I just recently bought the Focal Clears from headphones.com on sale for $1k. I already owned the Elex but the Clears were the headphones I wanted from the start and I couldn’t pass them up at the sale price. Now, I am looking at their sale on Elears with a case and an extra pair of Utopia pads for $599:
I don’t need the headphones outside of a Pokemon-esque “Gotta Catch Em All” sense. But, I already stained the pads on the Clears, and their replacements cost $200. $200 is a ridiculous price in my opinion, but it seems like the Focal sound is closely tied to the pads. I’m not sure if it was Dekoni pads or another company’s on Drop where I saw multiple negative reviews of the Focal replacements changing the sound for the worse. The Utopia pads retail for $250, so that’s almost half the cost of this bundle. Has anyone tried pad swapping on Focals with any success? I had read some reviews that the Elex was the Elear with Clear pads, but later saw that was debunked. Anyone tried the Utopia pads on the Clears? Or even Elear pads on the Clears as they would be included as well?
It’s crazy how much this hobby has screwed up perceived value for me. 3 years ago I would have said future me was insane for considering $600 headphones, but I now own several pairs. With all the add-ons this bundle seems like an incredible deal. Headphones.com even has a full 1 year warranty, although I don’t know if that applies to deals like this. I’d love anyone’s input, and my wallet would love for someone to tell me I don’t need to spend this money that’s already itching to be spent
if you like the Elex get this deal - from what I read elsewhere
the case is 149 alone, the Elear with Pad swap to the included… from what I read measures exactly like the Elex.
I have the Elegia and would never use another third party pad - Focals pads are expensive - but you pay not only for the name. They put massive reserach in all components
I just got a Elear on trade and I saw that offer and was very tempted by it. They currently only have utopia pads to go with the case, but with the pads alone being 250, add the case at 150 and the deal is crazy. They offer a 365 day return policy if everything is kept in good shape, really incredible imo. I know dekoni has measurements for their pads which is nice, but I havent tried them yet or compared them to the FR graphs of the stock pads but they look promising.
I had tried elex pads on the clear, and they were all right, kinda reduced the neutrality with a mid hump to my ears. Also tried swapping my clear and elegia pads and it didn’t sound that great. The clear pads on the elegia kinda messed up the soundstage and isolation. The clear was a little bit more forgiving but not something I would think worthwhile
I’d love to try the clear pads on my Elear but that desire isnt worth the $200 asking price for them. I might stick a wanted add out in the future, but for $200 I could just buy new tubes to change the sound instead
I think I’m going to hold off. I haven’t seen too much about Utopia pads on other pairs, and as good a deal as it is, that would be the main thing I’d be purchasing it for. The case is great, but I have one I already don’t use with the Clears. Maybe I’d be more excited for the Elears if I didn’t already own the Elex, but from most accounts the Elex are superior. I think I’d rather save up for a different pair of headphones and keep my eye out for a deal on Clear pads. I may ask my friend to print me a few of those clips though
