£1000 on some cans

[Rayymondo]

I have some phones which I only use occasionally as prefer speakers. They are Focal Celestee - sound lovely to me and were about £1000 although I believer they have actually dropped in price - at least last time I checked. Fantastic build quality and real luxury feel. Didn't really compare others as just bought them as I liked them and they were much better than my previous Shure and Beyer ones . Although to be far they were twice the price. Focal do seem to make really nice headphones in my limited experience.

 

[JANDL100]

I had Focal Elegia.
My relationship with them went through 3 phases...

Phase 1 - didn't like them much but persevered to acclimatise myself to their sound.
Phase 2 - managed to convince myself they were quite good.
Phase 3 - realised I had been correct back in Phase 1, and that I actually disliked them fairly strongly
(Phase 4 - sold them).

 

[griffo104]

I had Focal Elegia.
My relationship with them went through 3 phases...

Phase 1 - didn't like them much but persevered to acclimatise myself to their sound.
Phase 2 - managed to convince myself they were quite good.
Phase 3 - realised I had been correct back in Phase 1, and that I actually disliked them fairly strongly
(Phase 4 - sold them).

That's your relationship with about 90% of hifi.









(And you were wrong about the Elegia)

 

[Lawrence001]

I had Focal Elegia.
My relationship with them went through 3 phases...

Phase 1 - didn't like them much but persevered to acclimatise myself to their sound.
Phase 2 - managed to convince myself they were quite good.
Phase 3 - realised I had been correct back in Phase 1, and that I actually disliked them fairly strongly
(Phase 4 - sold them).

Exactly what happened to me with the Elears.

 

[JANDL100]

That's your relationship with about 90% of hifi.









(And you were wrong about the Elegia)

Mmmm. No, not really.

I continue to like and respect most kit that I keep for the medium term, even if I do like to change things after a while.

The Elegia are just a bit unpleasant.
There's an underlying graininess to the sound that doesn't sit well with me. I heard it straight away, but the Focal Hype made me want to think I was wrong for a while. But I wasn't.

 

[JANDL100]

The grain was very obvious with my Elegia, I heard it immediately and my heart sank. Expectations had been high.

Swapped amps several times, and cables, but it was always there.
If your Elegia lacked the grain, Griffo, I can only surmise sample to sample, or batch variation maybe?

Edit: ah, strange. Griffo's response to my previous post has disappeared!

... Anyways, that was my main issue with my Elegia.
I'd be interested to know what put @Lawrence001 off of his Focal Elear.

 

[JamieMcC]

Higher end headphones often reveal flaws in upstream components that will not be audible with lower tier cans

 

[griffo104]

The grain was very obvious with my Elegia, I heard it immediately and my heart sank. Expectations had been high.

Swapped amps several times, and cables, but it was always there.
If your Elegia lacked the grain, Griffo, I can only surmise sample to sample, or batch variation maybe?

Edit: ah, strange. Griffo's response to my previous post has disappeared!

... Anyways, that was my main issue with my Elegia.
I'd be interested to know what put @Lawrence001 off of his Focal Elear.

Sorry Jerry I didn't like my reply, after rereading it, so removed it.

 

[TIU]

What do we expect headphones to do? Be faithfull to what is fed through them so they are dependent on media quality and the amplification. We all strive for realism but somehow with all speakers we have to like affections.

 

[rdale]

What do we expect headphones to do? Be faithfull to what is fed through them so they are dependent on media quality and the amplification. We all strive for realism but somehow with all speakers we have to like affections.

I own several pairs of headphones because they sound different, just like I own several pairs of speakers because they sound different. It is easier to own several pairs of headphones than it is to own several different HiFi listening rooms with different speakers in them. For instance, I love both my AKG 701s and Audeze LCD3s, not because they are the most perfect neutral headphones ever, but because they are fun to listen to in different ways.

 

[zeta4]

The good thing about headphones is they're easy to demo at a dealer. No concerns about the room affecting things and then sounding hugely different when you get home.

It was a few years ago now and no doubt there are newer models and manufacturers around these days, but when I went on my headphone search at exactly this price point a while back, I demoed Audio Technica, Grado, Focal and Audeze.

