THE FOCAL STELLIA - REVIEW
An Incredible Dynamic Headphone!
I have been aware of FOCAL for many years. It was FOCAL’s speaker line, however, that first got my attention. Their various designs and technical implementations were always impressive and ‘next-level’ in terms of applied technology.
When I learned of FOCAL’s venture into the headphone space, I was very intrigued. FOCAL, no doubt, had the engineers, the R&D capabilities, and the financial wherewithal to step-in and to step-in big to the headphone space. For a long time I admired them from afar, as it is no easy thing to gain a review audience with a headphone line that was doing so well.
It would be patience and a very kind Wendy Knowles who would send off my first pair of FOCAL headphones for review. And wouldn’t you know it, they would be one of the most beautiful, if not gorgeous headphones that I’ve ever seen. They, of course, being the FOCAL Stellia, the subject of this review.
“But how do they sound,” you say? “Does form follow function?” We are dessert first here at AudioKeyReviews.com and as the refrain says below, “Sound or dessert is served.”
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various accoutrement, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Queen’s Gambit, In the Shadow of the Moon, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
The FOCAL Stellia is another component that, perhaps, sits a bit closer to the neutral zone than we are used to reviewing. It is by no means subtractively neutral like some components that literally steal the life from music. The Stellia, instead, is kissed with an informing warmth, that is quite endearing. And yet the Stellia serves up great volumes of detail, helpful in the resolution of musicians and singers and everything else across a soundstage and in the unearthing of micro details necessary for rendering positioning cues, space, and an emotional connection.
The Stellia was most congenial and played well with all comers, though, in truth, it excelled with its high-end brethren from DACs to headphone amplifiers to integrated amplifiers to streamers, etc. Given the Stellia’s price point, it was the latter who I would consider its natural bandmates, not smartphones.
The Stellia found great musical synergy with the Astell&Kern SE180 and the combo composed of the Tri-Art Audio P-Series Integrated, the Border Patrol SE-i DAC, and the Roon Nucleus Plus. However, the Stellia as allied to the two, in-house, reference systems (see The Systems below) excavated vast amounts of information and scaled greatly in its ability to resolve and retrieve the information contained with the media.
In terms of detail retrieval, across the breath of the frequency spectrum (bass to treble) the Stellia is expert. It will lose many veils from performances that you believed familiar, only to discover buried gems, sweet touches, and those details which give shape to the ‘personality’ and the ‘emotionality’ of one’s various media. Further, the buried details of a conversation between performers or performer and audience or a muffled cough or a previously unheard turned page, will now be front and center.
The FOCAL Stellia’s volumetric cube—sound stage—is of moderate volume, that is to say it is relatively broad. Positioning, separation, layering are, however, very good. The Stellia will also shine a light that apparently unearths more than sufficient detail to map a soundstage from front to back and left to right and top to bottom.
The FOCAL Stellia was partnered with Astell&Kern SE180 DAP, Tri-Art Audio P-Series Integrated, the LTA Z10e, and the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC as a headphone amplifier via its XLR headphone output. Cabling was ANTICABLE. Power conditioning was handled by the TORUS RM20.
Bass
The Stellia’s bass is taunt, incredibly detailed, and dynamically swift. It will not, however, plumb to sub-bass depths, nor will it grasp the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail, at least, this is true across all the systems with which it was aligned at AudioKeyReviews. Its bass is that of the refined, highly resolving, transient-quick variety, that has the easy ability to startle and get one’s toes tapping. The Clarity of the FOCAL Stellia across the bass region is remarkable, as are its positioning and layering talents, born of a wealth of microdynamic cues. On a track like Massive Attack’s “Angel” (Mezzanine, Circa) what became immediately apparent was that the rhythmic, thumping bass was not really there, but what was there was greater resolution and clarity and insight and, simply, more information across the entire track. Dave Holland’s “Emerald Tears” (Emerald Tears, ECM) queues and the Stellia is deft, again, at rendering the cat-like quickness of Mr. Holland’s fingers, the lickety-split, transient rise and fade of bass notes and all of the attendant microdynamic cues. However, when I attached the balanced cable to the Mola Mola Tambaqui’s headphone output, the Stellia was able to somewhat breach the sub-bass region with all of its aforementioned talents and some that had improved via XLR—dynamics, transparency, resolution! A balanced implementation will, indeed, see you to, at least, the fringes of the sub-bass regions.
