ or using a warmer sounding dac

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

I'm sorry that you don't agree with me but this is what i feel.
IMO Elegia is nowhere near Elex or Clear, even Elear are better, but this is my opinion and you can hate me for that

I don't hate you. No reason to hate you. But you have told us that you havent owned the Elegia, so may I ask. Why is it you feel the Elegia is the worst of the line up and how have you concluded with your opinion of them? Did you have them for a short period and sold them? Or had a listen to them and just didnt like them? I'd just like a bit more explanation that is all . Sorry if I seemed rude, I did not mean it.

 

[vonBaron]

I don't hate you. No reason to hate you. But you have told us that you havent owned the Elegia, so may I ask. Why is it you feel the Elegia is the worst of the line up and how have you concluded with your opinion of them? Did you have them for a short period and sold them? Or had a listen to them and just didnt like them? I'd just like a bit more explanation that is all . Sorry if I seemed rude, I did not mean it.

I loan them from local store.
I just feel that Elegia ale not that fluid and musical like Elear, they have worst of all soundstage (besides all Focal has not that great soundstage ), they sound like the are playing form under blanket, when i see them in pictures they look nice but when i get them they feel all plastic and poor material quality (pads, headband).
Now i think that even Denon D5200 i like more (but i just love that paper driver).
If you enjoy them thats cool, they are Focal after all

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

I loan them from local store.
I just feel that Elegia ale not that fluid and musical like Elear, they have worst of all soundstage (besides all Focal has not that great soundstage ), they sound like the are playing form under blanket, when i see them in pictures they look nice but when i get them they feel all plastic and poor material quality (pads, headband).
Now i think that even Denon D5200 i like more (but i just love that paper driver).
If you enjoy them thats cool, they are Focal after all

Thanks for the info, I do understand in a way what you mean. It is a headphone that can be a a hit or miss for some. It has a very analytical sound where with some genres of music it sounds good but emotion can be lacking due to the slightly thinner sounding mids and soft attack on the mid-high bass. But for me, it was an easy fix with EQ and I love how they sound. But we all hear differently

 

[vonBaron]

Thats why when i must EQ headphones i don't want to have it
Only headphones i owned and EQ them somethimes was Dharma D1000.

 

[revolutionz]

I just scored a pair of Elegia's for $519! Pretty pumped to give them a try, as I need to switch to closed backs now that I'm sharing my home office with the wife. I currently have some HD700's that I used, which I enjoyed. Hoping for a bit more low end extension with these though. Looking forward to see how they compare to my B&W P7 that I have at the office.

I know the stock cable isn't the greatest from what I've been reading, what are people having good results with? I have a DHC Molecule copper cable I can get reterminated for these, or should I be looking at a silver cable? Will I really notice much of a difference between the two cables?