This was posted 1 year 5 months 19 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Focal Clear $1199 Delivered @ Addicted to Audio

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Focal Clear $1199 Delivered @ Addicted to Audio
Go to Deal
jeo on 10/11/2022 - 17:58 addictedtoaudio.com.au (1310 clicks)
Last edited 21/11/2022 - 22:04 by 1 other user

Price dropped further for Black Friday

Link to Focal Headphones special offer

Celestee $849 (RRP $1399) — $699 for Black Friday
Utopia $3499 (RRP $5499)

This deal is back from AtA. For this price, the Clear and Utopia are hard to beat in my opinion. I personally prefer the likes of Hifiman at these price points (headphones like the Arya V3, HE1000V2, Susvara), but for a more natural listen these are great, especially the Utopia, which is a headphone you can just sit back and listen to for hours (from my experience).

Emailed AtA about stock availability and this is what they said for the Utopia at least (probably talking about them clearing stock for the 2022 revision of the Utopia, which seems like an inferior model for a more expensive price):

This is a clearance sale for the previous model of the Focal Utopia, this will not be repeated as stock will have run out, we are currently awaiting the remaining stock of these to be shipped to us and that will be it.

Electrical & Electronics Focal Headphones

Related Stores

Addicted To Audio
Addicted To Audio

closed Comments

    • pharcyde on 10/11/2022 - 18:03
      +16

      No.

    • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 18:03
      +4

      Each to their own, some people pay $3k for a GPU and don't blink an eyelid…..

    • sqheaven on 10/11/2022 - 18:03
      +2

      Focal also makes 400k Euro for a pair of home speakers, jokes apart

    • Gnostikos on 10/11/2022 - 18:47
      +19

      Is this a joke post?

      You mean like the majority of your 96,600 comments on OzBargain thus far?

      No, it isn't.

      • djmm on 10/11/2022 - 18:55
        +1

        That's a shitload of comments

        • Gnostikos on 10/11/2022 - 19:01
          +5

          And yet he still hasn't contributed anything of value.

          Wait no I take that back, he does function as a negative vote button calibration tool.

          The mods will know something's wrong with the site if a JV post isn't immediately negged to death within minutes of its creation.

        • nismo on 10/11/2022 - 19:13
          +9

          That's a shitload of comments

          That's a load of shit comments ;)

      • Angelscrap on 10/11/2022 - 19:58

        Burned!!!

      • dav3 on 10/11/2022 - 21:11
        -1

        Aren't jokes meant to be funny?

      • jv on 10/11/2022 - 21:34
        -2

        user name does not check out.

    • ihfree on 10/11/2022 - 19:45
      +2

      You are a joke post.

  • paddywide on 10/11/2022 - 18:07

    I can't afford this recently. But I still want to know how much of amp will be good to pair with it? In Hi-Fi I will say amp should be equal or expensive than speaker.

    • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 18:10
      +4

      The newly released Fiio K7 looks quite good with good measurements. Other than that the Schitt Stack (Magni 3+, Modi 3), Topping Dx3 Pro+, iFi Zen Dac v2, Fiio K5 Pro, JDS Labs Atom Stack (Amp and Dac) all look like good options around the $200-$450 price range.

      • Masso on 10/11/2022 - 19:24
        +1

        That K7 flew completely under my radar till you linked it… and here I thought my wallet was safe because Focals aren’t my thing :(

        • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 19:28
          +1

          Caught my attention because of the 4.4mm Balanced output, only the Zen Dac v2 has that out of the ones I listed, and the K7 design appeals to me a lot more (albeit lacking the XBass button on the iFi). Might pick it up to drive some of my planars.

    • jjcf on 10/11/2022 - 19:06

      I usually play my clears through a bottlehead crack, but in a pinch they sound great through a cheap little FiiO bluetooth amp/dac.

      • Eggsperential on 10/11/2022 - 20:37

        Does this work well for you? Mine sounded wonky through the bottlehead and needed a lower impedence source.