Midrange
Joan Shelly’s “Wild Indifference” (Joan Shelly, No Quarter) sidles up to be heard and immediately there is commanding transparency and resolution that allows one to see into the performance and it is that sweet kiss of warmth, that allows for a rather beautiful engagement with this song, which is soon over. Andy Bey’s “Angel Eyes” (American Song, Savoy) follows and it is a decidedly clear portrayal, rich with detail, and far from any consideration of voice bloat or over-hang, which can and does happen. Shirley Horn’s “Beautiful Love” (You Won’t Forget Me, Verve) completes the trilogy and any hint of stridency or sibilance or harshness has been banished, entirely. It is, perhaps, one of the most transparent renderings of this track that I have heard in over 30 years. In this respect the Stellia would have easily joined the very short list of components to consider for purchase. Suffice to say, that the Stellia excels across the midrange with explicit clarity, excellent positioning cues, and a very nice modicum of warmth to tie it all together.
Treble+
Vilda Frang’s “Allegro Molto” (Veress: String Trio - Bartók: Piano Quintet, Alpha) enters with outstanding clarity and dynamics that sets the stage for a beautifully rendered performance via the FOCAL Stellia. Imaging and positioning are superb given the wealth of freed microdynamic cues, which make the performance also one of the most transparent to date. And the Stellia’s ability to parse the complexity of tone, timbre, and texture across knuckle raps, plucks, the drumming upon one’s cello or violin or viola, and bowing, without the slightest hint of sibilance, harshness, or other treble-high nasties is truly exceptional. Laura St John’s “Gypsy Nocturne” (Gypsy, Well Tempered) queues, a piano’s somber notes are hypnotic in the ease that it creates. A moment later the piano summons Laura’s poignant, yet brooding violin, that will, at times, reach for the treble heavens and land there safely, every time. This rendering is tight, focused, exceptionally transparent and especially so for a non-electrostatic headphone. The FOCAL Stellia is very much at home in this frequency region, like the midrange, and appears to toy with treble-high playback that might cause anxiety for lesser dynamic headphones. Bravo!
The Wrappings and Accessories
Gorgeous! I could stop here, as this would offer up the most succinct truth. But you wouldn't know that various particulars of “gorgeous” in relation to all aspects of the FOCAL Stellia package design. So, I’ll go on.
The Stellia come in a medium-sized, Cognac colored, faux-leather box. The box is minimally printed (embossed), rich, elegant, and clean. The box’s full-height, top slides off to reveal a mocha colored interior box, also faux-leather. Within this box is a smaller box and a headphone, carrying case.
The fabric-lined, carrying case holds the Stellia. The smaller box, faux leather, holds two headphone cable (10ft, XLR, 1/8" (3.5mm)/4ft, 1/8" (3.5mm)), a 1/4” adapter, and a wallet, faux-leather, that carries within warranty, instructions, etc.
It is a beautifully executed design that screams, “I contain a luxury item!” And to see the price tag is to know this with certainty. I have, however, paid far more for equipment and gotten far less in return on, well, package appeal—form follows function, follows perceived value, follows cost. FOCAL does a brilliant job here.
Ahh, yeah. The 4ft, 1/8" (3.5mm) headphone cable is way too short. Doesn’t work. This is a luxury headphone destined to be near a high-end, headphone system (where it will be at its best), not gallivanting around town, tied to a phone(!), and, certainly, not in or around big cities. No sireee. It is an interesting, marketing pitch, but, no. A longer cable is required. This is, of course, my opinion.
Design—Look, Feel, and technology
The FOCAL Stellia, as mentioned above, is gorgeous. Mocha and Cognac? Two of my favorite flavors and FOCAL brings them together in a way that Chanel or Vuitton would admire. The Stellia headphone is solidly built and not, particularly, heavy, which is another facet of great design. To the design team, Bravo!
Hmmm… I guess I have nothing more to say.
The Specifications
FOCAL STELLIA
Type: Circumaural closed-back headphones
Impedance: 35 Ohms
Sensitivity: 106dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz
THD: 0.1% @ 1kHz / 100 dB SPL
Frequency response: 5Hz–40kHz
Loudspeaker: 1.6" (40mm) pure Beryllium "M" shape dome
Weight: 0.96lb (435g)
Cables provided:
1 x 4ft OFC 24 AWG cable with 1/8" (3.5mm) TRS Jack connector
1 x 10ft OFC 24 AWG cable with 4-pin XLR connector
1 x Jack adapter, 1/8" (3.5mm) female – 1/4" (6.35mm) male
Carrying case provided: 9.8"x9.4"x4.7" (250x240x120mm)
compatibility/Drivability
Every system below with the exception of the Astell&Kern SE180 was fronted by the exceptional Roon Nucleus Plus as streamer/server and powered by the TORUS RM20 (review coming).
