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About to receive my replacement Focal Elex and worried about quality

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My original Elex left driver went out 10 months in. The replacement is soon to be delivered. I'm worried that the same thing will happen to the replacement at some point. I've ordered the upcoming Drop HD-8xx hoping that it will usable for me like the Elex has been. With the Drop HD-8xx the inherent lift in the highs of the HD 800's has been partially dealt with and some lows added. I honestly don't like hyped treble when using headphones. I'm hoping that there is an open back phone that is somewhat linear like the Elex, and has a similar sonic signature. I don't want another headphone from Focal; just can't deal with this again. What non-Focal linear open back headphone easily competes with the Elex?
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XiiNyth
0
Oct 26, 2021
a little late but saw someone say its jsut a wire with a weak solder joint, if it ever runs out of warranty its probably a very easy fix, which makes sense, it shut off all at once, it never really got damaged, it got disconnected
MrChiSox
130
Jul 31, 2021
Can't help you there. I have a pair of Elex due to arrive on Tuesday and have read a bunch about failures. I'm not real comfortable going into this to be honest but have heard that if/when they work they are really excellent. I had a pair of the Focal Celestee for a short time, a closed back which bored me to death. No soundstage whatsoever. I was worried about those as well after hearing QC rumblings. I decided to take a shot but won't hesitate to return them if I need to. I can't imagine they are ALL bad. I hope you are able to resolve your issues. I own a pair of Sundara (among others) which a number of reviewers suggest the Elex might be a step above. Have you heard them? Not a dynamic driver and it's cheaper but a very good $350 headphone.
keithrosier
15
Aug 6, 2021
The Elex will squawk if you push them, so I don't think abuse is the problem with the drivers. I know to be careful with these, and I baby them unlike my other phones in the past. Most don't listen at ear-splitting levels with phones like these because their ears can't take it. My ears are in good shape, and I'm careful to maintain that. The Elex display a lot of power and tone in a track, for sure. Very pleased with it; special phones. I'll report in about the HD8XX when they arrive
MrChiSox
130
Aug 6, 2021
keithrosierI'll look forward to hearing about them. I can't swing a pair right now and suspect my wife already has selected the cast iron weapon she would use on me if I bought another pair at this time. I've purchased the HiFiMan Sundara, LCD-2, EL-8, Dan Clark Audio AEON Open X, Elex, and KEF/Porsche Design Space One over the past 15 months or so and her level of enthusiasm is kind of waning in a major way. I am the audio enthusiast in the house whereas she is content to just veg out in front of the TV when she has time to relax. I saw a photo around here of someone who has painted the Sennheiser HD 800. Not certain I'd have the nerve to do that with a brand new pair but it looks to be a really nice job of doing so.
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