[iDesign]

Wow, interesting. I almost pulled the trigger a couple of nights ago. I have a Susvara on order but it's taking forever, so I started to get bored, luckily I couldn't find an online retailer who had it in stock and would ship overnight. So I pulled the trigger on a pair of Focal Stellia's since I needed a closed back.

I have been so impressed by the Utopia that I am on the verge of ordering a Stellia. I've all but given up on IEMs and it seems unlikely that any of the options on the market today will deliver the kind of performance I expect. The Stellia very well may be my best option.

 

[Chesty]

I have been so impressed by the Utopia that I am on the verge of ordering a Stellia. I've all but given up on IEMs and it seems unlikely that any of the options on the market today will deliver the kind of performance I expect. The Stellia very well may be my best option.

I have both in a desktop setup in my living room. I bought the Stellia with a view to using it only when there was domestic noise around me, but now give it pretty much equal listening time to the Utopia. The Stellia really is very good.

 

[XeNoNF50]

I have both in a desktop setup in my living room. I bought the Stellia with a view to using it only when there was domestic noise around me, but now give it pretty much equal listening time to the Utopia. The Stellia really is very good.

Same reason, same split if not a little skewed more towards using the Stellia. Love them both.

 

[Tanalasta]

The Stellia is indeed very good. And easier to drive. More forgiving also.

I do prefer the Utopia (hence my eventual choice) but I don't think you can go wrong with either. As to owning both ... there's a limit to this addiction right?

I love how the Utopia just reveals both music and source.

 

[Roasty]

 

[gnomen]

I have been so impressed by the Utopia that I am on the verge of ordering a Stellia. I've all but given up on IEMs and it seems unlikely that any of the options on the market today will deliver the kind of performance I expect. The Stellia very well may be my best option.

I read through this thread when I first purchased the Utopia 3 months ago, but do not recall seeing a comparison with the Stellia from anyone who owns both. There are times a closed-back headphone would be very useful. I wonder if the 'house sound' is very different between the two?

 

[JLoud]

I too would like to hear a comparison of the two. I owned the Utopia and am interested in the Stellia.

 

[llamaluv]

I recently gave up on the Stellia after having owned it for maybe 8-9 months. I think I only did about 50-75 hours of real-world listening with it. I liked it quite a bit though, and think it's possibly worth the price if gotten at a discount or so-called "b-stock".

It's surprisingly open-sounding for what it is; I think the open ports which are shaped into the Focal logo (clever!) help in this regard quite a lot. It does have a pretty nice soundstage (I've read a couple people describing it as having a bigger soundstage than the Utopia, but I think that that's going too far).

It has an... umm, slightly "friendlier" sound than the Utopia: A little more raised in the mid-bass, with less of a propensity for being a little hot in the 500-2000hz range. And a little slower overall, and missing some of that incredible speed in the bass that the Utopia's capable of (but maybe it's unfair to expect that same quality in a closed-back, dunno).

But yea, less extended-sounding at both ends, for sure. My biggest misgiving was the relative lack of bass extension, to be honest. I'm not sure I've heard or read others having quite the same pronounced reaction as me on this account, so I'm not quite sure what to make of that. A couple other audiophile pals, though, also felt the same way about my Stellia when they heard it. The Stellia is, though, to be sure, very fit-dependent when it comes to bass response.

It turns out this sounds a little negative, but I do think it's a pretty good headphone, and it would stay near the top of my list of closed-backs, were I still in need of one. Also, it was surprisingly engaging and musical-sounding paired with a Cayin HA-300 tube amp.

 

[jlbrach]

I have been so impressed by the Utopia that I am on the verge of ordering a Stellia. I've all but given up on IEMs and it seems unlikely that any of the options on the market today will deliver the kind of performance I expect. The Stellia very well may be my best option.

the stellia along with my hugo 2 is my travel companion....the hugo 2 drives it very well and to my ears the stellia is as good as or in some ways better than the utopia...I had a love hate relationship with the utopia and owned 2 of them....when at home I use my abyss or susvara or sr1a{yes I am lucky}...on the road the stellia is my go to

 

[TDinCali]

I don't want to turn this thread into a Stellia thread but since I mentioned it earlier and a few others have chimed in about it and the comparison to the Utopia. Perhaps mine needs to be burned in a little because I don't like it. It sounds harsher than my Utopia, no bass and certain acoustic sounds just sound so poor to me. If the sound doesn't improve, I will definitely return these. Really hoping they change with time.

 

[llamaluv]

Stellia [...] no bass and certain acoustic sounds just sound so poor to me. If the sound doesn't improve, I will definitely return these. Really hoping they change with time.

In terms of bass, try to get as good a seal around your ears as possible. I found that even removing my glasses made a big difference (but still not big enough, unfortunately).

Burn-in was definitely important, in my experience. Circa 150 hours or so.

And a good silver cable also brought out a lot more detail and "speed" in my case as well. I tried a 12-core Lavricable, Wireworld Nano Platinum Eclipse, and a Neotech solid core silver, and all three were much more to my liking than the stock cable.

 

[LarsMan]

I don't want to turn this thread into a Stellia thread but since I mentioned it earlier and a few others have chimed in about it and the comparison to the Utopia. Perhaps mine needs to be burned in a little because I don't like it. It sounds harsher than my Utopia, no bass and certain acoustic sounds just sound so poor to me. If the sound doesn't improve, I will definitely return these. Really hoping they change with time.

No bass and harsh sound are totally symptoms of not enough burn-in; I've had that happen with any number of both headphones and electronics. As somebody else recommended, give 'em about 150 hours and they should sound like totally different headphones.

 

[Tanalasta]

I don't want to turn this thread into a Stellia thread but since I mentioned it earlier and a few others have chimed in about it and the comparison to the Utopia. Perhaps mine needs to be burned in a little because I don't like it. It sounds harsher than my Utopia, no bass and certain acoustic sounds just sound so poor to me. If the sound doesn't improve, I will definitely return these. Really hoping they change with time.

That’s not how I would describe Stellia. Definitely let them burn in some more. What’s yours source?

 

[TDinCali]

That’s not how I would describe Stellia. Definitely let them burn in some more. What’s yours source?

I’m using Tidal on iPhone to XI Audio Sagra dac because my Auralic crapped out on day 3.

 

[jlbrach]

definitely not my stellia experience