The Focal Stellias combine high-quality craftsmanship with a stunning open soundstage, and they sound mind-blowingly good – but that $3,000 price tag could be a tad excessive.

The downside to all that detail will be the use of sub-optimal sources. This could be a problem if you planned to use it on-the-go, where you’re not likely feeding Stellia an optimal source. Being closed-back at low-impedance, you might be tempted to run it directly from your cell phone 3.5-mm jack. But using highly-compressed streaming music files, Stellia is going to place its magnifying glass over every wart and pimple in your sound. If you’re planning on mobile use, you should consider a mobile DAC/amplifier. You’d be surprised how much of an improvement a portable DAC/amp can be using your phone’s digital output. Stellia’s detailed presentation includes spacious silences between every instrument and sound, which serves to dramatize its stellar dynamic range. If you like headphones that pack a wallop to hard rock or an orchestra, Stellia is a top-tier choice.

The Stellia provide a detailed and energetic listening experience. They’re engaging and resolving, and have a low-end weight and warmth that is fun and non-fatiguing. Dynamics are impactful and transients are notably quick. They are likely the most spacious closed-back pair of headphones I’ve encountered. They’re intimate without being claustrophobic, and unless you only like an exaggerated sense of space, are likely to please most listeners.

A closed back that does so many things right is hard to come by and I would say almost impossible but Focal pulled it off. For my last few words in this review, I would like to say and direct the words to the entire Focal staff, 'félicitations pour la fabrication d'un super casque'. Well done.

There are good headphones – great headphones, indeed – out there for a fraction of the price of Focal's Stellia. These French marvels are undoubtedly a luxury purchase, but they're not a foolish one. You get what you pay for in clarity, in purity, and in sheer unadulterated love of music in all its forms. If your obsession matches that of Focal's, then, while the Stellia may not exactly be attainable, they're undeniably aspirational.

This headphone offers stunningly gorgeous sound and ultimate comfort for a princely sum.

Simply the best closed-back headphones we've heard, with an appropriately aspirational price tag

The Stellia reminds me of another ostentatious French flagship from another industry – the Bugatti Veyron. It was, at one point, the fastest and most expensive production car ever made, and it certainly looked like it too. You wouldn’t exactly take a Veyron out for your daily commute nor would you leave it parked on the street, it’s more the kind of vehicle you keep garaged as a ‘trophy’. You’re also more likely to find a Veyron driving in first gear on Rodeo Drive than hammering around the Nordschleife.