Wow. Focal Clears down to $999
Addicted to Audio Black Friday Sales
Focal Clear Open Back Headphones $999 Delivered @ Addicted to Audio
290
Related Stores
closed Comments
celestee sounds like hot garbage. please don't buy unless you intend to use heavy eq. many issues with the sound after demoing last week
Oh really? Reviewers all seemed to fawn over them.
Not going to buy until I get a chance to demo, although I recently picked up a pair of 7Hz Timeless IEMs and find them more enjoyable, comfortable and convenient than my full sized headphones - including the Focal Elears, so trying to stay away from picking up yet another set!
I'd go try it out in store if I were you. Main thing I noticed is that the vocals sound so damn thin and it's unbelievable that this exists on a headphone of this calibre.
@zjz93: Very interesting, that's actually how I felt about the Elegia as well. Will try 'em out sometime soon.
@zjz93: I have the Celestee (and the Clear) and I have never felt like the vocals were lacking. I went an listened to a few tracks (IDLES - MTT 420 RR and The Wheel, M83 - Midnight City, couple of Daft Punk, Master of Puppets, Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl), through the Celestee and Magnius/Modius after reading your comments and I can't hear what you are.
Would 100% reccomend listening before purchasing, but I am super happy with the Celestee and the Clear.
@Evoken: I think the male voices sound super thin. This is super obvious on Masayoshi Yamazaki tracks in comparison to even something with recessed mids like the edition xs
When I first listened to it I thought my amp/DAC was broken. That's how bad it was
audio "reviewers", in general, fawn over everything. (except actual reviewers, you know who they are)
I was looking at open backs like the Sundara but the Celestee seems to have a huge discount from thir rrp of $1399. Reviews are so mixed though, people seem to either love them or hate them.
Great deal, got mine for 1.2k a few years ago.
1.2k
😲
That price is still considered middle tier when you see what they can go up to :)
Don't forget to tag the product, but yeah, this is a good deal if you want that Focal house sound and dynamics. There's better value deals in mid-fi and high-fi today, but not many.
Would you recommend some? Really tempted to buy a pair of these focals.
In that same bracket of overall performance?
HIFIMAN HE6SE v2 ~$770 imported via Adorama in the US (includes cost of mail forwarding): needs at least 3W at 50 Ohms to shine, and is a brighter headphone, but a very dynamic planar with famous bass. Not quite at the same level of the original HE-6, but goes reasonably close, ableit with some unit variance at around 3kHz-4kHz. Excellent soundstage depth, detail, and imaging, reasonably wide sounding.
Mr Anan's Nan-6 ~$700 via Taobao (currently OoS, a very recent development): a DIYer's tribute to the HE-6 with similar wattage requirements, more comfortable, and apparently sounding wider, but less deep with slightly weaker imaging. Much improved tonal balance is the real win alongside comfort. Pad changes can tidy things up further (as does pad rolling on the HE6SE v2).
Mr Anan's Nan-7 ~$1100 via Taobao: shed from the huge power requirements of the Nan-6, this seems to take things further in terms of technical performance, but along the same flavour as the above headphones. Still a great tonal balance, with even better sub-bass presence, and perhaps surpassing the original HE-6.
Here's a great reviewer who has early measurements on the Nan-7, as well as pad rolling tips and measurements for the other 2: https://unheardlab.wordpress.com/
Away from that, if you can dig out a pair of Elears on the used market and put Clear pads on them, you basically have a slightly cheaper made Clear. Wiring QC is the big issue from what I understand.
Below this, you've got the HD6XX @ $360 in the current Drop sales ($342 for new users), when put through with a good SS amp (typically something approaching class A design), or tubes. Won't have the same imaging, soundstage or sub-bass performance, but you're getting the legendary timbre and tonality.
Thanks a lot for the information!!
There is a lot to study since those do not deliver to AUS directly……@charmandad: The ones from Taobao should be able to ship directly, you're just chatting to the seller in Chinese.
Adorama needs a freight forwarder, but it's a small price to pay for the giant discount.
Would jump on these if I didn't get my EDXS the other day.
Are these at all a good option for gaming/general pc usage/Spotify-YouTube music.
I have always wanted to upgrade my Phillips X2HR with something of a long term high quality Headphone.
