Upgrading from Focal Clear OG

[coolsound]

Hi all,

I have been using the Focal Clear OG for a while and enjoyed the sound very much. I am getting more serious with my headphone listening recently and have the itch to upgrade . What would be a significant upgrade from the Focal Clear in term of sound quality for $3000 or less (new or used)? To spend $3,000 for a new headphone, I want it to give me a wow factor and not just subtle improvements. Amps to drive the headphone are Burson Soloist 3x GT and Woo Audio WA6-se. I have owned the Hifiman He500 and Sennheiser HD600/650 in the past and think the Focal Clear is better. Unfortunately it will be a blind purchase for me without trying it out first. Appreciate all the feedback especially from people that have owned the Focal Clear.

 

[chesebert]

blind purchase is not recommended and we know nothing about your "wow" factor.

 

[coolsound]

blind purchase is not recommended and we know nothing about your "wow" factor.

I like airy, vocal clarity, controlled low, and nice sound stage. Separation of instruments is important as I do listen to instrumental music. Don't care much for hip hop, electronic, dance music and similar.

 

[dunring]

At this level, there's not much wow factor left to get. For the best Harman curve out of the box there's the DCA Stealth. Planar sound I really love the Hifiman Arya. What is your chain for sources? The last upgrade I noticed was optical USB cable to the DAC which dropped the noise floor which was noticeable.
I'd have a specific tuning in mind, since what you have is hard to get a wow factor upgrade from.

 

[coolsound]

Current source is a BlueSound Node into a PS Audio Digital Link III DAC and also an EverSolo DMP-A6. Looking to add a better DAC as well.

 

[Metalingus]

Composer or e3

 

[chesebert]

I like airy, vocal clarity, controlled low, and nice sound stage. Separation of instruments is important as I do listen to instrumental music. Don't care much for hip hop, electronic, dance music and similar.

Final D8000 + all the ones mentioned above and they sound nothing alike.