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Focal Elegia Circumaural Closed-Back Audiophile Headphones Expired

$299
$890.00
+ Free Shipping
+24 Deal Score
19,304 Views
Adorama has Focal Elegia Circumaural Closed-Back Audiophile Headphones for $299. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Deal Editor iconian for finding this deal.

Includes:
  • Elegia Circumaural Closed-Back High-Fidelity Audiophile Headphones
  • Thermoformed Rigid Carrying Case
  • 1.2m Asymmetric Cable (3.5mm TRS Jack)
  • 3.5mm to 6.35mm Stereo Jack Adapter
Features:
  • Full-range speaker-driver with an 'M'-shape aluminum/magnesium dome Ambient noise soundproofing
  • Comfortable and ergonomic
  • Cup Style: Closed-back
Good Deal?

Original Post

Written by
Edited December 25, 2022 at 01:02 PM by
deal [adorama.com]
$299 (price drops in cart) + free s/h
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Deal
Score
+24
19,304 Views
$299
$890.00

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Featured Comments

Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
Best way, without jailbreaking, is to get a Qudelix 5K. It's by the man who made the ES100 that took the headphone community by storm several years ago. He split off to do his own thing, which was Qudelix. Really amazing little device and you can tweak everything through the companion app (also has a chrome extension that does the same). Then apply the oratory1990 EQ settings someone linked above. Or if you dislike the Harman target, use AutoEQ to spit out an auto-generated EQ profile for w.e target curve you like.

Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.

If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).

There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).

Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced) [boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.

You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.

I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.

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Joined Dec 2014
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> bubble2 2,185 Posts
312 Reputation
brucknerfan
12-27-2022 at 10:36 AM.
12-27-2022 at 10:36 AM.
Quote from TheEdge :
At this price point, little risk here as these often sell used for around $300 on Head-Fi, AV Exchange, etc.

Relatively neutral sounding headphones with solid detail and clarity.

Do you know what county these are manufactured in? Is it France?
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Joined Apr 2006
10% Off For The Big Guy
> bubble2 8,870 Posts
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TheEdge
12-27-2022 at 10:37 AM.
12-27-2022 at 10:37 AM.
Quote from brucknerfan :
Do you know what county these are manufactured in? Is it France?

I believe so. At the very least, I believe they were designed there.
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Joined Dec 2014
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,185 Posts
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brucknerfan
12-27-2022 at 10:38 AM.
12-27-2022 at 10:38 AM.
Quote from TheEdge :
I believe so. At the very least, I believe they were designed there.

Impressive considering the price.
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Joined Apr 2006
10% Off For The Big Guy
> bubble2 8,870 Posts
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TheEdge
12-27-2022 at 10:41 AM.
12-27-2022 at 10:41 AM.
Quote from brucknerfan :
Impressive considering the price.

Confirmed.

https://www.focal.com/en/french-manufacturing

And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.
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Joined Dec 2014
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,185 Posts
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brucknerfan
12-27-2022 at 11:04 AM.
12-27-2022 at 11:04 AM.
Quote from TheEdge :
Confirmed.

https://www.focal.com/en/french-manufacturing

And yep. These were my first favorite closed back headphones (once I dipped my toes into the hobby). I'm a bass head so I moved on… but I think most people will appreciate what they bring at this price.

Looks like a nice headphone. The white paper displays impressive engineering prowess. But I'm content with my Sony Z7 which is comfortable, durable, and has great bass.
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Joined May 2016
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> bubble2 59 Posts
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whozplaying
12-27-2022 at 11:44 AM.
12-27-2022 at 11:44 AM.
Can anyone compare these to the Meze 99 Classics closed back cans?
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Joined Jul 2019
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Sciapodas
12-27-2022 at 12:07 PM.
12-27-2022 at 12:07 PM.
Quote from whozplaying :
Can anyone compare these to the Meze 99 Classics closed back cans?
The Meze 99 Classic/Neo/Noir are definitely a darker headphone than the Elegia.
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Joined Oct 2009
Shemomedjamo
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TekkenLord
12-27-2022 at 12:11 PM.
12-27-2022 at 12:11 PM.
Can ne1 recommend a 4-pin XLR Balanced cable for these cans?
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Joined Aug 2016
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nolansm86
12-27-2022 at 12:52 PM.
12-27-2022 at 12:52 PM.
I bought a pair of these from Adorama in 2018 or 2019.

They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.

This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.

Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
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Joined Nov 2015
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> bubble2 139 Posts
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darren_fsl
12-27-2022 at 01:05 PM.
12-27-2022 at 01:05 PM.
Quote from nolansm86 :
I bought a pair of these from Adorama in 2018 or 2019.

They worked pretty well for about a year. Then, the left headphone driver moved out of it's housing and stopped working properly. After opening the headphone, the driver had 86 clearly written on it. The middle of the driver cone had a small dent in it as well.

This didn't bother me too much despite the driver clearly saying 86. I fixed the housing and I couldn't discern the difference. I checked the right driver for fun and it didn't have any writing. This year, though, the 86'd left driver started fading out in volume compared to the right driver.

Quality control issues here. I now own pair of Bose 700 wireless headphones instead. I suggest anyone interested in these do the same.
Does 86 mean the same thing in a French manufacturing company as it does in my local American bar?
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Joined Nov 2013
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ronaldmexico
12-27-2022 at 02:10 PM.
12-27-2022 at 02:10 PM.
Anyone who has tried multiple different Dekoni pad swaps, would appreciate hearing your favorite and why
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Joined Nov 2011
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> bubble2 570 Posts
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nido
12-27-2022 at 05:02 PM.
12-27-2022 at 05:02 PM.
Has been this price for months, why frontpage deal?
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Joined Mar 2015
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MaddyD4289
12-27-2022 at 08:03 PM.
12-27-2022 at 08:03 PM.
headphone noob here.. can I get suggestions for good Bluetooth headphones for teenager.. I want to spoil my nephews with a great pair of headphones. budget < $300
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Joined Apr 2006
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> bubble2 8,870 Posts
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TheEdge
12-27-2022 at 09:48 PM.
12-27-2022 at 09:48 PM.
Quote from MaddyD4289 :
headphone noob here.. can I get suggestions for good Bluetooth headphones for teenager.. I want to spoil my nephews with a great pair of headphones. budget < $300

The Sony WH-1000XM3 / XM4 / XM5 are all great noise canceling Bluetooth headphones with solid EQ flexibility, features, and ANC quality. They typically rate as well as or better than the Bose QC35s.

The XM5 is the current model, but the 3 and 4 are still widely available and all rate quite well.

XM5s currently on sale for $279 on Amazon.

https://slickdeals.net/share/iphone_app/fp/787222
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Last edited by TheEdge December 28, 2022 at 03:33 PM.

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Joined May 2019
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> bubble2 342 Posts
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Matrix80
12-28-2022 at 05:04 AM.
12-28-2022 at 05:04 AM.
Quote from TekkenLord :
Balanced or unbalanced?
You connect an XLR to each cup. Do you even audiophile headphones?

For headphones, I'm happy with my Studio Max. My home audio can be the McIntosh and Revel 228Be's.
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