[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Does anyone know of any dealers who will ship internationally? Could only find musicdirect and they only ship within US.

 Focal run a pretty tight international network - looks like American Sound of Canada is the disty on your end.
 
 It might happen but then again a few concessionaires in other countries may not wish to receive a nasty email
 from France over the sale of a headphone to Canada.
 
 Plus you'd have to think about freight - my bet would be to find someone you can trust in the US to make the purchase
 for you and then send it via snail mail.
 
 

 

[Beagle]

Thanks Gwarmi. I contacted ASOC and will see how they respond.

 

[sebchoq]

there's a page in english concerning the Spirit One on the Focal site
can't wait for the bigger audiophile models from Focal ...

 

[vkvedam]

 
Impressions from Sound & Vision Show 2012, Bristol:
 
Focal Spirit One: I've had the pleasure of attending this year's Bristol show and had a good time. I had the chance to try these headphones at the Focal stand along with their other products such as Bird series. Coming to the impressions, they are well built. Look sturdy and have got a matte finish rubbery feel to these. Nice carrying case with good bunch of accessories along with a dual prong adapter for in flight entertainment. First impression is that they isolate pretty well, on par with AKG K81DJs and Sennheiser's HD-25. Soft pleather ear pads are comfortable and the feel is quite similar to the K81DJs I used to own. Now coming to the sound I was only able to drive these out of my iPod and compared these to my Denon A100s that I had with me.
 
To start with they are quite efficient and fairly east to drive straight out of the headphone jack of an iPod or similar devices. The sound is pretty much balanced across the entire spectrum. Nice bass with good definition and extension although not as resolving and revealing as my A100s (These are about twice the price). Bass is quite similar to the HD-25s in presentation although I can't comment precisely how well or bad they were compared to the Sennheisers. Mids are ever so slightly recessed but not lost like you find in HFI Ultrasones and even here they are much more like a cloned HD-25s. Highs are balanced with a bit of roll off and again compared to my A100s they are a step below in extension and fidelity. If I am not mistaken HD-25's highs are much more controlled with better detail and better extension compared to Focal's ones. Sound stage is quite similar to HD-25's with a wider response compared to my Denon's more 3D presentation. In total it's good to see a proper high end manufacturer like Focal getting into the world of headphones and I feel that's good start as well. In the end it's entirely up to you as an individual whether to go with these or the Sennheisers. Please do take my comments with a grain of salt as the environment was quite noisy and I didn't have the HD-25s on the side at that point.

 

[msninja]

Looks really nice! I would like to try them, but I think I will wait with a purchase until we start hearing about the other models in the pipeline. I'm still happy with the MDR-Z1000 as a good, portable, closed can, but I'm definately interested in alternatives like this.

 

[astroid]

JUst picked up HIFI Choice , they have reviewed these and given them a 5 star review.
 
Highlight quotes :
 
refined, subtle, expressive, dynamic , detailed and rewardingly communicative.
 
These phones never approach sounding brittle, brash orr bright , no tizz in the high end.
 
Bass is informative yet controlled - notes have precise and rapid attack followed by clear cut release.
 
Only mention of soundstage is that they keep the music at a distance , never getting closer than the pinna, doesnt sound injected into your ear.
 
They excelled in detail , never muddy.
 
Very comfy and not sweaty.
 
Basically a rave review from a mag that typically doesnt like cans much.

 

[rhythmdevils]

That's promising!  Especially the 4th line!

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 
 I'm going to pitch in a somewhat controversial hat into this ring
 
 Imagine a slightly more spacious sounding SkullCandy Aviator - <ding> - one Focal Spirit One coming up!
 
 Only issue with these is build quality, they will not take repeated neglect and rough handling - anyone who's come
 into contact with them may share the same opinion.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

JUst picked up HIFI Choice , they have reviewed these and given them a 5 star review.
 
Basically a rave review from a mag that typically doesnt like cans much.

Hi-Fi Choice is very big on headphones, especially Richard Black.
 

 

[astroid]

My apologies, it was hifi news i was thinking of, they did a group test of high end cans and pretty much hated them all except the hd800.
Quote:

Hi-Fi Choice is very big on headphones, especially Richard Black.
 

 

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

My apologies, it was hifi news i was thinking of, they did a group test of high end cans and pretty much hated them all except the hd800.
 

HiFi News is very big on headphones, especially Keith Howard.
 

 

[zazex]

Quote:

Review in french here : http://labo.generationmp3.com/2012/02/24/test-focal-spirit-one/
 
I will write a review (shorter) here soon. But for me, despite its bump in the bass (warm signature), it's  better (details, precision, high mids and treble) than the HD25

I think that's important; more so than whether they sound better than the K550.
 
Because it's been a long time that the HD25 1 II's haven't had any strong competition 
(and yes, I'm including the recent Beyer offerings in that statement).
 
Very much looking forward to hearing these Focals.
 
 

 

[Beagle]

I contacted Focal regarding a Canadian dealer and they told me they are out of the Spirit One and there won't be any North American shipment of new ones until end of April.

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I contacted Focal regarding a Canadian dealer and they told me they are out of the Spirit One and there won't be any North American shipment of new ones until end of April.

 Not sure if Focal are limiting international production initially to hit the burgeoning and demanding Chinese market eg, like Johnny G did initially with the PS500 or
 if for what ever reason - there's bugger all slated for production.
 
 Same deal down here in Australia, my sources tell me that there will not be many around for 2012.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

 Not sure if Focal are limiting international production initially to hit the burgeoning and demanding Chinese market eg, like Johnny G did initially with the PS500 or
 if for what ever reason - there's bugger all slated for production.
 
 Same deal down here in Australia, my sources tell me that there will not be many around for 2012.

 
This is one of the reasons I like Grado. The HF-1 and HF-2 were offered exclusively to Head-Fi'ers and everyone here had a chance if they acted quickly. Then a second edition was offered for those who missed out on the initial run. And when the PS and GS1000 were issued, you could actually buy one.
 
And this is why I hate incompetent companies like Sennheiser and Focal, who announce big deal items and can't (or won't) deliver them.