[Caruryn]

What do you mean by “power supply”? Conditioning? Or actual PSU inside the Arche?

Power conditioner,the AQ Niagara 1200, the Arche is not to be touched.Go to the thread gallery,i posted pics of the system.

 

[judomaniak57]

I really wish you guys could hear the Arche/Stellia combo with upgraded cables and power supply.It is mind blowingly good.Granted i spend almost 4000 euros on top of the Arche which would not make much sense in the beginning but since i felt the synergy was there with the Stellia all was left was to improve the technical part which was already rather good.

Now everything is ramped up to eleven,You want holographic pin point soundstage that streches in all directions,check,great micro/macro details,check,engaging and organic mids that make you listening to cellos,guitar,drums a pleasure,check,visceral bass with tight decay,yup,silky treble without harshness but retaing great extension and detail check again.For me though,the most important improvement of all was the engagement factor,you go from nothing to do let's hear some music to i can't wait to get back from work to hear some music and that is hard to achieve.

Those with the Arche invest in good quality power cables/supply,you're not throwing money,you do take your system to the next level.

power cables make a huge difference. upgrade my byrston power cable to a venom hc power cable by shunyata and upgraded the terrible cable on my blusound node 2i to a audioquest nrg y2, money well spent

 

[turbofeet]

It seems the Element X (bought second hand) has some PCM Filters.
That affected the sound quite a bit. The setting was quite unsuited to these HP.
The only thing I messed with was the Gain, of which there are only two options Low/High.
Sounds quite a bit better now already.
Poor settings!
I'll let it burn in some more.
Gracias folks.

 

[FenceFurniture]

Power conditioner,the AQ Niagara 1200, the Arche is not to be touched.Go to the thread gallery,i posted pics of the system.

Could you give us a link or a post # please? There's a lot of pics of devices in the thread gallery....

 

[Caruryn]

Could you give us a link or a post # please? There's a lot of pics of devices in the thread gallery....

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/foc...urements-interview-head-fi-tv.899912/page-194

 

[chaz_flhr]

It seems the Element X (bought second hand) has some PCM Filters.
That affected the sound quite a bit. The setting was quite unsuited to these HP.
The only thing I messed with was the Gain, of which there are only two options Low/High.
Sounds quite a bit better now already.
Poor settings!
I'll let it burn in some more.
Gracias folks.

FWIW I let mine break in for 100 hrs before serious listening and I still notice improvements going on 150 hrs. Comfort is my only gripe ears hit the speaker grills after 3 hrs sessions.
I have been eyeing the matrix line for several years waiting for them to do a x level unit without a amp section because I already have several good amplifiers on hand which the Stellia sounds great on BTW ( liquid platinum, ifi pro ican, mirco idsd BL and M11 pro ) although I haven't tried my WA7 because it's single ended and I'm going balanced. I even just converted my GemTune GS-02 KT88 tube amp to a headphone amp which also sounds great.
In the end even if the Stellia is the endgame closed back for many it may not be for you as we all hear differently and have different sensitivities or deficiencies in hearing.

 

[walakalulu]

Two ways to improve the sound:
1) buy a decent headamp - the Feliks Anniversary works extremely well as does the Manley Absolute. I’ve owned the former and now use the latter in balanced output.
2) Get a decent power cord - they can make a big difference.

 

[Ilomaenkimi]

^
3)Get a new headphonecable. Stellia's own sucks.
SPL Phonitor XE is a very good match for Stellia. Imo.
And it's Matrix is something special, makes Stellia's to shine.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

This place is literally insane
So before you’ve decided whether you actually like this very expensive headphone, be sure to add several things like cables, amps, power conditioner and other such stuff that time and again have been proven to only really make a psychological difference..ie if you believe that X thing brings you better sound quality...it surely will.

How about getting used to wearing and listening to headphones first? Wrapping your head around the sound signature and the intimate presentation....then..and only then start fiddling about with nonsensical things like fx cables.

 

[turbofeet]

Yes I know. I listened for a few hours last night (after causing another few pages to be added to this already massive thread!) and it was a very enjoyable experience.

That setting on the Element X really seemed to make a difference to me to the sound signature. I did EQ them very slightly as well but in different way to before (I won't bore you with this) and yeah they sound pretty sweet.

I absolutely agree that there must be a slight placebo effect as well here but the sound has changed so much after more burn in the difference was crazy. There was a further 24hrs from my initial post of burn in as well...l I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine that change? Or did I?

As many of you (and I thank you) have inferred I shall just enjoy them and then think about perhaps swapping cables or adding a Head Amp later down the line if I believe there will be a marked improvement.

I may still try the Hugo 2 simply as a different use case at work as it's a little more portable and I can trial it.

I'll shut my mouth now and leave you nice people alone

 

[elisiX]

I’ve been using my Stellia with H2 at work for 6-7 months now and I cannot fault it for the ultimate transportable setup. The pairing is bang on for me. I listen to mostly EDM during the day and this is a musical dynamic combination.

 

[EarFatigue]

Let's get back on track here folks. Turbofeet was concerned about his purchase of the Stellia. We helped him think through some things to try out. In the end he found that there were filters in place and he is back to enjoying his headphones and ready to experiment further.

This forum and specifically this thread is very important to me. If you read through it there is a lot of great info to help folks with their OWN evaluation of headphones, amps, dacs, cables, etc. If we get a little less serious it could be funny to look back on turbofeet's original post and how some folks responded with buying amps and cables to solve the problem vs. have you tried it without any fancy gear We are here to learn from each other...let's continue on with that in mind...

 

[turbofeet]

Appreciated. Happy with all suggestions of gear of all values.

I joined so I could get the input from other owners and that is what I got.

The world is a frustrating place at the moment so it's not surprising when some people get a bit more irritatated with things than they normally would.

Hopefully we'll get back on topic now.

Cheers

 

[chaz_flhr]

Let's get back on track here folks. Turbofeet was concerned about his purchase of the Stellia. We helped him think through some things to try out. In the end he found that there were filters in place and he is back to enjoying his headphones and ready to experiment further.

This forum and specifically this thread is very important to me. If you read through it there is a lot of great info to help folks with their OWN evaluation of headphones, amps, dacs, cables, etc. If we get a little less serious it could be funny to look back on turbofeet's original post and how some folks responded with buying amps and cables to solve the problem vs. have you tried it without any fancy gear We are here to learn from each other...let's continue on with that in mind...

That is one of the pluses of the Stellia IMHO it does sound good on budget / lower power gear and one poster earlier in the thread posed that exact question / finding. That said the Stellia does scale up very well, synergy between gear is always important. many people think amp power is just about loudness and forget about headroom of a amp being important too. Thus far the Stellia has sounded great on everything I have. This has been and is a very informative thread.

 

[Ryan Cao]

Two ways to improve the sound:
1) buy a decent headamp - the Feliks Anniversary works extremely well as does the Manley Absolute. I’ve owned the former and now use the latter in balanced output.
2) Get a decent power cord - they can make a big difference.

Hey!

I just acquired a used Manley recently. When pairing with Stellia in low gain, SE, the background hum is quite

Two ways to improve the sound:
1) buy a decent headamp - the Feliks Anniversary works extremely well as does the Manley Absolute. I’ve owned the former and now use the latter in balanced output.
2) Get a decent power cord - they can make a big difference.

Hello!

I recently acquired a used Manley absolute. In SE mode, even with full feedback, when pairing with Stellia, the background hum is a bit bothering. Do you have similar problems?

Also how to you compare the sq of Feliks vs Manley? Is Feliks quieter? Thanks!