[BowWazoo]

Like made for the Stellia

(This setup, of course.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ce6wug02zvm1d4z/Focal Stellia.pdf?dl=0)

 

[mainguy]

To be honest, the mids are the Stellia's best attribute, IMO. I didn't fully enjoy its treble response, but the midrange on this headphone is quite exceptional. In tandem with a fairly-lush tone, the Focal manages to convey a lot of emotional depth within a well-layered, highly-resolving body. It is expensive, and it may not fit everyone's tastes, but the Stellia is not a bad headphone; in fact, it is pretty good to me.

Every 'pro' review I've read seems to agree, Stellia absolutely has some magic in the mids. Particularly vocals. I noticed it from the get go, I hadnt read a single review when I first listened to them, but straight away vocals were incredible.

'We were blown away by Jim Morrison's voice; resonant and precise, it sat confidently at the front of the mix' - Techradar
'Her vocals are pure, beautiful, and taking center stage, just like they should' - Verge
'Elaine Paige’s multi-layered, over-tracked, staggered vocals as Florence in “Nobody’s Side” (Chess) demonstrate excellent separation and resolution' - Headphones.com
'both vocals and strings are as good as I have ever heard in closed-back headphones. ' - Audiphileon

Might be a bit much, I don't want to appeal to authority, but it's so unanimous I have a hard time seeing how anyone could question the mid range on these, especially vocal reproduction. It's a glaringly obvious strength to my ears. But, the difference in human hearing never ceases to amaze me.

 

[judomaniak57]

watched the video up until he starts talking about midrange and how bad it is. this guy either has poor hearing or a crappy set of used stellia's , probably a combo of both. stellia's are exceptional in the midrange. i think even better mids then the most used standard ,the senn 600.

 

[gazzington]

I don’t own the stellia but have almost bought them a couple of times. It seems like some love them and others really don’t like them. I ended up with zmf vc which I love but I can still see myself getting a stellia at some point

 

[mainguy]

I don’t own the stellia but have almost bought them a couple of times. It seems like some love them and others really don’t like them. I ended up with zmf vc which I love but I can still see myself getting a stellia at some point

When I first listened to the stellia it was alongside the zmf vc. They're such different headphones I could see why owning both would be cool. The zmf is a lot more laid back and cosy almost, id need more time with it to get the best of it I think. Stellia had more wow factor on that initial listen, and is a lot more in your face. Personally I preferred the Stellia, but its def a sound signature kind of thing.

 

[zolom]

Read about significant SQ degradations when rolling to Stellia Dekoni pads.
Where can I get the original pads avoiding the above mebtioned SQ issues?

Please orovide a link.

Thanks

 

[deafenears]

Where can I get the original pads avoiding the above mebtioned SQ issues?

Please orovide a link.

https://www.moon-audio.com/focal-stellia-ear-pads.html
https://bloomaudio.com/collections/focal/products/focal-clear-pro-replacement-pads-1

 

[BowWazoo]

My personal preset is ready

Preamp: -8db

As always, the starting point was Oratorys settings, and I have personalized his these again (red dots)

 

[chaz_flhr]

Wow.....that Yosi Horikawa track. The experience with the Stellias is fantastic. Thanks

If you like guitar nils lofgren acoustic live is amazing as is Chris Jones moonstruck album.

 

[chaz_flhr]

Yep, and thank you! The Radiance are a great headphone and I would rank them second after the Stellia's in Focal's closed back lineup. I had the Celestee's and returned them due to the narrow sound stage. I think the Radiance get overlooked somewhat due to the co-branding with Bentley, I know at least one other poster in this thread had both the Radiance and Stellia and planned to keep both. I doubt I will travel with my Stellia, but the Radiance will likely come with me when I'm on a trip.

I almost pulled the trigger on a Feliks Echo Mark II last week, but i haven't had a lot of time to research them and I'm also in the "buy once, cry once" camp so I may save for a Euphoria instead, but for now I'm going to see how it goes with the Lyr 3. I don't recall reading about anyone using one in this thread so I'll be interested to see how it works out with the Stellia. Tube rolling consists of changing a single tube with the Lyr 3, and that has a lot of appeal as I don't have a lot of time to spend on researching and rolling tubes right now, so I want to keep things simple. I also need some time to get to know my DACs a little bit better as I recently added the Qutest. I've only had it a couple of days and it's brand new, so I'm still getting used to it.

Personally I love the look of the Stellia. That being said, if they offered them in something like the colorway of the Celestee or Radiance, I might pick them with darker colors given the choice. Anyone that's not picking up the Stellia based on the looks is going to be missing out on what these headphones have to offer. A TOTL headphone in closed back format, with many users on this thread stating they prefer them over the Utopia.