  • stmgr on 10/11/2022 - 18:08
    -6

    Thanks OP. Ordered 20

  • Wizard on 10/11/2022 - 18:09
    +12

    I'm afraid these days Audiophiles are few and far between. People think Airpods are god tier headphones smh.

    • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 18:11
      +3

      In most cases I'd say let people enjoy what they enjoy, but you already know I'm taking every opportunity to show people that the $500 Hifiman Edition XS runs circles around their Airpods Max (and anything they've heard before) sound wise :)

      • ozeightyone on 10/11/2022 - 19:17

        would love those at $500… any direction on where to go for that?

        • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 19:19
          +3

          Wait for really good AliExpress sales and a reputable seller…. or buy second hand :)

          • bleemo on 11/11/2022 - 10:16

            @jeo: I bought the Edition XS 2nd hand and it's a great headphone. Buying 2nd hand also gives a bit more assurance of QC (if you can trust the seller).

      • whyisave on 10/11/2022 - 19:36

        @jeo
        I have heard neither, but what's your opinion of the Utopia vs Clear ?
        Just on the basis of listening experience .

        After that opinion, would you say it's "3x better" ? :-)
        (Utopia is 3x price of Clear)

        • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 19:42
          +4

          Are Utopia 3x better? Definitely not (diminishing returns strike again!)
          But sometimes it's just about getting that extra 5-10% of sound coming from an already great product (Clears). I would say the Utopia is around 30% better than the Clear. It does everything the clear can do but a solid step up, and it has a unique immersive feeling in my opinion. Rather than planars which I would say are hyper-technical and throw all the details in your face, sort of 'forcing' you to listen in an analytical way, the Utopia in particular has great detail and imaging but presents it in a really natural way.
          Of course I'd recommend you try both out for yourself (Minidisc/AtA in Sydney) if you can. Wouldn't blind-buy headphones of this price but I hope I've given you good impressions :)

          As a PSA, these were impressions from listening them at their respective RRPs. At this price, the 'value' is even better (although still expensive haha)

          • whyisave on 10/11/2022 - 19:48
            +1

            @jeo: Thanks for the quick reply.

            Wouldn't blind-buy headphones of this price

            I've blind-bought IEMs so far, and it's been a pretty good experience, hah

            …and yes, I should head down to AtA and try out these headphones.

            Mind you, I don't like the planar so much (only experience from 7HZ Timeless),
            so these 'dynamic' headphones piqued my interested recently.

            • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 19:53

              @whyisave: I've blind bought IEMs as well…. but nothing at this price. I think for IEMs a lot can be said just by looking at the frequency response whereas with headphones there's a bit more that goes into the sound. Try them out, you won't regret it!
              And yes, for technology that seems outdated some dynamic headphones (Utopia, HD800S, even MDR-Z1R) have really stood their ground.

    • jake93s on 10/11/2022 - 18:25
      -4

      10 years ago everyone thought beats where 'God' tier

      • WhyAmICommenting on 10/11/2022 - 18:36
        +13

        everyone the masses

      • Gnostikos on 10/11/2022 - 18:49
        +6

        Lol, no one who was into headphones thought that.

        Beats have been overpriced, over-marketed garbage since day one.

        • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 18:55

          Didn't stop them selling better did it?

          • Gnostikos on 10/11/2022 - 19:02
            +3

            @scuderiarmani: There's a sucker born every minute; what's your point?

            The Lada Classic is one of the best-selling cars of all time. It's still a pile of sh*t.

            Popularity =/= Quality.

            • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 19:07

              @Gnostikos: Well why do you think people bought them? They obviously THOUGHT they sounded good.

              No one is buying something they don't like the sound of just cause it's got good marketing. Not to that level anyway. There had to be an element of people actually thinking they were the greatest things ever.

              • Gnostikos on 10/11/2022 - 19:17
                +3

                @scuderiarmani:

                Well why do you think people bought them?

                They're idiots.

