Over the past few years, much has been happening with Focal and their creative
design team. The Utopia, when introduced a couple of years back, was well
received in the personal audio community with its pristine clarity topped with
well-balanced bass and a fantastic midrange garnering the company numerous
awards for one of the best dynamic headphone designs currently in use in the
personal audio community. Focal technology in the Stellia incorporates much of
what is in the Utopia in a reference closed-back design that delivers pristine
sound quality for listeners or professional mastering engineers who demand and
need a quiet listening environment. The frameless copper voice coil with the M
shaped pure Beryllium dome makes the Stellia a transducer that incorporates a
world class driver into the design. The 35-ohm low impedance design is perfect
for use with low powered portable devices and really comes to life using the
finest electronics to deliver amazing detail and musicality.
Focal went all out with the packaging on this and included a cognac carrying
case that will make traveling with the Stellia easy and also has the same cognac
color in the soft case. The case is made from cognac and mocha faux-leather and
included a 3M high-quality cable with a 4 pin XLR connector and the 1.2 MM cable
for portable use. The retail price for the package is $3000.
“Hard Times Comes Again No More” from the same album,
a composition by Stephen Foster, adds the voice of James Taylor to the
performance to showcase the vocal capability of the Stellia. Taylor’s vocal was
articulate and his range was incredible while the synergy of Taylor with Yo-Yo
Ma is a must listen for anyone who wants to hear one of the best vocal
performances come to life in a tune that is classic Americana and a terrific
performance.
“Slumber my Darling”, another Foster composition,
added Alison Krauss’ angelic voice to the experience. The composition composed
in 1862 during the Civil War is an exceptional lyrical song and Alison’s vocal
is perfect to showcase what the Stellia can do with female vocals. The
musicality of the instruments melted away the barriers in this beautiful tune
and left the clarity and articulation of voice from heaven come to life. The
violin and cello were exceptional and her vocal had clarity and each syllable
was heard from her voice with clarity and conviction. The sound of Alison’s
vocal was seductive and also had that rare transparency with the sound of every
syllable. The storytelling vocal was magnificently reproduced and the violin and
cello were in sync and her performance made me feel like I was at the
performance and once again the Stellia easily delivered another performance that
was captivating. John Paul White’s, formerly of the Grammy-winning The Civil
Wars duo, new second offering is another exceptional recording on
Qobuz
that was well recorded and showcased White’s vocal talent and songwriting
ability made listening to “Heart Like a Kite” a musical treat that showcased his
talent with his songwriting and vocal skills. The Stellia once again was able to
recreate the vocals with excellent and vivid clarity. The sound of the band was
layered with exceptional air and the room was clearly defined in the recording
while the vocal performance of this Grammy-winning artist was alive and never
sounded like I was listening to a closed headphone. The soundstage was
impressive with good separation and each performer showcased in their own space
and made the performance enjoyable.
P!nk’s new release Hurts 2B Human is another recording
available to stream on Qobuz in a 24/44 FLAC file. “Hustle”
the first track, also released as a single, brought P!nk to my personal party
and made me come alive and rock to her tune. The vocal performance once again
showcased the Stellia with the ability to recreate space and make the sound of
P!nk’s vocal transparent with articulation and clarity, and once again the sound
of the soundstage was impressive as was the Stellia’s ability to engage me with
the performance. P!nk’s music makes me want to get up and dance and the dynamic
range of the Stellia recreated the tune with exceptional conviction and
delivered the performance without any boundaries. The out of the head
experience once again was special while listening to this tune. Rhiannon
Giddens’ new There is No Other album is another
high-resolution offering on Qobuz and “Ten Thousand Voices”
had an acoustic guitar in the mix with Rhiannon’s spiritual voice in front and
the vocal was pristine with clarity and the sound was majestic. Francesco Turri
brought the sound of her vocal to another level. Turrisi is a jazz musician who
added a Mediterranean flair to the music and brought her haunting performance to
life on the “there is no Other” track from the same album. Giddens
has a classical-folk background and the sound of this pairing is unique and the
Stellia delivered once again a terrific recreation of the tune and was able to
extract the performance and deliver a mythical sound to this spiritual
performance an incredible journey where the two artists were in unison and the
spiritual performance of Rhiannon’s haunting vocal was a magical moment while
listening to this unique duo.
Listening to Chopin with Rubinstein playing I could hear more of the decay of
the Steinway and much more detail, with the sound of the piano keys and tonality
improved upon, as well as, the transparency. The Elegia is an excellent
headphone that gets you lot of what the Stellia offers, but the Stellia takes
you on that journey into hearing everything the recording has to offer and is a
step up in performance. Focal has two outstanding reference designs and both
will satisfy most listeners, but the Stellia will give you the most in retrieval
and performance.