+1 here That is exactly how I use mine, Stellia for music only in bedroom and Radiance for travel and general listening in bedroom. A decent dap and you are good for travel even my Btr5 drives the Radiance decently in a pinch.

 

[craftyhack]

One of my friends was interested in getting into the next level of the headfi hobby, forgive him for he knows not what he does . He has a few sets of headphones, DT880s and I think he has some 6XX, and several gaming headsets given his job, but hadn't even really experienced higher price tiers of headphones or clean sources (or both together). After giving him some of my opinions after he told me what he was looking for (he already knew most of the stuff like what open vs. closed is, dynamic vs. planar, some DAC and AMP experience, etc.). Anyway, instead of kind of working his way up to flagships, he just dove in headfirst and picked up a Fiio M11+ and a pair of Stellias. So unlike those of us that took small steps up over a long period of time to get to these cans, he went straight from driving a nice Civic to a Ferrari, so his first impressions and experience was fun to watch. This was streamed live... and the chat seemed to enjoy it too.

 

[AudioDuck]

One of my friends was interested in getting into the next level of the headfi hobby, forgive him for he knows not what he does . He has a few sets of headphones, DT880s and I think he has some 6XX, and several gaming headsets given his job, but hadn't even really experienced higher price tiers of headphones or clean sources (or both together). After giving him some of my opinions after he told me what he was looking for (he already knew most of the stuff like what open vs. closed is, dynamic vs. planar, some DAC and AMP experience, etc.). Anyway, instead of kind of working his way up to flagships, he just dove in headfirst and picked up a Fiio M11+ and a pair of Stellias. So unlike those of us that took small steps up over a long period of time to get to these cans, he went straight from driving a nice Civic to a Ferrari, so his first impressions and experience was fun to watch. This was streamed live... and the chat seemed to enjoy it too.

Thanks for sharing this! It was fun to watch the reactions (both chat and your friend’s) both to the unboxing and the listening session.

While my reaction was not as strong going from Focal Radiances and previously Audeze LCD-XCs, I still grinned and laughed in a similar fashion. The Stellias are- to my ears, at least- that good, and so very enjoyable to listen to.

Congratulations to him on the Stellia ownership!

 

[craftyhack]

Thanks for sharing this! It was fun to watch the reactions (both chat and your friend’s) both to the unboxing and the listening session.

While my reaction was not as strong going from Focal Radiances and previously Audeze LCD-XCs, I still grinned and laughed in a similar fashion. The Stellias are- to my ears, at least- that good, and so very enjoyable to listen to.

Congratulations to him on the Stellia ownership!

Yep, I really enjoy the Stellias as well, they are the best all around cans I have ever owned. Before I got them I already had and commonly use HD800s (outstanding for gaming, and some music on tube amp), HD660s, Elegias, LCD3s, etc., so while the Stellia was a nice step up, it wasn't anywhere CLOSE as dramatic as if I were upgrading from DT880 or a set of Corsair gaming headphones. I wonder... if I spend a couple of weeks/months only listening to the worst headphones in my collection to allow for brain burn in, and then switch back to the Stellias, can I get that same amazing wow feeling again? I think this is what Madonna's "Like a Virgin" song was really about .

 

[Barndoor]

I had to pause the vid part way through to listen to Daft Punk as well! I've had my Stellias for just over a year now and still am blown away by them.

 

[Malevolent]

One of my friends was interested in getting into the next level of the headfi hobby, forgive him for he knows not what he does . He has a few sets of headphones, DT880s and I think he has some 6XX, and several gaming headsets given his job, but hadn't even really experienced higher price tiers of headphones or clean sources (or both together). After giving him some of my opinions after he told me what he was looking for (he already knew most of the stuff like what open vs. closed is, dynamic vs. planar, some DAC and AMP experience, etc.). Anyway, instead of kind of working his way up to flagships, he just dove in headfirst and picked up a Fiio M11+ and a pair of Stellias. So unlike those of us that took small steps up over a long period of time to get to these cans, he went straight from driving a nice Civic to a Ferrari, so his first impressions and experience was fun to watch. This was streamed live... and the chat seemed to enjoy it too.

Your friend is Kyle? Nice.

The Stellia is a top-notch headphone, actually, When I tried them with a Hugo 2 during my first couple of auditions, I wasn't very wow-ed; they were good, but I found the cheaper Vérité Closed better in a couple of key areas. However, in my subsequent runs with the Stellia, I used them with different equipment (e.g. Hugo TT 2 + Hugo M Scaler), and I realized just how good they can actually be. In a sea of $3,000 to 4,000 flagships, the Stellia holds its own very well.

The Rögnir bests it in sheer clarity, the MDR-Z1R has better bass, and the Vérité Closed has lusher, fuller mids. However, the Stellia presents a fine balance in its signature that is, ultimately, greater than the sum of its individual parts. A very find headphone, indeed.