                No one is buying something they don't like the sound of just cause it's got good marketing.

                Lol, that's literally how marketing works. Do you think the Beats range of headphones are the first in history to sell well despite sounding like crap?

                With a medium as incredibly subjective as sound quality, kids who only ever listen to 128Kbps MP3s on Spotify will think any pair of headphones sound great because they cost hundreds of dollars and have a "premium" look to them. Throw in some sh!tty tuning/equalisation to bass-boost them to high hell and every 18-year old whose playlist consists solely of mumble rap, dubstep and pop garbage will say they're "LeGiT tHA bEsT eVaR!1!! no cAp FaM!1!!"

                There had to be an element of people actually thinking they were the greatest things ever.

                Once again, popularity =/= quality.

                • VerticallyIntegrated on 10/11/2022 - 19:24

                  @Gnostikos: Will cyber-grind-donk-step sound better with these?

                • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 19:54

                  @Gnostikos: People obviously liked them.

                  Not saying they were right. But you can't deny that.

                  Audio is subjective anyway. What's good to you, to me, to everyone can be different.

                  Fwiw, I listened to a pair once, obviously I hated it.

              • Evoken on 15/11/2022 - 09:45

                @scuderiarmani: Kanye's $120 USD plain white t-shirt says otherwise. https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-designed-items-sell-ou…

                Chuck a name like Dre or Kanye on something and people will buy it.

            • Nugs on 10/11/2022 - 19:32
              +1

              @Gnostikos: I want a Lada Niva
              .

      • dav3 on 10/11/2022 - 21:13
        -1

        No, no they didn't

    • tharlow on 10/11/2022 - 19:56
      +1

      There are lots of “audiophiles” — you just need to “identify” as one. Unfortunately I was born with human ears, and my imagination isn’t wild enough to “hear” frequencies that audiophiles claim to hear

      • whyisave on 10/11/2022 - 22:41
        +1

        Your imagination will be wild soon enough.

        • tharlow on 11/11/2022 - 17:19
          +1

          Good one. Actually, if one knows a little about the biology of human hearing, one knows that — compared to a 20-something, say — by the time you get to your forties you can’t hear shit.

          So it definitely helps to have a good imagination…

          • whyisave on 11/11/2022 - 21:24
            +1

            @tharlow:

            compared to a 20-something, say — by the time you get to your forties you can’t hear shit.

            Interesting that you say this.
            Of all the IEMs and headphones that I have owned
            (and I'm no audiophile, nor knew anything about ChiFi or Focals only until relatively recently),
            I found the Nuraphone the best headphone listening experience and it 'tuned' according to my hearing.

            Its otocoustic technology graphed my hearing, just the way I like to hear tunes.

            However, it was a Bluetooth pair of headphones, and I just had to part with it after some months.

            • tharlow on 12/11/2022 - 00:31
              +1

              @whyisave: Fascinating

              Some people, Slater says, lack the ability to make out high frequency sounds like tambourines and flutes. Others are more attuned to perceiving low-frequency beats. ”No two ears are alike,” he says. Knowing that, Nura is able to equalize the sound of the source file by filling in the auditory gaps.

              https://www.wired.com/story/nura-nuraphones-headphones/

  • Raj09 on 10/11/2022 - 18:13
    +4

    Get these and pair them up with a decent dac and amp. Don't break your budget. These headphones are among the best I have listened to

    • Evoken on 15/11/2022 - 09:49

      100%. You'll be spending a lot more to get something even a bit better generally.

      Might want to consider an after market cable too for these though. The normal one is super rigid and not nice to use. The XLR cable is great if you can use it, but super long.

      Openheart cable from Ali Express has been great and super cheap. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001642424244.html

  • rosebank on 10/11/2022 - 18:22

    Would cop if I didn't have an Elex with a defective driver (yes, I can fix it but I'm lazy). Utopia would be nice

    • garetz on 10/11/2022 - 19:14
      +1

      The elex seem to have a high failure rate.