The musicality of the Stellia offers the listener a terrific product to get the
most detail retrieval from your music. The pristine midrange coupled with
terrific bass texture made all vocal recordings be recreated with conviction and
rare musicality. The pristine treble extension offered a non-harsh reproduction
of violin and other acoustic instruments and made the triangle and cymbals
sparkle. The added detail retrieval made listening to recordings with drum
brushes and triangles a musical treat. The soundstage is exceptional for any
headphone let alone a closed design. Air and space in performance was
exceptional. The layerings of large scale recordings come to life and the
ability of the Stellia to recreate the room acoustics is amazing. Lovers of
large scale performances will be treated to soaring dynamics with the delivery
of live performances. Thunderous bass from tympanis and exceptional speed made
all the recordings sound lifelike and the performance was completely out of my
head. Closing my eyes revealed a large scale recording with me in the orchestra
enjoying the performance without leaving my listening room. Focal continues to
impress with its ability to recreate the room of the venue with extraordinary
clarity and decay. The Stellia takes the listener on a magical journey and gets
out the way and treats you to a magical listening experience. If you are looking
for the most in musical performance from a closed design you need to audition
the Stellia and you may find, as I did, this is a special headphone that hits
all the marks and you may also, like I did, find your wallet lighter as I could
not resist the urge to not send this back and purchased the review sample. The
Stellia never disappoints and needs to be heard to be appreciated. Highly
Recommended.
https://www.focal.com/en/headphones-0/headphones/for-home/stellia
Design
The design features that Focal developed for the Stellia, the headband and yoke, were originally developed for the Utopia and used here to provide the listener with total comfort. A cognac mocha finish is used in the design along with full grain leather pads that are soft and comfortable. The result is a transducer that is bold and makes a statement for a luxury design that is impressive to look at and one of the most comfortable designs for listeners who want to listen for a long period of time while forgetting there is a headphone on your head and relax to the enjoyment of the music in total comfort.
Focal went all out with the packaging on this and included a cognac carrying
case that will make traveling with the Stellia easy and also has the same cognac
color in the soft case. The case is made from cognac and mocha faux-leather and
included a 3M high-quality cable with a 4 pin XLR connector and the 1.2 MM cable
for portable use. The retail price for the package is $3000.
The Listening Sessions
Once I had the Stellia unpacked and ready to go, I set my reference Auris Nirvana to the 32-ohm input selector. Using the Marantz SA 10 with an Audioquest Wind interconnect and Chocolate USB cable, I started with Roon which has over 15000 DSD and high-resolution albums loaded on the G external drive beginning with some DSD 64 files of classical music. Antonio Vivaldi La Stravaganza on Channel Classics has 12 violin concertos with Rachel Podger featured. The sound of her violin had exceptional tonality and the instrument was musical without any glare of harshness. The sound of the violin was vivid and had the necessary bite present in this recording to make the music come to life. The Stellia placed the violinist in her own space with the orchestra in layered sections with ample air and space between the musicians. Impressive was the Stellia’s ability to recreate the space but most impressive was the hall sound and detail with clarity and a vivid sound. When I closed my eyes I could visualize the orchestra in the hall and the sound was an amazing journey into the performance and the music was clear while the instruments sounded realistic and the flow of the music had me relaxed and the sound was exceptional. Appalachian Journey with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor is another excellent DSD recording with violin, cello, and double bass. Edgar Meyer’s composition “1B” for violin, cello, and double bass had the three musicians in a defined soundstage. Impressive space between the performers was again recreated with ample air and the soundstage imaging was vivid moving the musicians out of my head during this performance. The Stellia was able to disappear and recreate a lifelike soundstage that at times startled me with its clarity and detail retrieval. The tonality of both the double bass and cello was an extraordinary recreation of the instruments. The Stellia made this album another musical journey into the beauty and delicacy of the exceptional music it was presenting.
“Hard Times Comes Again No More” from the same album,
a composition by Stephen Foster, adds the voice of James Taylor to the
performance to showcase the vocal capability of the Stellia. Taylor’s vocal was
articulate and his range was incredible while the synergy of Taylor with Yo-Yo
Ma is a must listen for anyone who wants to hear one of the best vocal
performances come to life in a tune that is classic Americana and a terrific
performance.
“Slumber my Darling”, another Foster composition,
added Alison Krauss’ angelic voice to the experience. The composition composed
in 1862 during the Civil War is an exceptional lyrical song and Alison’s vocal
is perfect to showcase what the Stellia can do with female vocals. The
musicality of the instruments melted away the barriers in this beautiful tune
and left the clarity and articulation of voice from heaven come to life. The
violin and cello were exceptional and her vocal had clarity and each syllable
was heard from her voice with clarity and conviction. The sound of Alison’s
vocal was seductive and also had that rare transparency with the sound of every
syllable. The storytelling vocal was magnificently reproduced and the violin and
cello were in sync and her performance made me feel like I was at the
performance and once again the Stellia easily delivered another performance that
was captivating. John Paul White’s, formerly of the Grammy-winning The Civil
Wars duo, new second offering is another exceptional recording on
Qobuz
that was well recorded and showcased White’s vocal talent and songwriting
ability made listening to “Heart Like a Kite” a musical treat that showcased his
talent with his songwriting and vocal skills. The Stellia once again was able to
recreate the vocals with excellent and vivid clarity. The sound of the band was
layered with exceptional air and the room was clearly defined in the recording
while the vocal performance of this Grammy-winning artist was alive and never
sounded like I was listening to a closed headphone. The soundstage was
impressive with good separation and each performer showcased in their own space
and made the performance enjoyable.
