teknorob23
Member of the Trade: Network Acoustics
The best sound out of Stellia so far I got was out of a tube amp with an incisive (dry, as you would put it) DAC fed to it. When I feed this DAC in, the tube amp gets more precise (in terms of clarity and detailing) sounding. I was getting more low-level details with it, and the mids was less warm, not as unclear. The imaging and separation has improved a bit as well, but still not to the level of an open-back (which I really don't expect, you're not getting that dynamic peak as you would with an open-back).
So, it's a pretty good performing for a closed-back if you get a setup that pushes out more detailing not as warm sounding that reduces mids clarity. I have doubts that a portable setup would get the best out of this headphone. For those that need closed-backs, this maybe an option, but it's also quite pricey (and for performance I find quite pricey as the sound isn't that impressive), but I will stick to open-backs for my usage, as there is obvious technical advantage you hear if you compare closed and open.
i'd agree that the Stellias for out and out performance are bested by TOTL open backs, although Focal have done a better job than anyone else by a country mile of overcoming the limitations of closed backs. I have a fairly specific need when it comes to HPs, in that 10 years of DJ'ing in front Monitor speakers largely without the facility to alter their levels, followed by a career in production, has left me with me with sensitivity in my left ear to 4-6k mark when using HPs. I'm lucky because my hearing is otherwise fine, but it does mean i have to listen at fairly low volumes, which make open backs, in most situations, unsuitable. I've largely used Beyers for work which are analytically fine but ive never really used for music and otherwise up until i finding the Elegias and now the Stellia i had not found a CB that i could get on with. All sounding to cupped, not enough width and crap bass (for various different reasons). Focal seem to have got the closest to cracking the design restrictions and with Stellias, they have CB which actually performs tonally, for my personal tastes at least better than the Utopia and many other OBs i've owned and or heard. Technically they're good enough to let my source kit shine and they've got me revisiting the nether regions of my music collection which is always a good sign