Have a decent amp THX AAA 789 to push them.No. With these headphones, you really want to be using FLAC/MAQ files. You would also need a decent DAC to actually make this thing shine. As such, it means you would probably want to subscribe to Tidal/Deezer/Amazon HiFi and etc. Youtube's and Spotify's music tend to go only to 320kbps. However, you can also buy and save some money in future to buy a DAC. For your general-purpose usage, there is nothing wrong with Phillips X2HR.
Filetype should not be a reason to not purchase a headphone and his amp is perfectly capable of powering the clears to eardrum-bursting volume levels.
I disagree with Jetkuma, these would be a noticeable step up from your X2HR. You'll notice the difference even on Spotify's high quality streaming and your Amp is certainly more than capable of driving them. A DAC could make a difference, but only really worth it if you think your signal isn't clean enough. Most Macs and higher some higher end windows laptops actually have pretty good DAC built in.
That said there are plenty of options from $300+ that would deliver similar levels of quality to most listeners with differences mostly noticeable in their tuning. Focals have also had quality control issues in the past and aren't built in a way that's very conducive to repairs and maintenance, unlike Sennheiser's HD line for example.
Your amp would be a decent pairing for the clears. As long as they don't have any initial issues from QC, focal products tend to have good longevity
be careful of the headbands on these, lots of people report these snapping, just google focal headband snap
Mine snapped, quoted $800 to fix from addicted to audio
That's nearly the cost of the headphone, damn. What did you do?
Someone uploaded a CAD file of a replacement for the broken part on reddit, and I just downloaded it and had it printed at a local service for $20, then just replaced it myself.
The part that broke is just a plastic connecting bracket about 12cm long. If you google "broken focal clear headband" you'll see it as it's the same part that snaps and is used in all of their entry level headphones.
@Bombdigidy: Thanks for letting me know, will bookmark your post to remember just in case!
Do you put anything around your headband to keep it cleaner or use it as is? I read some people use glad wrap but that sounds weird and get stuff stuck on it. I did see a grey headband cover recently from amazon for it!
Sucks ATA can't offer a more value fix for it, $800 just for the band or new headphones?
@JL1: It was $800 just to repair the headband lol. Knowing now that the headband is just thin plastic, the biggest tip is don't pull the headphone cups apart when when putting them on. Instead slide them onto your ears from the top of you head or front of the face without pulling on the cups, just let the weight of the headphones do the work.
I bought this headphone cover that fits snuggly, it does add a bit of height and weight which you will notice https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0814D2NG7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_…
For the reddit post with the file for the replacement its here. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/vy4p3t/yet_anot…
The part that broke is just a plastic connecting bracket about 12cm long. If you google "broken focal clear headband" you'll see it as it's the same part that snaps and is used in all of their entry level headphones.
Does the Clear count as entry level?
@lostn: For the headband cracking issue, Its the metal yokes rubbing aginst its own plastic holding, I got rid of it by spraying some wd40 into gaps. Spray it while the headphones are upside down then cover the gaps with some paper towel when you flip them back over to catch the excess, if its still creaking just do another once over.
For Focal branded headphones I would say the Clear would be considered entry level. It's known that the Focal Clear, Clear MG, Elegia, and Elex use the same headband design from other post and teardowns on the web, which are all priced within a reasonable range of a few hundred dollars of each other. The next step up is the Focal Stellia which the RRP is $4,500, but I haven't seen any teardowns of the headphones or anyones whos has snapped posting photos of it to check, so it's hard to say if it's made from the same material
@Bombdigidy: I'm still considering getting these. Would you recommend them at this price if I'm extra careful with them?
Can basic portable dac/amps handle this?
@lostn: I would recommended it, I really like the sound from mine and still use them daily. It's just the poorly designed headband and predatory repair price that's rubs me the wrong way. but knowing I can easily fix it myself its not too big a deal in the end.
The drivers themselves have 5 years warranty, just be aware that they'll just tell you that headband breaks aren't covered under warranty and they'll ask you to pay $800 for them to fix it if it does.
Sound wise they should run great on the most basic DACs, they even run fine for me sound quality and volume wise when I use them on my nintendo switch.
@Bombdigidy: i'm not handy unfortunately, so I wouldn't be able to fix it myself. It's disappointing they didn't do enough QA.
how widespread is this issue?
If you have a big head, I would say they would snap eventually seeing as it's the plastic joint that bears all the stress. I had mine for just over 2 years of daily use until it finally snapped. My head is pretty wide and my ears are quite low, had the headphones almost fully extended when using them.
that sounds like awful design for cans that retailed for $2k. Did they not do any stress testing on it?
when you had it for 2 years, were you stretching the headband when you put it on like you would other headphones?
