[Shane D]

I really enjoyed them all weekend. Finished up today with hours of Donald Byrd. Definitely not bassy headphones, but a really nice all rounder. When the piece has bass, they come out with a boom. And the mids are really nicely presented.
I need to do a head to head against the LSA HP-2's.

 

[jbhatnagar00]

Tested the entire lineup of Focal closed-backs yesterday at CanJam London. And I was cheeky enough to take my Dekoni Stellia Pads with me to swap out the Elegia stock pads and compare them with the rest of the line up that way.

My simple conclusions are:

1. The Dekoni Stellia pads do improve the bass on the Elegia and don't alter the mids. However there is a veil on the mids to my ears that benefits from being EQ'd out. With the pad swap and EQ the Focal Elegia trades blows with any of the rest of the lineup and wins on occasion. To be honest, I'd say the EQ alone would do the trick for me but the Bass from the pad swap is a nice cherry on top.

2 - Without EQ, the Radiance was my favourite in the lineup. I was lucky enough to test it before a guy bought the set I was listening to. The last one in Europe apparently. Lovely smooth bass and warm mids without sounding veiled.

3. The Celestee was the most forward and aggressive sounding. You won't miss a detail there. But it was too much for me. I felt boxed in and as though I was under attack.

4. The Stellia.... I've heard them before and for some reason they never quite do it for me, but I prefer them to the Celestee for sure. They are supposedly more resolving, but the noise at CanJam made that difficult to fully appreciate. They are the most spacious sounding of the closed backs. Listening to them and then following that with the Utopia helped me understand the Utopia (as someone who also owns the Clear Pro OG), but the Utopia is on a level of its own and is untouchable in the Focal lineup. But back to closed backs, I prefer the Radiance and the Elegia (with all the tweaks) to the Stellia.

All in all, the Elegia is not perfect, but it's great for what it is and it takes very little to make them go from good to great-great (not a typo), especially for their current price.

How do you EQ them?

 

[samandhi]

How do you EQ them?

For the mid veil with the Dekoni pads, I simply add about 1.5 to 2dB to 4kHz.

 

[samandhi]

So, I have had my Dekoni Custom Stelia pads for a few days and I can definitely say they change the sound all around for the Elegia IMO. Starting from the top there is the perception of less treble, and because of that, while the mids are still forward (maybe not as much as with stock), they DO sound a bit veiled because of it. As was mentioned in the previous post, I add about 2dB to 4kHz and we are clear in the mids again.

As for lows, it is really strange how this is affected. It does add quite a bit to the lows overall, but it seems as though it really boosts upper lows (to the point of almost being fatiguing for me). So, now I am also seeing why others have boosted the sub and mid just a tad even WITH these pads (or even subtract a bit from upper lows) to bring them to be a bit more linear sounding.

With no EQ at all I definitely don't feel the need to EQ the bass though (if I liked how smooth it made the overall sound). I will have to say though, that as opposed to with stock pads, these pads sound really good from my tube amp now (almost brilliantly so).

I have to say that I am very pleased with these because now I have (basically) two sets of Focal headphones that sound very different from one another. I can also tell that the regular sheepskin pads would simply be too much (for my ears).

 

[peterinvan]

deleted

 

[550591]

I sold mine as well Sound quality with the Dekonis Stellia pads and EQ was great. Nothing to complain there.

But comfort was a bit of a issue. Not that they where uncomfortable... But they just didn't even get close to my Dan Clark Aeon 2 noire.

 

[jbhatnagar00]

Does anyone here have a darkvoice tube amp? Joshua Valor did a review of the Celestee today and said it sounded much better. I’m curious how the Elegia would be with it

 

[samandhi]

Does anyone here have a darkvoice tube amp? Joshua Valor did a review of the Celestee today and said it sounded much better. I’m curious how the Elegia would be with it

Nope. I have only used them with a Nutube amp module (iBasso Amp13), and with stock pads it is not good, but with the Stelia pads it is brilliant... Who knew? hehe

 

[happygamera156]

Really good headphones, probably a steal at its current market price.

 

[samandhi]

Really good headphones, probably a steal at its current market price.

That was also my thought when I saw them.

 

[DDDYKI]

Have had mine for a couple of years now and I love them, but the chatter I've read here has me worried every time I put them on/take them off and hear the headband creak. I have a large head so I extend the arms to the max. I guess I'll look for any reason to entertain looking at upgrades.

 

[samandhi]

Have had mine for a couple of years now and I love them, but the chatter I've read here has me worried every time I put them on/take them off and hear the headband creak. I have a large head so I extend the arms to the max. I guess I'll look for any reason to entertain looking at upgrades.

Fortunately for me I have a medium head, and have had 0 creaking/buckling/noisy issues of any kind.

Yes, and that is how we do it in this hobby isn't it? Lol

 

[Rodmunch]

Have had mine for a couple of years now and I love them, but the chatter I've read here has me worried every time I put them on/take them off and hear the headband creak. I have a large head so I extend the arms to the max. I guess I'll look for any reason to entertain looking at upgrades.

Try putting just a little bit of light oil in the headband. Let it sit and wipe off excess. Worked for me on my Elears and I have a large head too.

 

[jbhatnagar00]

Pro tip: Put some PTFE lubricant inside the mechanism, where the yokes slide in and out. No more creaking

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3-IN-ONE-M...-TyCrggXQF66fBO1AdEaApGVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[bl00drunzc0ld]

Ordered one from Adoroma earlier today. Never heard any Focal headphones but have been interested in a closed back set so I figured why not. Can always send them back if I’m not a fan.