[RRos]

Agreed. And once you hear the Stellias, it is quite possible that what you thought you wanted from a headphone and what you thought music should sound like will be changed. The Stellias are incredibly transparent and frankly quite transporting. It all sounds like exaggeration from fanboys until you actually hear them. Hard to hear other cans the same way again afterwards. But a lot of money to spend without trying first.

 

[AussieMick]

Stellia as an analysis tool:

I’ve not had Stellia for very long but I’m very very happy with them. They’ve been showing me things in recordings that my Pass Labs INT30A & Focal Kanta setup can’t. But it made me wonder what I’d need to do to lift the speaker system up to also show those things. Lots of speaker adjustment, isolation products and cables later, I think it’s much closer.
Because the Stellia and speakers share the same streamer and DAC (Innuos Zen MK3 and Chord TT2) I’ve been able to track how upstream changes also change what I hear from the Stellia. The difference between USB and Ethernet cables is clear through the Stellia in a way it never was through the Celestee or LCDi4.
The change that really floored me was how the Stellia was able to make obvious the impact of putting a Whisper power cable on the Innuos. It was clear and a justifiable expense listening through the Kanta 2, but revelatory through the Stellia.
I used to own the Utopia headphones and they got a lot of use, but I don’t recall being as taken by them as I am by the Stellia. Maybe I’ve just matured in my listening? Who knows.

(The power cable isn’t that well known but maybe will be one day. I’m not involved with the company at all, I just bought one after reading some forum reviews and I’m a happy customer. Zero financial interest. https://www.commongroundcables.com/ )

Anyway, Stellia. Wow.
#everyoneneedsastellia
#berylliumbaby
#musicmusicmusic

 

[kugino]

I picked up a pair of like-new Stellias for $1575 this week. I have lusted after them and the Utopias for a long time, but I decided to go closed back for work travel and the fact that I can listen near my wife and not disturb. I also picked up a Gryphon and Mojo2 to compare for my to-go setup. I put the Gryphon back in the box after 30 minutes of A/B testing, to me it just did not compare musically to the Mojo2 and this is my first ever Chord product so I'm far from a fan boy. I even A/B tested the mojo2 against my Schitt Jot2/BF2 stack and while I need more testing there I felt like the mojo2 won there as well. I am just blown away by these two products!

I hope one day to add a Felik's Euphoria to my desk for these cans!

am seriously thinking about the stellia as i love the fact that theyʻre easy to drive...was also contemplating a mojo2 as a computer setup, but wish the mojo2 had a balanced output. might try out the questyle 15 with the stellias first...anyone know how this combo sounds? seems like an easier portable combo as the mojo2 is still pretty big and is battery-powered.

 

[AussieMick]

am seriously thinking about the stellia as i love the fact that theyʻre easy to drive...was also contemplating a mojo2 as a computer setup, but wish the mojo2 had a balanced output. might try out the questyle 15 with the stellias first...anyone know how this combo sounds? seems like an easier portable combo as the mojo2 is still pretty big and is battery-powered.

Depending on why you want a balanced connection, the Mojo2 can still be wonderful. It drives the Stellia easily with control. If you’re after balanced for the power, it’s really not needed with Stellia. If you’re after balanced for the lack of noise, fear not because the Mojo2 is deathly quiet.

 

[EarFatigue]

am seriously thinking about the stellia as i love the fact that theyʻre easy to drive...was also contemplating a mojo2 as a computer setup, but wish the mojo2 had a balanced output. might try out the questyle 15 with the stellias first...anyone know how this combo sounds? seems like an easier portable combo as the mojo2 is still pretty big and is battery-powered.

As others have mentioned a balanced output is not necessary for the Stellia. and...just to share some personal preference...I have the ability to drive them balanced or single ended and I actually prefer the sound of the single ended option via the same amp and level of cable. Of course your experience may be different. Just want you to take that in to consideration.