@lostn: Yeah, but I wasn't even stretching them that much. The earpads would always be touching my ears and head when I was putting them on.
wish I could trade in some of my IEM's easily to cover the cost of these
I've been trying to sell some unopened IEMs and speakers on facebook market place and not getting much inquiries at all. Seems hard to sell audio stuff, maybe need to sell on stereonet.
Iems have come a long way in the last 5 years. What used to cost 2-3k is like $200 equivalent iems available nowadays.
unless you got something extremely rare and sought after they are hard to resell.
I've sold a pair of unopened etymotic er4xr before, had a few inquiries on that actually. I do have a spare pair of airpod pro 1st gen I should sell.
Trying to sell some new speakers and that's hard too
Damn, bought them at $200 more expensive 2 weeks ago. But hey, saved myself $1000 anyway ;)
What's your opinion on those headphones? The online review seems quite positive, do these actually worth it?
I've not yet had the chance to spend a lot of time with them and it's a big price to pay, but if you can afford them the sound quality and comfort is amazing for the price. I let out a contented sigh when I start playing just about anything through them, even low-res Spotify files 'sing'.
At their original $2k+ price point I couldn't consider them (or any headphone, TBH - I don't have that sort of disposable income), but as an absolute luxury for me, no regrets. I use sub-$200 amp/dacs (dongle or desktop) and they power them easily.
Have you tried and ask if they would refund the price difference?
mate, you are not alone. I have done the same and going to call them tomorrow to try my luck.
Unfortunately no luck for me in trying to get the price protection :(
where did you buy yours from? I bought from the Perth store. Just called this morning and the guy promised that he will talk to his manager. Will see how it goes.
@manutd123: Hmm. The distributor is Busisoft. According to https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=98869328154 both Addicted to Audio and Busisoft are well… part of the same business group. So the store asked "itself" a question and the answer was no… we don't want to give someone $200, why would we/I/you?
(they have a pretty much close to monopoly status of HiFi distribution in Au)
@swalloweda: Oh well they said something like they’ve already ‘paid’ the supplier hence couldn’t do the credit. I was planning to get another pair of cans if they were to give that credit back but looks like I might just go with minidics as they have a better customer experience. Have you heard back on your case yet?
@manutd123: Given their disingenuous response to your request, there seems little point pursuing it. as you say, customer experience is everything. And they wonder why people order from overseas
@manutd123: i still haven't heard back from them. Will try again tomorrow but I don't think I will get much luck. I have been eyeing on topping A90 so I hope they would at least give me some store credit.
Any idea how these compare to hifiman sundara?
no sure about Sundara. but I did try Edition XS and i just feel Clear is more dynamic and, as the name suggested, clear. Also, i think it depends on your setup. Clear is super easy to drive so you can get very decent result without much investment in dac/amp. However, for Edition XS or Sundara, they will require a lot more power to reveal their potential.
thanks for your help :)
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been tossing around Clear v Celestee, but ultimately my home environment is too noisy to use open back headphones. Here in Brisbane there is no quality headphone dealer, so auditions are impossible. I did visit Minidisc in Sydney a couple of months back and liked some of the Hifiman cans. But ultimately the lack of any isolation from even low level chat meant I couldn’t purchase. But now Celestee is even cheaper - $699 down from $1399, impossible to resist. One day I’ll get to an ATA store for some listening comparison, and at that point if I sell the Celestee I should go close to break even.
Just saw it as I have been checking out the Focal Clear and thinking about them. Of course already on Ozbargain!
Cheapest price ever for them, also tempted by the Hifiman Arya Stealth even though it's $800 more. Can anyone compare them? I just use HD6xx right now for headphones.
I think they complement each other, Clear is punchy and dynamic and Arya is much more detailed, with better instrument separation and sound-stage. I have both.
Arya much more detailed, I see. Haha I wish I could own both too but not right now! So just depends on your mood which one you use? What type of headphone amp do you use for them?
I remember someone mentioning receiving some missing items from ATA. Would it be an option to ask for store pickup instead of delivery and would anyone suggest that?
I hate myself for this but I ended up pulling the trigger less than one minute before the deal expired. $999 is a lot for a pair of headphones…
Celestee is down to $699.
Nice deal as well.