Focal Celestee

It depends on what they mean by “driver”. They can have the same diaphragm but different coils. If having identical diaphragms equates to being the same “driver” then sure.

 

I usually thought impedance ratings for drivers are at 1 kHz.

 

That may be. The point I was trying to make is that unless the measurement was taken right at the enclosure resonance frequency, the rating of the headphones wouldn't change.

 

Come to think of it that rating may be of the coil itself (resistance at DC (0 Ohms)) without looking at the impedance curve or the driver even being mounted in the can. Just depends on their philosophy.

 

Nic thinking, but that is not technically impedance rather just DC resistance.

 

While this is partially my fault for tossing in random ideas about the reason impedance rating may be markedly different, the thread's getting a bit off-topic as far as the Celestee goes. Isn't there already one about design considerations that the discussion could be moved to? It's rather quite interesting.

 

On the this livestream they addressed two of the questioned asked here.
(1) The Celestee is definitely a closed back headphones, @Resolve mentioned they're better isolating than any closed Focal and he couldn't hear his coworker once he puts them on with nothing playing, great sound isolation he said.

(2) The product manager (the lady) said all the closed Focals have different motor structure than their open counterparts. So basically different drivers and it's totally makes sense upon reading the impressions of said headphones or looking at their specs. It's not just different enclosure.

 

Just got the Celestee in and have been listening for about 30 minutes through PC --> iFi micro iDSD BL --> Jotunheim 2 SE. Unfortunately, I don't have a balanced cable in for them yet, nor am I able to use my main system as I am confined to one room of my house because of COVID.

First impressions they're very "clean" sounding: almost like a closed, super-HD600 with more detail and better bass extension. Tonally, they're slightly more metallic than the HD600... What else would you expect from Focal?

Those hoping for a warm sound will probably be disappointed but they have a much better tonal balance than the Radiance, which could sound very unnatural with some music. My reference for neutral are the Sundara and Utopia and I would classify the Celestee as a neutral headphone.

The upper midrange hole of the Elegia has been fixed.

There seems to be a fairly wide dip in the lower midrange, which helps give a sense of clarity, but at the expense that it sounds less "full" (cooler) than the HD600, Sundara, and Utopia that I mentioned before.
In "The Peppery Man" by Natalie Merchant, the low, male voices are there, but lack the depth and weight that I have come to expect from a neutral headphone.

The dip in the lower midrange helps keep the bass from interfering with the midrange, but it goes a little far and can make the bass sound slightly detached.
The closest frequency response I've heard from a closed back would be the (then) MrSpeakers Aeon Closed (original) but the Celestee is a step up in nearly every regard.

The bass is missing the slam that Focal is so good at with their open-backs. They come across as a bit flat sounding.

Imaging is good but the soundstage is wider than it is deep.

More listening to come and hopefully with better gear.

 

"The bass is missing the slam that Focal is so good at with their open-backs"

The Stellia does not have as much slam either, though the rest is there. Indeed the Stellia and the rest is the Focal closed backs seem to be an overall smoother, slower (relatively), and "fuller" experience than their open backs

 

My lord, focal don't stop do they, starting to do a Hifiman and Mrspeakers putting out a new headphone every few months.

I do like the designs, they make some pretty headphones, prob a little poser like rather than an music based product. Curious if these have that metallic tint all their headphones seem to suffer from. Might give these a listen at some point as the closed market is quite stale.

 

Well, this Celestee offering makes sense. The Eligia was just "ok" and apparently did not sell well so they discontinue it and release this which is in essence an Elegia v2. Good for them - how many times have we wished Sennheiser would update and innovate?

As noted upstream, many of us are realizing the Focals are just transparent to your upstream steely SS/digital sources. This is not a bug, but a feature.

 

I think they've released a couple new offerings recently, which could be why it feels this way. It's been 2 and a half years since the Elegia came out. This doesn't seem like a rushed timeline for an update since the Elegia were their first high-end closed back. I also can't be mad at an update to a product when they make it so much better than the one it replaces.
The metallic tint is minor and I don't notice it in every song. In that way, it's similar to the Utopia, which after owning for awhile, doesn't come across as metallic anymore.

 

A used and fully broken in Celestee in house and this is my first impressions after an hour of listening via the E1DA 9038SG3 dongle (lean neutral) fed by my phone and Deezer hifi.

Fit on these is very finicky thanks to the retard spring loading of the cups causing a hotspot on the lower part of the pads and broken seal on the upper part, bass reduced a lot when the seal is broken so I have to adjust them every now and then.

Isolation is good but not as good as some other studio monitors can be.

Two minutes in and I already applied this EQ profile via my Samsung settings:


This headphones is so freaking sharp to be elevated in the bass and upper mids, my eyes winces every three seconds or so listening to this headphones, same winces happened with the Elex I used to own but it was every 6s instead of three.

After this EQ is applied the headphones sound damn neutral to my ears yet still has that Focal dryness in the mids and of course the metallic timbre still there but not bothersome like planar or BA timbres. A better organic source would be better match for this headphones, maybe the famed RU6 dongle? Or ifi BB dacs.

Bass is bloated before EQ, so much ANC effect happening with that amount of bass for a closed back. So I reduced it by 2dB. Still elevated but actually enjoyable instead of making me nauseating after 4min of listening.
It does punch but not like the legendary Elex or even the Verite open. Maybe same punch and slam like the Hifiman 1000se (or even less) but still punchy.

Mids after EQing the weeb out of it sound neutral with so much texture and details! It's really amazing especially with the small stage it got.

Treble is neutral but not smooth (again maybe my sabre dongle is not holding any punches) yet very textured and sharp enough for percussive instruments to sound alive, wind instruments in the other hand sound dry and lacking the appropriate "wetness" and weight.

Stage is small but 3D enough, tall, okay depth but limited width. Most sounds are placed between my ears and some instruments and effects can go an inch further.

Imaging is top notch like what I expected from Focal. The headphones lack the last 15% of resolution (compared to HE1000se) to have the complete imaging of the sound, think of sound reverberations around the instruments and the inner textures of sound.


The most impressive part about this headphones is how clean it sounds for a closed backs, kudos to Focal for managing the closed cups of those. It so clean that it sound like an IEM

That's it for now, I will update later if anything changes.