I get the timbre comments, but whenever I see someone call the Clears bright I always think they are probably driving them from the wrong source. I waited almost a year for the 2nd big Drop release of the 789, and this was the headphone that immediately showed me that amps limitations. Whenever I see someone say they donāt hear the difference between the Clear and the Elex, Iād bet money they are running them off a 789.
To me, my favorite thing about the Clears, and good dynamic driver headphones and iems in general, is the physical impact they deliver, and the Clears may be my favorite headphone for that experience. I also love tube amps, but Focals and tubes havenāt worked out for me in the past. Itās almost as if the tubes overemphasize that slam and muddies everything in the process. I usually donāt hate it at first listen, but after two to three songs I want to switch vs. wanting to listen for hours on a SS amp or DAP.
This time last year I got my ampsandsound Bigger Ben. I thought having the 5 output impedance taps would give me better control over it than the normal hi/lo gain, but the Clears still didnāt sound good off the 32ohm, 16ohm, or low ohm tap (still not sure if its a 4 or 8 ohm tap). I kept the stock tubes Justin sent me, using the NOS KT77s for a full 10 months before I began swapping, and never liked the Clears. I donāt remember if it was something Justin had said when I bought the amp, or I had read somewhere, but he doesnāt like Focal headphones at all. I took at as confirmation that they just didnāt cooperate with tubes since everything else including iems sound great.
Iāve since swapped everything out a few times, but finally seem to have found a decent match for the Clears. Funny enough, itās the tubes Justin recommends on his page:
Tube Selection:
Input tube: 6SL7 or equivalent
Output tubes: 6L6GC, EL34s, KT66, KT77, KT88, 6550s and KT90s
A personal favorite is the Tungsol 6L6GC STR. Warm, strong and tight bass.
I bought a pair of non-matched, new production tung sol 6L6GC STRs for $22/ea on Amazon and they have been my favorite tubes with the Clears by a mile. Every once in awhile Iāll hear a song thatās a bit too punchy for me, but it was 50% or more of the time where it was just too much for me with other combos. The synergy works pretty well with my other main headphones as well, so Iām going to stick with it a bit before I roll again, but Iām really excited at the idea of being able to use my Clears at my preferred setup regardless instead of telling myself they sound just as good off my M15
edit: $22 tubes made my choice of not going with a 300b amp feel pretty good
