I paid full price for my Stellias unfortunately. I tried to get a deal but I cancelled too much of the order to be picky about the final price of the headphones. The sound signature is worth $3,000 to me, no ragrets. Not even a single letter.
I paid full price for my Stellias unfortunately. I tried to get a deal but I cancelled too much of the order to be picky about the final price of the headphones. The sound is worth $3,000 to me in any case.
I chose the Clear over the Stellia, but still think the Stellia would be worth $1500. For now, I’ll just keep dreaming. The Sony MDR-Z7M2 with the Kimber Kable can hold me over at least
I chose the Clear over the Stellia, but still think the Stellia would be worth $1500. For now, I’ll just keep dreaming. The Sony MDR-Z7M2 with the Kimber Kable can hold me over at least
Don’t forget that for the Stellia versus the Clear you are paying for beryllium drivers, premium leather, and a flagship closed-back design. The latter is apparently very hard to do to this caliber.
Edit: That’s said, I believe Focal could have priced these at $2,500 USD if they wanted too. However, they absolutely know they’re onto something special. If I had a 10% discount I could have saved $300, that would’ve been nice, but it isn’t the end of my world.
I chose the Clear over the Stellia, but still think the Stellia would be worth $1500. For now, I’ll just keep dreaming. The Sony MDR-Z7M2 with the Kimber Kable can hold me over at least
Deciding the worth of luxury items is tricky, since the z7m2 do a fine job, as do many others in the price range. But I find it questionable to put the Stellia vs an open back headphone which has different looks and less technical capabilities. If so, they should be compared to similar offerings. The VC comes to mind, and Zmf head-fiers are so enchanted that they write the VC should cost more
I believe I’m going to acquire a Sony NW-WM1Z Walkman. I’ve always wanted one for the sexy copper chassis, the sound, and for Sony’s balanced pentagon 4.4mm headphone jack. [...] Is anyone using any of these devices with the Focal Stellia?
My Stellia's fully burned in at this point and I've been doing some listening with the WM1Z (with the balanced connection) over the last couple days. I find that it pairs very well.
It's a fuller and richer sound than the desktop source I've been using for much of the past week, which a DAVE. Sometimes I do find the WM1Z to be preferrable, especially in the mid-evening when the power quality in my building is at its worst (A DAP is of course immune to issues of that kind). And I'm finding the Stellia can pair well with warm and full-sounding sources generally, even though the Stellia itself is, of course, on the warm side, due to its resolving-ness.
My Stellia's fully burned in at this point and I've been doing some listening with the WM1Z over the last couple days. I find that it pairs very well.
It's a fuller and richer sound than the desktop source I've been using for much of the past week, which a DAVE. Sometimes I do find the WM1Z to be preferrable, especially in the mid-evening when the power quality in my building is at its worst (A DAP is of course immune to issues of that kind). And I'm finding the Stellia to pair well with warm and full-sounding sources generally, even though the Stellia itself is, of course, on the warm side, due to its resolving-ness.
Woo Audio emailed me and noted that the warmer tube based WA8 Eclipse is more suited for Stellia over the solid state WA11 Topaz. Beryllium drivers must pair well with the warmth of tubes.
Woo Audio emailed me and noted that the warmer tube based WA8 Eclipse is more suited for Stellia over the solid state WA11 Topaz. Beryllium drivers must pair well with the warmth of tubes.
Woo Audio emailed me and noted that the warmer tube based WA8 Eclipse is more suited for Stellia over the solid state WA11 Topaz. Beryllium drivers must pair well with the warmth of tubes.
I had the WA8 in the past, and it does sound very nice generally, and has plenty of oomph. And it's on the warm side for sure.
However, one time I brought it to the audio shop to hear it with the Elegia, and the Elegia sounded bloated and kind of wrong. In contrast, the Elegia sounded okay out of a WM1A DAP.
The reason why I bring this up is that I suspect due to the bass bloat I heard that the WA8 + Elegia makes for a poor impedance match, and the Stellia has the same low impedance rating as the Elegia. So it makes me wonder. Sorry to raise possible doubts based on partial speculation, but this is something I'd watch out for. It may well be that it sounded off with the Elegia for reasons unrelated to impedance mismatch. Or that it would sound alright with the Stellia regardless. But if anyone knows the output impedance of the WA8, I think that would be helpful (Woo has a tendency to, um, downplay output impedance specs on their tube amps, which is a huge pet peeve of mine).
The Elegia just doesn’t have the spark and variety the Stellia has. The WM1Z will make the Stellia shine without a doubt. The main reason I chose the Clear over the Stellia was because I enjoyed the sound more and still holds true to this day, not because of price and the Clear requires a higher impedance to use the 1Z. Not a whole lot, mind you, as it’s still easy to listen on both my WM1A and WM1Z.
I’ve been told by a popular reviewer here that a Hugo 2/2Go would be better if your enjoyment is from hearing details and accuracy and Woo / Sony would be better if the music isn’t as well recorded and sounds better with more warmth. Perhaps the best pair is the Sony WMZ1 plus a Hugo 2/2Go. Then I get a bit of both.
I’ve been told by a popular reviewer here that a Hugo 2/2Go would be better if your enjoyment is from hearing details and accuracy and Woo / Sony would be better if the music isn’t as well recorded and sounds better with more warmth. Perhaps the best pair is the Sony WMZ1 plus a Hugo 2/2Go. Then I get a bit of both.
What about the iFi Zen and Hip DACs? Both small but power don’t seem to require to much power. I like my iFi Hip Dac and it can still be used while charging the battery
Funny you should ask that, because I’ve been enjoying the Stellia so much that I haven’t even put the VC’s or any other headphone on since I got them! I knew I would like them but I have been surprised at just how good they are. Really technically adept but also fun and easy to enjoy with all kinds of music and sources. And they are different enough and good enough on their own terms as closed-backs that I’m not missing my Utopias at all when I have them on. I love the Verité C but I do sometimes find myself wanting their sound in an open-back format if I don’t need the isolation they provide. Their presentation may be a bit more spacious than the Stellia, but the Focals are like putting a small, well isolated room on your head. I think they had more of an ear speaker concept in mind with their design as opposed to the ZMF’s going for an open-back sound in a closed can. Both succeed on their own merits but the idea of what a totl closed-back should be is different for each brand. I’ll do some A/B listening sessions in the days to come to develop my impressions further. I feel tremendously lucky to have these two at the same time if only for a few weeks.
And I totally agree with you re: the Stellias vs Z1Rs. I think the Sonys are great but bested by the Stellia in almost every category. To be fair I don’t own the Z1Rs anymore, but I sold them after a few months w/out too much hesitation, while the Stellias are turning into indispensable cans for me that I can’t see replacing for years. I will say one thing I admire about Sony over Focal is that their design (aside from the Z1Rs absurdly heavy case!) is more consumer friendly. I really appreciated having numbers on the sliders to easily find the right fit, instead of counting clicks like with the Utopia/Stellia, and color-coded connectors for the cables were most welcome!
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