[zolom]

Seriously pricey - you weren't exaggerating. Should be a PSA for owners to treat their pads with more TLC...

Yup.
These are my only serious HP, with a lot of use. Time and utilization take their toll. Also, my main audio system is by my bedside (I tend to listen at the end of the day), so occasional rubbing against the pillows might also contribute to the damage. When purchased, used, three years ago, the leather had some marks as well.
Nevertheless, allthough pricy, the yield is expected to be sublime.

 

[elrey]

Hello, quick question, how much burn-in time is the consensus for the Stellia. After about 50 hours of a mixture of different music styles and pink noise, mine are MUCH better than during the first day. The ear-piercing high frequencies are no longer there.

 

[u2u2]

Hello, quick question, how much burn-in time is the consensus for the Stellia. After about 50 hours of a mixture of different music styles and pink noise, mine are MUCH better than during the first day. The ear-piercing high frequencies are no longer there.

My Stellia were fantastic right out of the box. Any slight improvement to be found was in the first few hours and could easily just be the user becoming familiar with and adjusting to the sound signature.
Ear piercing high frequencies would be an instant return in my opinion. Something seriously amiss.
Getting a consensus on burn in time will be tough to achieve. I have a set of Sony IER-Z1R iems that are said to require no burn in. I figure mine needed about 100 hours to become what forum members claim they are.
Presently enjoying my Stellia being fed by a Naim Unity Core Server and Atom HE on pre amp to a Gen 1 Woo WA22

 

[elrey]

My Stellia were fantastic right out of the box. Any slight improvement to be found was in the first few hours and could easily just be the user becoming familiar with and adjusting to the sound signature.
Ear piercing high frequencies would be an instant return in my opinion. Something seriously amiss.
Getting a consensus on burn in time will be tough to achieve. I have a set of Sony IER-Z1R iems that are said to require no burn in. I figure mine needed about 100 hours to become what forum members claim they are.
Presently enjoying my Stellia being fed by a Naim Unity Core Server and Atom HE on pre amp to a Gen 1 Woo WA22

Mine were good too, the ear piercing part was an exaggeration to express disappointment. The spirit of my post was the realization that burn-in is important for the Stellia, in comparison with other headphones that I have that worked great out of the box.
I have done ~50 hours of burn-in, and I wanted to know what others have experienced.

 

[judomaniak57]

finally had a chance to listen to the Utopia's and the Stellia's together. listened on the Naim headphone amp. preferred the Stellia's , heard no real differences in teble or midrange, but the bass of the Stellia blew away the Utopia. at least with the naim atom heaphone amp the bass was much better. Utopia had a wider sound stage but not by much. so glad i bought the Stellia's, always had a little doubt i should have bought the Utopia. i made the right choice by getting the stellia

 

[Blanka79]

Hello dear Head-fiers,
I have the opportunity to buy a Stellia new for 2k. It is a lot of money, but I think it could be worth it. I mostly listen to metal. I already owned the Elegias some time ago and I really liked them. Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to try the Stellia, so I would buy them "blindly".
Perhaps I write those words, because I need a little push so that I can order them

Thank you!

 

[RRos]

[Deleted]

 

[RRos]

Hello dear Head-fiers,
I have the opportunity to buy a Stellia new for 2k. It is a lot of money, but I think it could be worth it. I mostly listen to metal. I already owned the Elegias some time ago and I really liked them. Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to try the Stellia, so I would buy them "blindly".
Perhaps I write those words, because I need a little push so that I can order them

Thank you!

I cannot comment on the price, but that seems about right. They are generally hard to find so I imagine not much deal shopping. But in terms of quality, they are amazing. This chat is basically 260 pages of people glowing over their Stellia’s. I bought mine only because I was trying a bunch of the Focal and couldn’t find a pair that both fit well and sounded like I wanted it to sound (I’m limited to closed backs because of my kids and I really enjoyed the Radiance sound but they simply weren’t that comfortable for me). And I stupidly tried the Stellia and they were super comfortable. And then more stupidly I put some music through them and suddenly all of the Focal models I tried before them sounded muffled and dull. I really didn’t want to spend this $$ (though fortunately I could afford to) but to my (non audiophile ears) they were simply that much better. The bass response is amazing on these. But if you really want to feel vindicated (after you buy them blindly of course), put on Take Five by Dave Brubeck, which may not be your style of music, but close your eyes and you will literally be transported to the club. The clarity, the transparency and the level of detail is unimaginable if you haven’t tried headphones like these before.

