Z Review - Focal Spirit One

[白海塔]

I demand a new rating system based on "Amount of shame nuns". Like:"I give these headphones 3 shame nuns" = they suck donkey balls. "I give these 7 shame nuns" = this product is only mildly better than getting Ebola, and so on. The world would be a better place, please make it happen.

[jabalajabolindest]

I have Focal Spirit One S bought them for 79$ and at the beginning a thought they are really bad build, but now one year later they look like new and the sound its just phenomenal for the price. I have momentum 2 over ear, bought them for 200$, but with this 18omh drivers, they have one note sounding slow bass and boosted harsh mids, they just can not compete against Focal SOS in terms of sound quality.

[DCsProductions]

My buddy used to work at a car shop, which he did upholstery. They put some Focals (he pronounced them with cal as in Califonia) in a truck. He said with just the speakers and no subs they were the best sound system in a car he has ever heard. Shame to see the headphones are not of that quality.

[kwicksandz]

you should bring the shame nun back for every review

[kepreza]

now being more knowledgeable with audio equipment, I cannot believe I paid 199 for these from Crutchfield when they were "on sale" 3 years ago. If I discover this channel earlier, could've gotten myself a pair of HD59X at least they sound alright and non-fatiguing. but like Zeos said, not worth it's price tag.

I had 2 sets of headphones at the time I discovered this channel, and it's pretty amazing how spot he is on both of them, so from now on, I don't buy anything until I've searched this channel for review first.

[derbigpr]

Everyone who watched this review and now thinks Focal makes shitty headphones, they don't.  Try the Spirit Classic and Spirit Professional. They're infinitely better and some of the best if not the best headphones of their type you can buy for the money, better than Sennheiser Momentum. Focal Spirit Ones were the first try for Focal, it's a beta test headphone. Anyone who spends 2 seconds of research on Focal headphones would never consider buying the Spirit One, it's like saying "oh, look, I don't want that Mercedes S class, I'll get a Chevy Cruze for the same price instead". I've had the Spirit Classic for quite some time, no doubt it's the best build headphone I've ever owned, better than even the Beyerdynamic T1's, which are top of the line headphones that cost 5 times more from a brand known for excellent quality. Why is that so? Softest leather imaginable + all metal build. It's a tank, unlike the plastic fantastic Spirit One. Oh, and it weighs the same as the Spirit One.

[TheMrFishnDucks]

link to shame nun in the video description please. love the honest reviews. keep up the good work.

[ruysk]

Pity about the cracks in the headband. I repaired mine with polyester resin (not pretty but it works) because they sound so good, especially the bass is tight and deep.

[MrCatfail]

looking forward to the HM9 review, they seem like an interesting pair of headphones.

[dynaway]

problem with the Focal Spirit One... after storing it away for like 6mths, the rubber starts to turn sticky, leather trims starts to cracked.

[sdHansy]

Have they updated/fixed them since this?

[giantpopples]

The first Spirit One has build issues but great sound, this is the ones you call shitty. Bu the ones you show on the Focal website and the ones you can buy right now are the Spirit One S and are 2 years old younger and priced around 100€ in France (the one you show were 199€ when they first showed up, I bought mine for 60€)...
You can dislike a product but please review the right one..

[Afistnu]

"Foe-Cal" As in Moe, Joe, Blow. Cal as in Pal. Learned that by some stereo shop snob and thought I'd pass on the snobbiness to you too. :)

[WarriorKidd]

Thanks for this review. Was thinking of getting these for my wife and I since they are on sale on Amazon but I'll continue to look around

[shambles]

Welp good thing that I got the one s for 5$ at the thrift store should I preserve it Incase it becomes valuable one day?

[GN-riui]

I'm glad to see this review. Funny enough you have never auditioned a set of phones that I have so I've never had any common ground to see the bias of your ears. I purchased a set of OWM 3's based solely off your review and agreed so it's funny to see we agree again.

I actually got the Spirit One's because I was looking for a headphone amp so me and my wife could watch movies on the iPad in flight without horribly degrading sound quality. My choice for solution was the Fiio E7 while searching for the cheapest deal I could find. I ran across a bundle that including the E7 AND a pair of Spirit One's. Being very familiar with Focal as I had their K2X Power Series front components in my car (~$1700/pr). I expected more than I should have. It looks like they sold their name to some crap company and hired some designer to make them LOOK quality. My impression was the same as yours. Stellar high's, off-field mids, and tight bass. During the one and only trip I made with them I was always afraid that I was going to break them and couldn't handle the vice grip pressure for more than 15 mins at a time. I ended up using my IEM's mostly. I sold the Spirit One's for $160 on eBay so after all was said and done I basically got to audition a set of headphones and get a brand new E7 for $20.

[aldrintolentino]

I broke mine 2 months ago. I mean the audio is fine, but the plastic band has cracked. I bought these because of the reccomendations by tyll and other head-fi users.

The sound is, imo, great and i can attest that the build quality causes so much frustration and disappointment that it makes the overall product bad.

Here i am with some duct taped cans that i paid 270$ and i can never wear them outside which mind you was one of the things i took into account in making my decision.

[hanshuynh]

Do any of you guys have good suggestions for budget portable amps/dacs? I don't know very much about audio.

[MichaelSidneyTimpson]

It seems the One S was a bit of an improvement.

[bratosin]

any chance to do elear or utopia headphones ?