Still have my LCD2s to this day. They are fabulous sounding cans. Second choice at the time were Focal and the newer Focal range are even better now. Much more enjoyable than their speakers if you ask me, so definitely worth a demo.

Finally, Sennheiser HD800s are awful. In fact, when chatting to people about hifi in general and attempting to explain my distaste for 'clinical' equipment, I often come back to my experience with the HD800s. They literally dissect the music into pieces. I can see why people are 'impressed' by them, but they simply do not play music as far as I'm concerned.

Just seen this. In my opinion the problem with HD800's is the known 6khz peak in their response which can either give a sense of space in the music presentation or the dissection effect mentioned. There are two easily fitted well researched modifications to the 800's the best of these is the Dupont which tames this peak very effectively. Sennheiser themselves did something similar with the 800S variant but also altered the bass presentation at the same time which didnt work so well in my opinion.

I use HD800's modified in this way and I find them very musical particularly when driven by my
DHT valve headphone amp.

If you can find HD800's modified in this way give them a try.

 

[flaxton]

Exactly what happened to me with the Elears.

My Elear stopped working in the left ear recently. Had them about two years from eBay. Got in touch with Focal. They wanted £400 pounds for new drivers and payment for replacing them. They are now in the cupboard.

 

[Cambs12]

My Elear stopped working in the left ear recently. Had them about two years from eBay. Got in touch with Focal. They wanted £400 pounds for new drivers and payment for replacing them. They are now in the cupboard.

I have read more than a few driver failures on their most expensive model, with a single driver costing a grand to replace. I would be wary of buying them secondhand.

 

[flaxton]

I have read more than a few driver failures on their most expensive model, with a single driver costing a grand to replace. I would be wary of buying them secondhand.

True. Wished I had known before I purchased them

 

[TIU]

My Elear stopped working in the left ear recently. Had them about two years from eBay. Got in touch with Focal. They wanted £400 pounds for new drivers and payment for replacing them. They are now in the cupboard.

So you canned the cans.

 

[karlsushi]

I had a driver fail on my LCD2s too. £450 to get it replaced, but because they are matched, they have to replace both.

They were about 6 weeks out of their 3 year warranty, so was very unlucky, although there were reports of older LCD2s failing. I discovered this was to do with the way the driver is fixed to the housing.

Audeze obviously never admitted to the fault, but at least the replacements received a new more secure style of fitting which is now used on all LCD2s.

Not a cheap repair, but still felt worth it and came with a new 3 year warranty.

I guess headphones are always a bit higher risk than other pieces of hifi due to how much they are pulled and pushed about.

 

[DomT]

At the £3k price point I bought Meze Empyreans. I hadn’t intended to spend so much money and started doing comparisons at a dealer at £600. The phones that really stood out to me at £1000 were from Dan Clark.

 

[flaxton]

I had a driver fail on my LCD2s too. £450 to get it replaced, but because they are matched, they have to replace both.

They were about 6 weeks out of their 3 year warranty, so was very unlucky, although there were reports of older LCD2s failing. I discovered this was to do with the way the driver is fixed to the housing.

Audeze obviously never admitted to the fault, but at least the replacements received a new more secure style of fitting which is now used on all LCD2s.

Not a cheap repair, but still felt worth it and came with a new 3 year warranty.

I guess headphones are always a bit higher risk than other pieces of hifi due to how much they are pulled and pushed about.

There are two pairs of Elear on eBay for £435.mine has clear pads on them. So why Focal charge nearly that much for new drivers is baffling.

 

[martinpix]

I have a pair of Auden LCD MX4 usd for u dear an hour not yet run in,
they triggers my tinnitus so not going to bother with headphones I’m wanting £1565 for them to include postage , they are leather and as stated have been used for under an hour and were brand new to myself rrp is £3k so a bargain for someone they get great reviews shame I just can’t use headphones for music.

 

[DUVET]

I have a pair of Auden LCD MX4 usd for u dear an hour not yet run in,
they triggers my tinnitus so not going to bother with headphones I’m wanting £1565 for them to include postage , they are leather and as stated have been used for under an hour and were brand new to myself rrp is £3k so a bargain for someone they get great reviews shame I just can’t use headphones for music.

Nope but thanks