Thank you for your thoughts and recommendations. Just processed the return of the Celestee’s and the order for the Clear’s. The Clear’s are on back order, but they assured me they will have them in August. I am sure I will enjoy them. Will let you know. Thanks!
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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- 14 posts total
- 14 posts total