It sounds terrific. While Utopia is the visceral, accurate, and more level-headed big brother, Stellia plays the part of the more crazy wilder little brother.
They were so popular with our readers that they made our 2023 list of the best closed-back headphones and were the top-rated closed headphone on our list of the best audiophile headphones for 2023.
The tonality of Stellia’s tuning is much less aggressive, with a natural warm leaning and a more impactful and hard-hitting low end.
Bass Performance
They are not precisely bass cannons, but they can hit very hard when called upon, and this is undoubtedly down to the volume of air the significant driver can move and the closed-back earcups, further enhancing the lows.
It’s fast, responsive, and low-end capable of dynamic shifts in speed and weight without feeling overworked. iTs are never sloppy, even when tasked with producing mid and sub-bass blends, and at the same time, it never leaks into the upper frequencies.
Midrange Performance
The midrange is smooth and just warm of neutral, lending itself to a wonderfully engaging listening experience. These headphones can take to task music in critical listening sessions but shine when you want to enjoy your music to the full.
The lack of distortion and ease of placement in mid-range instruments is a joy, and both vocals and strings are as good as I have ever heard in closed-back headphones.
Highs and Treble
The treble stood out for me in our Focal Utopia review, and it’s here again now.
We see the benefit of the design of the inner earcup in full force. There are no artifacts I could detect coming from resonance or bouncing back from the cups. It’s hard to explain, but something you notice when you spend time in properly tuned listening environments.
When sound bounces off a hard or less-than-ideal surface, that sound gets reflected to your ears in a distorted form. The padding at the back of the headphones has the same effect as acoustic foam placed on walls, trapping and killing those waves without rebounding.
The result is a very non-fatiguing top end with fantastic extension, clarity, and zero sibilance issues. It brings the sparkle but none of the pain.
The soundstage is large compared to other closed-back designs, really, if you want to get bigger than this, you need to go to fully open or semi-open headphones, but then you lose the versatility of use that a closed-back headphone affords you.
Focal Stellia Review Conclusion
I love these headphones; honestly, it’s hard to say a bad thing about them. The build and styling are impressive, and the sound quality puts them at the elite level of closed-back headphones. You have the benefits of a well-known and respected manufacturer warranty, and the knowledge that support will be there for years.
While they are still too big for me to be used as daily drivers in a portable sense as home or office headphones, they were perfect for listening to music without being disturbed by others around me.
The price is exceptionally high, and thus, few people can afford them, but if you are one of the lucky few, you will love listening to music on these.
For more information on Stellia, please visit the Focal Website.
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