Thanks, I agree. Here’s my thoughts after much research. Return the Celestee’s & buy the original new stock Clear’s from headphones.com (only $91 more).
For my application, I don’t need closed backs, and didn’t properly research the downside of closed backs before buying the Celestee’s. I really like the Focal form factor.
Then purchase one of the HP amps you recommended. Thoughts?
Focal Celestee
I just received my first audiophile headphones, the Focal Celestee. I am not necessarily a HP fan, but I needed a birthday present, they were pretty highly recommended by professional & user reviews, my local audio store (even though they were OOS), they were a good price point & I thought I would enjoy them.
I first burned them in running for 24+ hours at a higher volume per Focal recommendation. I then began streaming from my system, several jazz musicians listening through my new Focal’s while A/B with my system speakers (my Rogue plays both headphones & speakers simultaneously).
My issue is the Focal’s don’t sound as good, to my ears, as playing music through my existing system or I had hoped. I understand Focal is not a leader in soundstage & while the Focal’s are more dynamic, I had hoped for a cleaner & clearer sound.
My question is if you think my issues are with the Focal’s or the built in headphone amp in my Rogue preamp and your resulting recommendations / fixes.
My system includes:
Rogue RP-1 pre with NOS Telefunkon medical, Siemens nickel plate & Brimar CV4003 NOS tubes (rolling)
LSA Warp 1 amp
KEF R11 speakers
Rythmic F12SE sub w/miniDSP equalization
Aurender N150 streaming Qobuz
Chord Qutest DAC
Pro-ject 1Xpression carbon classic with Hana ML cart
Rega Aria phono stage
A reason to think the problem may be in the Rogue is the stereophile RP-1 review. While the overall review was stellar, they stated: “… mostly average audio quality of the RP-1’s headphone output.”. But maybe not. Anyone using the RP-1 HP output?
Your thoughts and recommended actions would be appreciated. Thank you.
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I think you’ll be much happier with the Clears and look forward to your thoughts. I was going to recommend the Singxer SA1 amp that I drive my Arya Stealths with as I think it would deliver the sound characteristics you’re looking for without breaking the bank, but alas it is a ChiFi product as are many HP amps these days. So I’ll add these links more for fyi — one is a review that I think is spot on in terms of assessing the amp’s sonic characteristics and the other is a link where you can buy with a no risk, 30-day return policy (I did this and didn’t return it). https://www.amazon.com/Singxer-Balanced-Discrete-Single-Ended-Amplifier/dp/B08QMDM631 If the Singxer is a no go I’d look at the Burson Soloist 3X (also reviewed on the Soundnews.net site) as I don’t believe it’s made in China although it’s more expensive. Schiit may also be good but I’d read reviews to see if their models offer the sound characteristics you’re looking for. Hope this helps. |
- 15 posts total