Наушники — Focal CELESTEE

The Celestee is a closed-back wired over-ear headphone that Focal released in January 2021 as the successor to the discontinued Elegia. Its US list price was just under USD 1,000, and in North America it came with a three-year warranty on parts and labour. The headphone is handcrafted in France and comes in a single colour scheme of navy blue semi-aniline leather with soft copper details. In the Focal range of that period it sat below the Radiance at USD 1,290 and the Stellia at USD 2,990.

Key specs that matter

A 40 mm wideband electrodynamic unit is fitted in each cup, and its dome follows the M profile Focal uses across its headphones, made in an aluminium and magnesium alloy. Impedance is 35 ohm and sensitivity is 105 dB SPL at 1 mW and 1 kHz. Harmonic distortion is given as 0.1% at 1 kHz and 100 dB SPL, and Focal quotes a frequency response of 5 Hz to 23 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB. The headphone weighs 430 g. Supplied with it are a 1.2 m cable of 24 AWG oxygen-free copper ending in an unbalanced 3.5 mm TRS plug, an adapter from a 3.5 mm socket to a 6.35 mm plug, and a fabric-covered carrying case of 240 x 250 x 120 mm.

Engineering and use context

The outer surfaces are covered in leather that receives a treatment intended to extend its life, and the yoke is aluminium. Inside each cup, pyramid-shaped damping pieces line the walls to control reflections behind the driver, and the cups are vented through a porting system hidden in the flame logo. Clamping force comes from spring-loaded cups. The earpads use memory foam in a hybrid construction, with a layer that covers roughly half of the inner ring, and they differ from the pads fitted to other closed-back Focal models. The cable is double-sided, with a separate 3.5 mm mono plug entering each earcup, so it can be swapped for an aftermarket lead with the same plugs. Within the M dome profile, aluminium supplies stiffness that keeps distortion low while magnesium adds damping.

Pairing

The high sensitivity and moderate impedance mean the Celestee reaches high levels from a phone or a portable player with no separate amplifier. For home use the supplied adapter lets it plug into a full-size socket on an amplifier or DAC. Only a single-ended cable is included, so connection to a balanced headphone output would require a separate cable. The closed cups keep outside noise down, which makes the model suitable for shared rooms and commuting.

Alternatives

The Focal Stellia is the closed-back model placed above it in the Focal headphone range.