Focal Unveils Its Most Luxurious And Advanced Portable Headphones Ever

The new Focal Stellia headphones share much of the DNA of the company’s open-backed Utopia headphones but with a closed-back design for better sound isolation.

Focal, the luxury French loudspeaker and headphone manufacturer has been on a bit of a roll recently with the release of the Focal Elegia a closed-back pair of headphones that I reviewed a few months back.

Now Focal has announced a brand new pair of high-end, closed-back headphones that the company has called Stellia. Placed at the top end of Focal’s headphone range, the Stellia is aiming to be the ultimate portable headphones. The Stellia integrates a new generation of speaker drivers, capable of working at low sound levels while offering an extensive frequency response that ranges from a very low 5Hz, all the way to a bat-squeaking 40kHz. The drivers in these new deluxe headphones are frameless voice coils made totally from copper. Featuring an ‘M’-shaped, pure Beryllium dome, the Stellia is designed to deliver exceptional bass articulation and really detailed treble, a characteristic that should address some of the criticisms leveled at Focal’s Elegia, which to my ears sounded a bit lacking in bass.

Vents are integrated into the closed-back design of the Stellia in order to extend the headphones’ frequency response; an EVA foam positioned behind the speaker driver absorbs high frequencies, while acoustic diffusers break up standing waves to achieve sound reproduction free of interference. To make sure the engineering tolerances of the Stellia’s drivers are as strict as possible, they’re assembled using a manufacturing robot of Focal’s own design.

The speaker drivers in Focal’s Stellia headphones are made from pure beryllium and assembled in Focal’s St Etiénne factory, to very strict tolerances, by a specially designed robot.

The Stellia headphones feature the same headband and yoke design that was originally developed for Focal’s flagship Utopia headphones, an exceptionally comfortable pair of open-backed headphones that Focal launched last year. The design and fit of the Stellia should offer the same comfort levels as the Utopia, regardless of the shape and size of the listener’s face and head. The earpads are filled with high-resilience memory foam and covered in high-isolation, full-grain leather. The Stellia are available in two luxury finishes: Cognac and Mocha.

When you pay the thick end of $3,000 for a pair of high-end headphones, you’re going to want some pretty high-end packaging. To this end, Focal has presented the Stellia in an imitation leather pack, with a matching cognac and mocha color scheme. A storage case houses two high-quality audio cables with the same materials and finishes as the headphones. The first cable is 3m long and ideal for use at home with a high-end audio set-up. The second cable is 1.2m in length and terminated with a 3.5mm jack plug, designed for use with portable audio players, smartphones or DACs.

Pricing: $3,000 / £2,499 / €2,999

More info: https://www.focal.com/us/headphones

Specifications:

• Type: Circum-aural 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:
• 1.2m OFC 24 AWG cable with 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS jack connector + 6.3mm adaptor
• 3m OFC 24 AWG cable with 4-pin Neutrik XLR connector

The new Focal Stellia headphones (pictured here next to the more affordable Elegia model) are closed-back designs that are better suited in noisier surroundings.