Iām on set #3 nowā¦limited edition (WITH a decent cable!!!) came up for 350 euroā¦how the hell can you pass up a can this goodā¦decided to make it my work closed backā¦yes I now have a work open and work closed set of cansā¦oh to justify.
All so true IMO. The Elegia was the first headphone that wowed me and it was like I did not know headphones were capable of sounding so good. I guess the bad, or good thing about that, depending on perspective at the moment is, that I then started wondering what about those other headphones out there? The Elegia was the entry point/catalyst to chasing after more, and more, and moreā¦
Enjoy that piece, and let the Music be the Medicine!
Hear, hear. This experience has allowed me to put things in better perspective. I always thought that thousand dollar and up headphones were just a rip-off and people were just being stupid paying that much. And I still think that for those who pay 5 thousand bucks and more for a set of headphones. Sorry, thatās just the way it is. But forget about that. That is another kettle of fish that I am not concerned with.
I have been shown that there is a place in that 1 to 2 thousand dollar range where there are sets that are truly worth the price because they produce that ānext levelā of sound performance and yet still deliver value. The Elegia is one of those sets. Never mind the fact that I paid half that - these deliver for 1,000.00 - they waaaay over-deliver for 500.00 IMO. And this aligns with the capability of my gear. I donāt know that it would do me any good to buy a 6,000.00 dollar set of phones because at that point, if you believe what has been written, the gear is probably going to be a bottleneck. So itās all relative I guess.
I just know that I am already counting the hours until I can get home and spend more time with them. And that is what matters.
Elegia journey, Chapter Two! I have been loving these headphones, man. But the nagging in my brain to get them on the balanced output of the TA-20 has been killing me! As yāall know I fully intend on getting another Custom Hart. But dammit, I canāt wait a month! So I found this from Sukira HiFi to get me through
Ya know what? Itās a nice cable! It definitely exceeded the expectation. Itās performing beautifully. And it gets the Elegias on the balanced output of the TA-20. The urge has been especially strong since I put the new tubes in. And the verdict isā¦
Holy Shit, man. I mean seriously, Holy Shit! I thought they were amazing on the SE outputā¦ this is something else again. More stage, deeper stage in that the sound ābubbleā got bigger, tight punchy Bass, incredible detail and incredibly, no fatiguing trebleā¦ itās truly better in every way than the SE output.
These headphones are pretty amazing. I couldnāt be happier with them.
I bought that cable a year or two ago. Great value!
Thank you, Tim. Itās certainly been an eye-opener for me. I kinda get it now. Iām not saying Iām gonna get into some Audeze LCD-5ās or something crazy like that, I donāt have the wallet for that, and I still think they are ridiculously overpriced. But I do understand a bit more about why someone would want them. I would seriously like to audition a set one time just so I could hear for myself what the difference would be.
But hey, Iām happy and grateful for what I have. Rock onā¦
Very cool! I was pleasantly surprised for sure. Itās a tad stiff, but itās already starting to soften up a little as I work it. Nice build quality, it came to me without janks (huge bonus there), it looks good and sounds fantastic. I completely agree, this cable delivers great value.
Iāll still get the Hart, but now I can take my time and not be bothered over wait time. And when I do get the Hart cable, this one will find itās way over to the Sundaras. So win-win.
If you are going to build a collection, you should look at the HAC system. Just buy a couple of connectors for your amps and then buy a cable for each type of headphone connector.
I currently have a 3.5mm cable, a Sennheiser two pin connector, an Audeze connector and a Monoprice M1570 connector. The cables without connectors are pretty cheap and Much less than complete custom cables. The most expensive I have seen yet is the Cascade cable at $82.00 (shares connectors with the HD800S, I believe).
If you are building a collection this will be much cheaper in the long run. Every cable I have bought SO far is much cheaper than what I paid for the Sikura.
These have been my daily drivers at work for over a year now and I absolutely love these things. The stock pads are probably the comfiest stock pad of any headphone I have used so far. Not sure if adorama is still doing the ~420$ sales, but that is honestly a steal for this thing. The tuning is a little bit wonky, but for daily use with podcasts and random music listening it is very appealing. Had to replace the stock cable months ago though because the left-side cable died on me (and the cable also sucks). I should really test these on my home setup, but I honestly have just been exclusively using them for work! Too hard to put down the open-backs at home.
I hear ya. I love the fact that they are eazy to drive. That makes them pretty versatile. So far I have not taken them outside. But the option is there and I like that.
Man, I gotta follow @11_Clouds ā lead and get one of those headband covers. I was worried about the beautiful gray finish and possible exposure to hair oil that could damage it. So Iām using the felt wrap that they shipped inā¦ HORRIBLE, I know! But hey, itās just me in the cave, and Kathy doesnāt give a flyinā¦
But yeah, thanks for the link, Nathan. Iāll go ahead and cover it proper like! I reckon I like them, eh?
I did the same thing with the felt for a while with a strip of velcro. Went with the Geekeria knit fabric one. I definitely stained the headbad after one week of had to get something on there
Geekria Knit Fabric Headband Padā¦ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G4T07IK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
For all from europe/germany. 499ā¬ on german amazon right now
Focal Elegia Over-Ear-Kopfhƶrer, ohrumschlieĆend, Schwarz/silberfarben https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07J5MDMTQ/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_X0APW3ETARSR8GSZR7EV
I pulled the trigger on these and hope that this isnāt a fake site or something. Mine should be in on tuesday. Excited to compare them to other headphones in my collection (sundara, zeus, denon ahd 2000, b&o h6 2nd gen and akg k371)
andorama has been having them consistently for $400 I tried them but besides a more premium build wasnāt an upgrade over the 177xās I got for $300 so sent them back (also that clamp is killer)
Andorama isnāt available in europe. My link doesnāt seem to be a fake site, because the elegia arrived today.
It seems they changed the cable, because mine is all black. I saw a black/white or black/grey cable in review videos and on pictures.
The fact that it is very short and stiff, is convincing me that i purchased an original focal headphoneš
This is the āupdatedā cable and the same one I received a few months back. It still sucks and if Iām gonna get a crap cable would have preferred the old one they still show in the photos because at least it looks good. Get yourself a new one.
I agree. I was somewhat disappointed to see that disgusting thing laying there in the box. At first I threw it in the trash but my Wife reasoned with me and so I have ben trying to unjank it. itās been about a month now and I have been making progress, but itās still kinda janky. If they would have just coiled it it would have been so much better. But hey, itās getting there! I did get a replacement cable immediately.
That said, the headphones themselves are fantastic. I feel they are the best set I currently own.
They either donāt have the cable anymore, since they changed in all the lines; or they changed because of multiple people having the cable fail after a few months (like mine). Either way, even this bad cable seems better than the garbage old cable IMO. And if donāt break, even better.
Ignore your wife and please throw it anyway! Or maybe recycle itā¦
Besides being a wire only fit to close a gate with the cable I had actually had different frequency responses between the left and right channelā¦ I actually thought I was going insane at the time, but after building my own cable the issue was gone.
How can you fuck up a cable that badly, itās literally just a wireā¦