 

[pattont]

Mojo2 user w/ Stellias and I can assure you that you will not be disapointed with this combo. I have the Bifrost2 / Jot2 with balanced out and I actually prefer the Mojo 2 sound for whatever reason. Mojo2 has plenty of power and as stated it's deathly quiet.

 

[pattont]

am seriously thinking about the stellia as i love the fact that theyʻre easy to drive...was also contemplating a mojo2 as a computer setup, but wish the mojo2 had a balanced output. might try out the questyle 15 with the stellias first...anyone know how this combo sounds? seems like an easier portable combo as the mojo2 is still pretty big and is battery-powered.

Just FYI there is a great deal on a Mojo 2 on the classifieds right now (not my listing, just sharing):

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/chord-mojo-2.41201/

 

[kugino]

i have PMʻd the seller so will probably pick up the mojo2...have questyle m15 coming as well and i still use my old but still trusty audio-gd 10.32 for most desktop listening. will be interesting to hear differences between R2R, chordʻs in-house processing, and the ESS. portable setups seem to have grown the fastest in the past 6-7 years so iʻm interested to hear whatʻs out there.

(p.s. sorry for hijacking this Stellia thread. iʻll shut up now)

 

[pattont]

i have PMʻd the seller so will probably pick up the mojo2...have questyle m15 coming as well and i still use my old but still trusty audio-gd 10.32 for most desktop listening. will be interesting to hear differences between R2R, chordʻs in-house processing, and the ESS. portable setups seem to have grown the fastest in the past 6-7 years so iʻm interested to hear whatʻs out there.

(p.s. sorry for hijacking this Stellia thread. iʻll shut up now)

I went though this same battle. I almost ordered the m15, but settled on ordering the Gryphon and Mojo2. Sent the gryphon back within 30 min because I liked the sound of the Mojo2 so much.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[watchluvr4ever]

As others have mentioned a balanced output is not necessary for the Stellia. and...just to share some personal preference...I have the ability to drive them balanced or single ended and I actually prefer the sound of the single ended option via the same amp and level of cable. Of course your experience may be different. Just want you to take that in to consideration.

I’m sure it’s also amp dependent. Running my Stellia through my TA-ZH1ES I get a slightly ”cleaner” presentation when using the 4 pin XLR output over single ended. Surprising though, my Utopia sounds almost the same in balanced vs single ended FWIW.

 

[AussieMick]

I suspect the real answer to Stellia balanced vs unbalanced is about how those two outputs sound on your particular amplifier than it is anything to do with the Stellia, per se.

 

[EarFatigue]

I suspect the real answer to Stellia balanced vs unbalanced is about how those two outputs sound on your particular amplifier than it is anything to do with the Stellia, per se.

What’s interesting in my case is I’m using the Focal Arche amplifier and I prefer single ended on that with the Stellia. It’s specifically tuned for them. Total head scratcher and yet another mystery that keeps me an audiophile after all of these years.

 

[AussieMick]

What’s interesting in my case is I’m using the Focal Arche amplifier and I prefer single ended on that with the Stellia. It’s specifically tuned for them. Total head scratcher and yet another mystery that keeps me an audiophile after all of these years.

I was stunned by how much improvement could be had by adding HQ Player to the laptop feeding my Arche/Stellia. Just amazing. I was so surprised because I’d tried HQ Player with Mojo2 and TT2 and the improvement was “just okay”. Chord DAC I suppose.

 

[Ieonasj]

does worth to buy stellia in 2023? im looking for closed back headphones with big soudstage ,bright sound and slightly u shape curve.

 

[Slim1970]

does worth to buy stellia in 2023? im looking for closed back headphones with big soudstage ,bright sound and slightly u shape curve.

I'm picking up another set of Stellia's making this my second time with them. Back on what I've experienced with other closed backs headphones the Stellia's suit my sonic preferences the best. They are balanced, dynamic, punchy, highly resolving, great clarity, and they look great.