It is interesting to compare these to the much admired Utopias, something I’m currently doing and finding little difference.
This might sound crazy but look at what is going on a little more closely. Focal have engineered a masterpiece of headphone technology using Beryllium, a rather nasty element to handle. But then Mg is in the same periodic table grouping II so has properties in common. It therefore makes sense for Focal to see if the lessons learned with Be can be applied to headphones using Mg and it appears that this is what has happened.
When acquiring a new toy there is the urge to eulogise on the brilliant new sound discovery it offers but I suspect that often this enthusiasm is misplaced as yes, the sound is different and yes, it was sounding a bit too familiar and that can generate contempt. But whether or not the AQ is in fact “better” is open to debate. But no argument if it sounds better to the owner, end of story as that is what is important.
But it can mislead others into thinking they would also find this new toy improved the AQ for them when in fact it might only lead to a disappointing reduction in the bank balance! I’m laboring this point because I do not want my enthusiasm for the new Focal Mg to mislead so what I’m penning is my personal experience and yours might differ, particularly if used with a different DAC and/or amplifier.
And this is a serious complication are there is subtle varying synergy between electronic components. None are perfect and all have imperfections that have been minimised to be hard to detect but sometimes the ying of one nicely counteracts the yang of another to produce a stunning result. Apologies for using terms like ying and yasng but they are the best way I can describe how well the Focal Mg sounds using a n SMPL SP400 headphone amplifier.
The amplifier is now well bedded in but to date I have not been over impressed with it. Nice music into a pair of Sennheiser HD800S headphone with Roon feed from this PC -< Auralic G1 streamer -< modded LGS DA004 DAC. But not nearly as impressive as the (mainly classical) music fed from the G1 to an Audio GD R8 DAC → Audio gd Master 9 → Focal Utopia headphones.
However, plug in the Focal Clear Mgs into the SP400 and it is a different story. To use a hackneyed phrase, it seems as if another of Salome’s veils has been lifted because the bass is more clearly defined as is the rest of the spectrum. Now a word of warning here as some consider excellent resolution is not very musical so what I like may be your cup of tea. But there is no harshness or digital edginess, just beautiful music. Up to now I’ve sort of looked down on the SP400 as a lightweight (literally because no massive power supply) amplifier not really up to the task of high end music reproduction. So I now have more respect for it with the caveat it needs a good strong input from the DAC and its digital volume control is not great. And again, I stress the critical importance of having a good DAC. I’ve had many pass through here but only a few are worthy of a top system. That said you should not need to pay stratospheric prices as some of the latest units from China are first class and reasonably priced .
Bottom line, I strongly recommend the Focal Clear MG headphones – they are as good to these ears as the Focal Utopias so save your dollars. I’ll be interested to read in what other systems have found their home.
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I have the utopia, purchased it recently and never thought of hearing the clear, If I had saw this post early I should had ask to listen to both and with the price diference I could have acquired a good headphone amp.
Regarding a not very expensive headphone amp for the utopia what can I look for? Thanks.
Audio-gd produce some excellent amps - in class A mode so it would be a good plan to see if any used ones are on offer. Otherwise a new SP400 might work for you although I still have difficulty accepting that good sound comes from such a lightweight amp but that is just prejudice.
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