P!nk’s new release Hurts 2B Human is another recording
available to stream on Qobuz in a 24/44 FLAC file. “Hustle”
the first track, also released as a single, brought P!nk to my personal party
and made me come alive and rock to her tune. The vocal performance once again
showcased the Stellia with the ability to recreate space and make the sound of
P!nk’s vocal transparent with articulation and clarity, and once again the sound
of the soundstage was impressive as was the Stellia’s ability to engage me with
the performance. P!nk’s music makes me want to get up and dance and the dynamic
range of the Stellia recreated the tune with exceptional conviction and
delivered the performance without any boundaries. The out of the head
experience once again was special while listening to this tune. Rhiannon
Giddens’ new There is No Other album is another
high-resolution offering on Qobuz and “Ten Thousand Voices”
had an acoustic guitar in the mix with Rhiannon’s spiritual voice in front and
the vocal was pristine with clarity and the sound was majestic. Francesco Turri
brought the sound of her vocal to another level. Turrisi is a jazz musician who
added a Mediterranean flair to the music and brought her haunting performance to
life on the “there is no Other” track from the same album. Giddens
has a classical-folk background and the sound of this pairing is unique and the
Stellia delivered once again a terrific recreation of the tune and was able to
extract the performance and deliver a mythical sound to this spiritual
performance an incredible journey where the two artists were in unison and the
spiritual performance of Rhiannon’s haunting vocal was a magical moment while
listening to this unique duo.
Comparison
The Elegia from Focal is their $899 reference design I reviewed a couple of months back and found it to be an exceptional world-class closed reference design. The similarities brought to mind the differences I had heard while listening to the Utopia and Elear. The Stellia improved upon the Elegia transparency and was able to extract more inner detail and had a more comfortable fit with its soft and comfortable ear pads. The cost differences between the Elegia($899) and Stellia($2995) are substantial but the higher price of the Stellia is more than justified in greater inner detail.
Listening to Chopin with Rubinstein playing I could hear more of the decay of
the Steinway and much more detail, with the sound of the piano keys and tonality
improved upon, as well as, the transparency. The Elegia is an excellent
headphone that gets you lot of what the Stellia offers, but the Stellia takes
you on that journey into hearing everything the recording has to offer and is a
step up in performance. Focal has two outstanding reference designs and both
will satisfy most listeners, but the Stellia will give you the most in retrieval
and performance.
Conclusions
Focal continues to grow as a company with their commitment to the personal audio market. The last several years have brought Focal speaker technology to the headphone community with exceptionally capable products that are world-class designs which sound exceptional. The Stellia with its beautiful cognac finish design is a stellar looking headphone that offers exceptional musicality and is magical in delivery of the music. The cable is an improvement over the Elegia cable that I had reviewed and built to a price point. Many users will find aftermarket cables bring more clarity and less microphonics to the party. I used the Black Dragon and noticed more inner detail and clarity and a step up over the stock cable.
The musicality of the Stellia offers the listener a terrific product to get the
most detail retrieval from your music. The pristine midrange coupled with
terrific bass texture made all vocal recordings be recreated with conviction and
rare musicality. The pristine treble extension offered a non-harsh reproduction
of violin and other acoustic instruments and made the triangle and cymbals
sparkle. The added detail retrieval made listening to recordings with drum
brushes and triangles a musical treat. The soundstage is exceptional for any
headphone let alone a closed design. Air and space in performance was
exceptional. The layerings of large scale recordings come to life and the
ability of the Stellia to recreate the room acoustics is amazing. Lovers of
large scale performances will be treated to soaring dynamics with the delivery
of live performances. Thunderous bass from tympanis and exceptional speed made
all the recordings sound lifelike and the performance was completely out of my
head. Closing my eyes revealed a large scale recording with me in the orchestra
enjoying the performance without leaving my listening room. Focal continues to
impress with its ability to recreate the room of the venue with extraordinary
clarity and decay. The Stellia takes the listener on a magical journey and gets
out the way and treats you to a magical listening experience. If you are looking
for the most in musical performance from a closed design you need to audition
the Stellia and you may find, as I did, this is a special headphone that hits
all the marks and you may also, like I did, find your wallet lighter as I could
not resist the urge to not send this back and purchased the review sample. The
Stellia never disappoints and needs to be heard to be appreciated. Highly
Recommended.
https://www.focal.com/en/headphones-0/headphones/for-home/stellia
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