My favourite pick from the focal headphones was the Celestee. Good balance between price and quality.
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The Celestee are 1300can$ here. I will have to try all of these headphones.
I did audition the Atom HE and the full range of Focal Headphones. Buying the Atom HE left me with not too much disposable money so I got the Meze 99 Classics. It’s still on my wishlist to get a Focal headphone. I like the synergy with Naim.
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We only have Clear MG here. I was told that the Stellia were worth the investment. Only way to be sure is to try them at my next hifi store visit. Some of the seller liked the Grado headphones better.
Haha, i do understand. I left the store buying the Uniti and using my Audio Technica at home, which i know and like by the way, but are no comparison to the Focal.
I have the Atom HE with the Stella’s. Fabulous. Best thing I ever did.
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Did you compare them with the ClearMG?
I’m using cheap ATH M20 with my new Atom HE. Its only 2 weeks old so the plan is to run it in for a month and then start looking at headphones from either Focal or Hifiman.
I have a NSC222/250 in my lounge so the Atom HE is for the office only.
Really enjoying it and it also looks great!
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If you are on a budget - aren’t we all? - I would consider the Focal Elegia or Focal Elear. Especially the latter is very very close to the first Utopia and can be found for much less than 4k Euro. The Elegia is a closed back headphone that I use for listening in the family room. It requires a bit of EQ to sound at its best - you can find the settings on the ASR forum - which I have applied in Roon. Both headphones are really good with the Atom HE.
I have also tried the Clear MG, Stellia and Celestee but could not justify the huge extra spend compared to the Elegia and Elear for a very small improvement in sound.
BR,
Richard
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I would try it with a pair of Elac ARB-51 active bookshelf speakers. You will be amazed. We have the floor standing version ARF-51 and it plays magically when driven by the Atom HE.
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Thanks! I will check on those Elac!
Like you I am in Canada. I have both the original Atom and the Atom HE. You will not regret getting the HE, it is very versatile, and deserves the best ancillary equipment. It can drive just about any headphones, so you can choose based on sound quality alone. I have the Dan Clark Stealth which are somewhat difficult to drive as they are low impedance, but the HE has no trouble and it sounds wonderful. For a power amp I use a Moon 330A which I also find to be first class. Moon (SimAudio) is a local company for you but with a world wide reputation, so you could give them a look.
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Thanks. I always had an interest in Moon products. Last time I looked they only have big and powerful power amp. I want something smaller, that’s why i started with the HE. It is awesome with headphones. I really enjoy it! In a near future small bookshelves speaker and power amp will surely be added. For now i am thing about Primaluna Evo100, 40 watts with KT88 tubes.
Hello, i suggest you put all your files on an SSD drive and use it directly on the back USB of the UnitiHE. That is how i do it and its awesome in every hires format.
Just had a look at the Moon 330a. Very nice indeed. Its the smallest of there poweramp line. Still 125watts. What kind of speakers do you have with that?
From What hifi review:
‘‘Inside each speaker is a ‘Tri-Amp Pure Analog Amplifier’, essentially three separate amps, one for each driver: a 160W BASH AB amplifier for the woofer, a 100-watt BASH AB amplifier for the midrange, and a 40-watt Class-AB amplifier for the tweeter.A BASH amplifier as we understand it is actually a Class-D circuit feeding rapidly-scalable pulsed power to a Class-AB amplifier (replacing the traditional power supply), thus removing the need for the output filter, yet keeping the efficiency high. Not only does this all mean a whacking 300W of power on tap for each channel, the combination delivers audiophile-level specs like 110dBA signal-to-noise ratio and a 100μV noise floor.’’
Those Elac ARB-51 speakers really are what i am looking for. Thanks! I dont know if there are sellers in Canada or Québec. I would like to listen to them for sure. Very interesting. You have the floor models with your HE and you pass through a Classé preamp, i think. Did you tried them directly with your Naim as the preamp?
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I have an Atom HE and had the Clear MG, I have heard the Stellia many times and think they are a step up, at more than twice the price it should be. Currently I have the Utopias which I can’t fault.
The Clear MG are great phones and fantastic value in the Focal Headphone range, I also have owned the Elears which were good but I would put the Clear MG ahead.
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Given the price now of top tier Hifiman…is no brainer now to get them. Easily pair with the musicality performance of the HE. I’m pairing it with the HE1000Stealth, very dynamic and immersive. Simply outstanding.
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Wow is that your setup? Maaaaannn! Nice! Very nice! I’am looking toward something like that. What is the lenght of your desk? A far appart are your speakers? What is the other unit are you using on your desk? Part of your system?
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Thanks man, it is…I’ll try to list all of it. Might miss 1 or 2 maybe.
Component List:
Headphone - Hifiman HE1000 Stealth
Speakers - Dynaudio Emit 10
Subwoofer - Definitive Technology Supercube 2000
Headphone Amp, Streamer, Preamp - Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition
DDC - Denafrips Iris
Integrated Amplifier - SMSL DA9
BT Receiver/Transmitter - Fiio BTA30 Pro
Bass Transducer - Dayton Audio BST-1
Monitor - Samsung M7 32" 4K
Vertical Monitor - Armageddon Pixel Plus 27" 2K
Keyboard - Akko PC75B
Mouse - Glorious Model O Wireless
Table - Solid Rubber Wood Top 180 x 75 x 75cm
Chair - Secretlab Titan Evo 2022
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