Astell&Kern SE180 | The Astell&Kern SE180 (review coming) proved a strong synergistic partner for the much more expensive Stellia and together they made music on a level that was truly astounding! Yes, the Stellia, by price and performance, is without doubt a TOTL component. The SE180, on the other hand which at its price point shouldn’t be, is doing a rather incredible job of acting like a TOTL component and would be a formidable contender for desktop systems anywhere near its price point (and even a good deal above).
Border Patrol SE-i DAC | Tri-Art Audio P Series Integrated | A very good musical synergy was had with this combo, which, price wise, was a match to the FOCAL Stellia. There was more warmth, more texture, and yet the resolving power of the Stellia was undeterred. This was, decidedly, a music lover’s combo with a few kisses more of warmth, that did not dissuade the Stellia from performing its magical acts of transparency and resolution and its double-quick dynamic prowess across track after track.
DENAFRIPS Pontus II | LTA Z10e | A stellar synergy was had with this combo in that it allowed the Stellia to shine across both the midrange and the treble regions, far above the other combos, but even it could not escort the Stellia to the sub-bass to capture the Holy-Bass-Head-Grail.
Mola Mola Tambaqui (as Headphone Amplifier/DAC) | This was the synergy that got the FOCAL Stellia to shine above the previous combo and, at least, to the fringes of the sub-bass region, while improving, as mentioned above, overall dynamics, transparency, and resolution! And one imagines a balanced headphone amplifier known for its potency across the bass region, providing greater exposure for the Stellia to sub-bass depths.
Conclusion
The FOCAL Stellia, from wrapping box to speaker cups to headband, is gorgeous! FOCAL has done a magnificent job in designing every aspect of this decidedly high-end headphone, which, as I’ve mentioned above, should never be worn on the street and certainly not in a big city. Unless, of course, you are a thrill-seeker and don’t mind the prospect of your headphones and DAP going missing (read: being stolen after your mugging).
This is a headphone that belongs at home, beside similar TOTL products, which will allow the Stellia to speak, sing, with its full voice. While the Stellia played extremely well with the Astell&Kern SE180, it was the other TOTL products that welcomed it home and allowed the Stellia to truly sing.
In terms of its bass response, well the Stellia could not reach into the sub-bass regions. Its XLR affiliation to the Mola Mola Tambaqui brought it to the sub-bass door, though it could not enter. This is not to say that it could never enter. I had believed that the STAX SR-L700MkII would never be able to enter those stygian sub-bass depths, but with the STAX SRM-T8000 it got there! I would imagine the Bakoon AMP-13R or, perhaps, its successor the ENLEUM AMP-23R, which arrives shortly for review, escorting the FOCAL Stellia to those depths and to the grail. It is all about the synergy. So, I will not cast off the Stellia’s aspirations to reach deeply into the bass regions, it just could not do so with our assembled gear. Synergy.
The FOCAL Stellia is truly impressive in a great many ways and, most definitely, warrants an audition. And should you have synergistic companions for the Stellia then you will be home free and, dare I say, quite happy. We, AudioKeyReviews, highly recommend the FOCAL Stellia.
Pros: Transparency, resolution, dynamics, transient speed, imaging
Cons: Sub-bass reach, very short single-ended cable
The System(s)
1.
Roon Nucleus Plus
Mola Mola Tambaqui (as Headphone Amplifier/DAC)
ANTI-CABLE/CARDAS cabling and wires
TORUS RM20
2.
Roon Nucleus Plus
DENAFRIPS Pontus II/ Audionet DNP/EPX
LTA Z10e
ANTI-CABLE cabling and wires
TORUS RM20
3.
Roon Nucleus Plus
Border Patrol SE-i DAC
Tri-Art Audio P Series Integrated
ANTI-CABLE/AudioQuest cabling and wires
TORUS RM20
4.
Astell&Kern SE180
THE MUSIC
The Company
FOCAL
FOCAL Stellia ($2,990)
FOCAL
1.800.663.9352
focal.com