Audiophilepure

https://www.headfonia.com/focal-stellia-review/

“But, of course, there’s the cost factor and there’s no getting around it. And, of course, a lot of the Stellia’s cost includes paying for its sumptuous build and its absolutely decadent aesthetics. There’s clearly a market for this kind of headphone, and if it gets more people to take notice of high-end personal audio and want to experience something truly remarkable – well that’s just great. I appreciated the build and craftsmanship as someone only spending a brief amount of time with the Stellia, but in all honesty, they’re simply too ostentatious-looking for this reviewer. I’d feel simply too conspicuous if I left the house with them, and honesty, probably too conspicuous if I looked at myself in the mirror wearing them at home. If Focal managed to package that driver in a low-key black plastic metal body, with Alcantara instead of leather – and delivered at a lower price-point – then I’d be at the front of the queue. “

https://www.headfonia.com/rosson-audio-design-rad-0-review/

“The same story more or less goes for the Auris Audio Nirvana. In balanced mode you get really impressive bass with great depth and layering. The mids are rich, smooth and spacious with gorgeous vocals, while treble is extended and smoothly musical, yet energetic. For some the amount of bass and mid body might be a little much in balanced mode, but in that case the single ended output is the one for you. Here you get a faster, lighter sound but it isn’t as spacious, wide and extended as before. You do get a more balanced and faster RAD-0 with improved clarity, especially noticeable in the upper mids and vocals. On this amplifier, I kind of prefer the single ended output as it already carries enough smoothness and timbre from the lovely tubes.”

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/review-stax-sr-l300-electrostatic-headphones-r883/

“Now all of my listening with these phones was done with either the new Stax SRM-700T (for Tube) or the HiFiMan Jade 2 energizer/amplifier (solid-state). I’m very fond of my Jade2 system. It is clean, articulate and the phones are super comfortable. But in spite of the Stax being over a thousand dollars (List price) cheaper than the Jade2s (by themselves – no energizer/amp) they blow the HiFiMan cans out of the water. The amount of detail retrieval is an order of magnitude better, and the in-your-face perspective of the Stax still manage to give a soundstage that is at once wider and deeper. While this difference is much more pronounced with the Stax amp, both amps allow two sets of phones to be auditioned at once. This makes comparisons between different sets of phones much easier because one can switch very quickly and one can tell which amp does what to which phone (confused yet?). For instance, Between the SR-900S ($4500) and the SR-L300 ($430) on the Stax amp, one can easily hear that while the former are about 10X the latter, the sound of the two (except the difference in perspective, of course) are actually fairly close. There is certainly not 10X the difference in performance, and given the lightness of the SR-L300s, they certainly are more comfortable than the flagship model over long-term listening.

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“Although the Elegia uses a closed enclosure, it has two vents; one is part of the driver itself while the second vent is actually built into the logo design in the centre of the earcup. The entire earcup design has been optimised to an ideal volume for optimal decompression and damping. It uses both internal diffusers as well as EVA foam to break up any standing waves and spread the energy evenly throughout the enclosure. According to Focal, “The main objective here being at all costs to prevent the energy emitted by the back wave from returning to the speaker driver cone and thus turning into an additional unwanted sound signal.” Even Elegia’s microfiber earpads got a redesign so as to optimize their isolating abilities while enhancing their comfort and preserving Elegia’s high acoustic impedance.”

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/grado-gs3000e

“Most rivals, usually closed-back designs, sound less lively and more shut-in. Equally, these same rivals offer more in the way of bass punch and authority. It’s a major advantage innate in the closed-back configuration.

We play Olafur Arnald’s Broadchurch soundtrack and the Grados render the music’s low-key but powerful emotions brilliantly. It’s down to expressive and fluid dynamics and the GS3000es’ wonderfully composed organisation – every sound fits perfectly into the whole, never seeming random or redundant.”