      • rosebank on 10/11/2022 - 20:01

        Yeah it's just a loose wire; very common. But I checked my emails and I bought them in 2020 for $550 shipped, no GST, and the exchange rate was about 0.75 so it only cost me about $750 landed

      • rosebank on 10/11/2022 - 20:05

        I also got 2,618 Drop reward points which was worth over $50 USD. I don't think they do rewards anymore, haven't bought anything from them for a long time

  • jake93s on 10/11/2022 - 18:23
    +1

    I bought these last time they were on sale for $1199 from Addicted to Audio. I couldn't be happier with the sound and build quality. I don't regret the purchase for a second.
    But they aren't good value. you can buy a used pair for $800 or so (New pads are $150 or so). You also need to buy a Dac and amp for them, so ~$200 +.
    Only complaint I have about them is weight and comfort. The headband is sh(t; too thin for its weight and it causes the top of your head to become sore after a hour or so.
    If I could go back in time I would maybe buy a used pair to get the black and red version, but otherwise I would buy it again and maybe pay for express shipping as free took over 2 weeks to arrive.

    • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 19:10

      No way I'd buy a second hand pair of headphones regardless of changing the cups.

      But for such a small difference even more so.

      High end Audio gear usually has terrible resale and or is very difficult to sell.

      • peterpaoliello on 10/11/2022 - 19:31
        +3

        I've never had an issue, either and I've gone through a few, SR80, Alessandro Grado M2, Sen 600, Sen HD800, and Shure 846. Makes no sense buying deprecating assets new and especially items which are generally pretty robust. Buy smart then sell what you don't want = $0 loss

        • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 19:53

          Hygiene. Headphones. Can't do it.

          Buds MUCH worse.

          • NoApostrophePlurals on 10/11/2022 - 21:34
            +1

            @scuderiarmani: You don't know how to clean and sanitise?

            • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 21:39

              @NoApostrophePlurals: Be my guest, buy all my used products. No worries here.

              You do you. I'll purchase what I want.

              I don't give a toss how well you think you can clean Buds, I'm not sticking used ones in my ears.

          • peterpaoliello on 11/11/2022 - 06:40
            +1

            @scuderiarmani: Tips are replaceable on all IEMs, SE846 can be completely disassembled to change the sound filters so there's really no part which cannot be sterilised or replaced. Tip are considered consumables anyway.

            Pads are generally faux leather or Alcantara like material which is also non pourous. I don't see the risk but each to their own I suppose

      • jake93s on 10/11/2022 - 19:57
        +2

        I've bought lot of headphones used and had no issues what so ever. They have one moving part and after you replace the pads they are practically brand new. If you can get over the 'someone else' wore it, its not a bad option.
        Personally I just didn't want to go through the hassle this time of sourcing a used pair and fixing/replacing parts. also its kinda nice unboxing a shiny new thing. especially after spending so much.

        • scuderiarmani on 10/11/2022 - 20:00

          It's also the difference in price, around 20% doesn't seem a big enough difference to warrant second hand for such an item.

          I'd want more notable.

          I've tried selling high end audio products, unless I virtually give it away it's impossible to sell.

          Sometimes, some warranties don't transfer too with certain products.

          • jake93s on 10/11/2022 - 20:10
            +3

            @scuderiarmani: You are certainly right about the clears on resale value. they hold up well (lot selling for 1k…. wtf). but at 750, its not bad but the pads are so expensive. so its still not worth it.
            But there is a lot of great deals to be had. i've also done well on my sold audiophile gear, can take a while but ebay seems to be the place. bought used hd650's for $300 and sold them for 400 after 3 years of use. beyerdynamic t1's for 500 and sold for 750. I got some fostex th610's for $250 (basically new), still have them.
            It isn't easy to sell the gear, nothing like pc parts. If there was a store near me where I could try before I buy I would have been much more willing to buy new in the past.

            • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 20:40
              +1

              @jake93s: +1 on selling and buying second hand audio products. Can get a lot of good gear, sometimes in a like-new condition, for hundreds off the retail price. Generally wouldn't recommend buying anything over $1000 second hand though, especially since most items don't come with warranty. Really enjoy buying things at a discounted price new, using for a few years and keeping them in perfect condition, then selling them at the same or even more than what I bought them for.

            • cille745 on 10/11/2022 - 21:15

              @jake93s: Agreed, I picked up a near new set of Clear professionals for $800 and couldn’t be happier

      • whyisave on 11/11/2022 - 21:32

        I've blind bought many earphones and headphones, over 20 years.

        In fact, I've blind-obtained the Focal Clear and I'm listening to it right now :-P

        I can say that it has a very balanced, clean sound and a nicely tuned headphone.
        This is using the standard-issued unbalanced cable, via a DAC.

        I guess, with age, it's harder to discern all them frequencies
        and
        I just don't always like 'open back' headphones, as everyone around can judge your taste in music..haha

        Also, the Clears are a bit clamp-y on the head and the headband is fragile, because it feels like it's made of plastic (but can't tell properly from the headband cover)

    • jasswolf on 10/11/2022 - 19:27

      Yup, you've also got the Nan-6 for about $700 from Taobao, and the headphone it is basically a modder's homage to, the HIFIMAN HE-6SE v2 from Adorama in the US for about the same once you include the cost of a re-direct service. Both need about 3W or more at 50 Ohms though, so not an easy drive.

      Then at the same price as the post, you've got the Nan-7 from Taobao, which might be a further step up and has lesser amp requirements.

    • whyisave on 10/11/2022 - 19:43

      get the black and red version
      is this version better sonically,
      or is it just a cosmetic choice ?

      • jake93s on 10/11/2022 - 19:59

        Pretty sure its just cosmetic. would be surprised if it wasn't

        • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 20:17
          +1

          Yep, just cosmetic, for a more 'professional' look (hence the name)

  • SuBw00FeR on 10/11/2022 - 19:08

    One day i'll get these ;(

    • edfoo on 10/11/2022 - 19:28
      +4

      Along with the new Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU and a Herman Miller chair.

  • O15 on 10/11/2022 - 19:43

    I almost want to get the Utopia just to know how they compare to a ~$4,000 full range speaker system.
    I'd like to have some nice headphones for when I'm away from nice speaker systems but everything I've tried in the sub-$500 range is underwhelming.

    • garetz on 10/11/2022 - 19:53

      The utopias are equivalent to about a 50k speaker system. For the price range they are supposed to be the best sounding headphones, Of course you need an amp/dac equivalent to use these to their best potential, which is another 3-5k on top of the utopias.

      The best headphones in the world are the Sennheiser Orpheus which costs 50k usd or so, and equates to 300k speakers.

      speaker systems can go for millions, no headphones are going to compete at that price range.

  • drprox on 10/11/2022 - 20:23

    Sitting here in my 599s and just… drooling…

  • goonsta on 10/11/2022 - 20:45

    The build quality on these headphones is honestly kind of garbage at this price point. There have been cases of the headbands snapping which is something to keep in mind (though i'm not sure how much the internal band design changes with their product offerings). For reference, I have the Elegias.

    Edit for some context: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/pb3od4/focal_cl…

  • blaze on 10/11/2022 - 20:45

    How does this compare to the Elear?

    • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 20:49
      +1

      At this price, grab the Clears. The Elear was once on sale for $499 which is a price bracket destroyer as it had most of the Clear's sound signature (needing a pad swap and not having 100% of the technicalities), but for less than a quarter of the price (comparing the discounted Elear to the full price Clear which was $2199 at the time), but we are never going to have a deal that good again.

      • blaze on 15/11/2022 - 20:51

        So… I snagged the elears at that price. How does that change things haha.

        Pad swap is worth it? Anything you can recommend?