How’d I do?

 

[AudioDuck]

(I’m limited to closed backs because of my kids and I really enjoyed the Radiance sound but they simply weren’t that comfortable for me). And I stupidly tried the Stellia and they were super comfortable. And then more stupidly I put some music through them and suddenly all of the Focal models I tried before them sounded muffled and dull. I really didn’t want to spend this $$ (though fortunately I could afford to) but to my (non audiophile ears) they were simply that much better. The bass response is amazing on these. … The clarity, the transparency and the level of detail is unimaginable if you haven’t tried headphones like these before.

The above by @RRos mimics some of my experience as well. I’d bought the Focal Radiance and liked it a lot, but got an unexpected opportunity to buy a pair of Stellias instead. The Radiance was actually a bit too warm/had muddied bass with my amps, but the Stellia is just right.

It manages to be very detailed without becoming a “detail monster” (the otherwise lovely Audeze LCD-XC comes to mind). The clarity of the Beryllium-coated drivers is really good. And indeed, the bass response is excellent.

My counter to the Stellia- with the right amp- is the ZMF Eikon. If you have an OTL tube amp that is good with high-impedance headphones, it has some of the same strengths as the Stellia/suits similar tastes, but the magic of ZMFs really stands out with OTL tube amps.

But in general, the Stellia is a GREAT cross-genre (of music) performer, and works with a range of amps.

The $2,000 price is about right- that is what I paid for mine, and they typically cost $1,750-2,000 used.

The two investments I’d recommend with Stellia: 1. A headband to protect the leather on the headband (this is a good one that is low-cost as well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0814D2NG7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) 2. If you have resolving upstream gear, a better cable (if you “believe in cable improvements”) as well.

 

[Spedinfargo]

Hello dear Head-fiers,
I have the opportunity to buy a Stellia new for 2k. It is a lot of money, but I think it could be worth it. I mostly listen to metal. I already owned the Elegias some time ago and I really liked them. Unfortunately I don't have the possibility to try the Stellia, so I would buy them "blindly".
Perhaps I write those words, because I need a little push so that I can order them

Thank you!

I actually have some good feedback from you, because I not only have had the Elegias, I still use the Elegias on a semi-regular basis when I'm working from home and I have my Stellias at my desk at the office.

Elegias with Questyle CMA 400i DAC/AMP were my daily driver for about three years. My first >$500 setup and I loved them. Still do.

Stellia with iFI iCAN Pro AMP and iDSD Pro DAC was my 50th birthday present to myself. I haven't been listening to this stack much the last few weeks and I just yesterday set it all up again and I can see how next-level it is.

On a side note, have been having problems with my iFI devices the last month or two and drove the Stellias with a THX AAA 789 amp and D50 dac. Relatively underwhelming - maybe not much better than my Elegia setup actually. So I guess you could say that the Stellia really shines the better DAC/AMP you can give it... (just what you wanted to hear after maybe shelling out $2k for headhphones).

 

[Blanka79]

Thank you all for your great answers and help. I ordered them just 10 minutes ago. Now the tough part... waiting Have a nice weekend!

 

[fanteskiller]

Hello, quick question, how much burn-in time is the consensus for the Stellia. After about 50 hours of a mixture of different music styles and pink noise, mine are MUCH better than during the first day. The ear-piercing high frequencies are no longer there.

I figure it needs about 200 hours burn in.

 

[shofilm]

Has anyone tried Focal Stellia with Elegia pads?

Quick comparison between the stock pads vs elegia pads?

Thanks!

 

[Pege1012]

I tried using Dekoni Audio EPZ-FOCAL-SK, they seem better than the original Focal. They are slightly larger and better dampen sound.
But this is certainly something that needs to be tried, everyone can feel it differently.

 

[RRos]

I tried using Dekoni Audio EPZ-FOCAL-SK, they seem better than the original Focal. They are slightly larger and better dampen sound.
But this is certainly something that needs to be tried, everyone can feel it differently.

They seem cheaper than a lot of the replacement pads. And they are nice for long listening?