        • jeo on 30/11/2022 - 15:24

          Oh sorry didn't see this until now, just enjoy the headphones! How do you find them? According to some it's just a retuned Clear, so you should definitely consider EQing them to fit your preferred taste.

          • blaze on 04/12/2022 - 22:17
            +1

            @jeo: They are pretty great.

            I come from years of closed back headphones. These are my first open back. They sound pretty great. I think the only issue is how heavy and bulky they are. Bit tiring to use for longer than an hour or two.

            Will try EQing cheers

  • derekab95 on 10/11/2022 - 20:56
    +1

    Holding out for arya stealth! Not too many headphone deals on here unfortunately

  • Spizz on 10/11/2022 - 20:58

    Whats the difference between the older Focal Clear Professional that used to be in previous OzBargain deals and these Focal Clears?

    • jeo on 10/11/2022 - 21:03
      +2

      The only difference is the colour, sound wise they're the exact same. An exception would be the Focal Clear Mg Professional, which is the same as the newer (but inferior to some) Focal Clear Mg. Personally I haven't listened to either enough to tell a difference between them.

      • Evoken on 15/11/2022 - 09:33
        +1

        The MG are a bit warmer than the Clear. They are very similar headphones overall, but the Clear are just a bit more neutral. Unless you are listening side-by-side (which I was to make the comparison), you will notice very little difference.

        I bought the original Clear after listening back and forth between both, mostly as they ended up being $300 cheaper at the time, but you cannot go wrong with either.

        If you live near an A2A, go in and spend some time listening to both.

  • Grayjay on 10/11/2022 - 21:02
    +4

    The Clears are the king of all rounders, Just great sounding cans. I actually traded mine for a pair of Arya Stealth's and I miss them very much. Waiting for another sale on the Clear MG's.

  • PuppieWayne on 10/11/2022 - 21:02
    -1

    .. what sort of songs/ music do you listen to on this?

    • dav3 on 10/11/2022 - 21:14
      +4

      Whichever ones you like?

    • Evoken on 15/11/2022 - 09:34

      The Clear can do an amazing job of anything.

  • Black Hole on 10/11/2022 - 21:57

    The CLEAR has a very nice sound signature and paired very well with all sort of DAC. Highly recommended.

  • sqheaven on 11/11/2022 - 10:49

    Does anyone have HD800 and Clear who could comment on the audio quality?

  • Eatslikeacat on 11/11/2022 - 11:31
    +3

    The Utopia 2022 revision has a copper and aluminium voicecoil Link

    I'm like WTF, that looks like they're skimping on copper to save money, and that's outrageous for a flagship headphone.

    I've been waiting for the Utopia successor like a Utopia 2 but the 2022 revision looks like a cost cutting measure even though the price hasn't gone down. Looks like they took the signature grill off to save money too. Looks like the original Utopia is the one to grab before they're unavailable. Thanks OP for the post.

    • jeo on 11/11/2022 - 13:16
      +2

      Agreed, the 2022 revision seems worse than the og a higher price. I prefer the look of the og as well but will have to test them both out in store to see the sound differences. It looks like the best thing that the Utopia 2022 does is lower the price of the original. : ^)

      • Evoken on 15/11/2022 - 09:35

        I am yet to hear the new ones, but the new Utopia are supposed to be a significant improvment. Now I just need to save for a few years.

  • Eatslikeacat on 12/11/2022 - 00:22
    +3

    I rushed to Addicted to Audio in Newtown Sydney. Grabbed the last Utopia they had. The store person said it was the deal of the century. The headphones are worth the money. They sound insane. They are worthy of the praise. They sound different to the Hifiman HE1000 series. I caught myself unconsciously shaking my legs enjoying the music. I was bouncing along to the music. Everything screams quality, the packaging, the hand feel, even the cables scream quality. Aluminium in the voice coils of the Utopia 2022 revision is unforgivable. Recommend grabbing the original Utopias before they're no longer available.

    • whyisave on 12/11/2022 - 07:10

      What is your opinion of Clear vs Utopia ?

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