[Ryanr1987]

Having owned these for quite a bit I'm shocked that hardly anyone owns these. They are pure liquid and smooth! almost HD650 like with more extension in the bass. Completely fatigue free and just sultry and gorgeous sounding.

 

[DanMUC]

Well I am new to this head fi world, but I have these and I love the sound. I sent the NAD Visos back preferring the focals by quite a margin.
 
That said, I came from Bose AE2s, but don't let that sway your opinion of my opinion
 
I like your description of liqud smooth actually. They certainly are rich, but clear,  but neither overly bright or bass heavy. 
 
My only gripe to date is that they do have quite a clamp on them. Although I have quite a head cold at the minute, if this doesn't alleviate within a week or so, I may reluctantly (on account of the beautiful sound) send them back.
 
 
BTW, as a new poster but long time lurker, I find what is missing in a lot of reviews/posts that express opinion about a particular can are the components working with them. In my case I listen to them in conjunction with either a) Sony Z1 Compact, iBasso D Zero Mk II, b) Sony Z1 Compact, Mass Fidelity BT rec, Denon USB 300 DAC or c) Creek Evolution CD player with Audiolab 8000a Amp (via the Amp's headphone output rather than a dedicated Headphone Amp).

 

[pathway]

I had these briefly and thought they were fantastic looking and sounding headphones but I reluctantly sent them back due to fitment issues which seems to be pretty common.
 
The ear cups were not large enough to be properly over ear and the clamping force was too high and given I needed/wanted a pair of headphones that I could wear for extended periods in an office/home environment they just didn't 'fit' the bill
 
However, if these fit well I would strongly recommend them for long listening periods - smoother and less fatiguing than the Spirit Pro.
 
O.

 

[2gumby2]

The Focal Spirit Classic is one of my favorite headphones and they fit me quite well. These and my Beyerdynamic DT150s have the tightest sound I've ever heard in a headphone and no fatigue at all.

 

[ubs28]

I did try them out. When I put them on, I immediately put them off because of comfort issues. I don't buy headphones with bad comfort hence why I didn't even bother listening to them.
 
Hopefully Focal can fix the comfort issues and then I might be interested again. 

 

[Pianist]

I also love my Focal Spirit Classic. They are one of the best headphones I've ever heard. They are amazingly musical and engaging. I can't think of any headphones in their price range that I feel are better sounding overall. Not even well regarded, popular open back cans, such as DT880, HD650 or K/701 can beat the Focals in overall sound quality IMO. I think the Focals have better tonal balance than the vast majority of headphones, including the aforementioned ones and suit a wider range of music genres better as well. Focal Classic also beats most, at least most dynamic driver based headphones, in overall bass performance - most open back dynamics lack the sub bass extension and also have a more prominent, unnecessary mid bass emphasis. Most closed dynamics lack the speed, linearity and finesse of the Focals in the low end. The bass performance of the Focals approaches that of well designed planars IMO, and I am not the only one who thinks that. In addition to the near perfect bass and tonal balance, the Focal Classic has killer dynamics - they convey the differences between louder and quieter passages of music like very few headphones I've heard. This is especially noticeably when listening to well recorded orchestral/classical. Not even my HE-500 seems to be capable of reproducing such strong dynamic contrasts.

 

[Ryanr1987]

I also think they best most open backs in that price range. Call me crazy but they remind me of a closed LCD2. The bad comfort goes away after a few hours. Mine feel quite nice.

 

[carlove]

My Focal classics are coming in tomorrow.
From what I heard I can only think one thing: Please don't be too small for my ears.
 
Gonna put these next to the Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7s and the SoundMAGIC HP150s
Hope one of these will be the next Momentum 2.0s.

 

[technobear]

My Focal classics are coming in tomorrow.
From what I heard I can only think one thing: Please don't be too small for my ears.

Gonna put these next to the Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7s and the [COLOR=444444]SoundMAGIC HP150s[/COLOR]
[COLOR=444444]Hope one of these will be the next Momentum 2.0s.[/COLOR]

I heard the Classics at the Bristol Show yesterday. Not bad at all. However both the treble and bass got a tad unruly at times. They may of course have been fresh out of the box. Amazing how many manufacturers don't do any break in before showing gear. They were being driven by a Naim Uniti 2 - good kit.

I also heard the Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7. I loved them straight away. So much so that they prayed on my mind for the next two hours until I went back for a second listen. I bought a pair. It may have helped that they were being driven by Audio-Technica's dreamy new AT-HA5050H - beautiful and it sounded it too. CD player was an Onkyo - can't remember the model.

 

[carlove]

I heard the Classics at the Bristol Show yesterday. Not bad at all. However both the treble and bass got a tad unruly at times. They may of course have been fresh out of the box. Amazing how many manufacturers don't do any break in before showing gear. They were being driven by a Naim Uniti 2 - good kit.

I also heard the Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7. I loved them straight away. So much so that they prayed on my mind for the next two hours until I went back for a second listen. I bought a pair. It may have helped that they were being driven by Audio-Technica's dreamy new AT-HA5050H - beautiful and it sounded it too. CD player was an Onkyo - can't remember the model.

Weird, I thought the Classics sounded better. There was more bass with the ATHs but the separation and clearity was better with the Classics. 
Sadly, the classics are too small for my ears. I do like the ATHs but I don't think they stack up to the Momentum 2.0s, so my search continues. 

Need to find a damn headphone that isn't too small :/

 

[kramer5150]

Excessive clamp force.
Not a fan of closed cans in general.

 

[carlove]

  Excessive clamp force.
Not a fan of closed cans in general.

True, but the force becomes comfortable if you stretch the band a little bit. 
 
And having open cans in public, or anywhere with people/noise, is either annoying for me or them. 

 

[MattRobertson]

It seems like comfort is always the real sticking point with really all of these focal headphones. Which sucks cause they seem to sound great, but never pulled the trigger on one because of those comfort concerns.

 

[rwpritchett]

I just picked up the Focal Spirit Classic used for a good price on eBay and just received them today. Listening now through an Aune T1 DAC/amp. So far everything said about them is spot on. Sound is incredible but the fitment is a bit finicky. I'm coming from AKG K702/65, K550, Fidelio X1... so, coming from much larger earcups and lighter clamping pressure. Anyone have favorite clips/tracks to showcase these headphones at their best?

 

[dL.]

The Focal headphones are amazing. I've tried both Classic and Pro and I kept the Pro at the end. The Classic is still great and I find the Focal headphones to be grossly underrated. They combine neutrality with musicality, something that is usually very hard to achieve unless it's coloured in a certain spectrum.
 
I highly recommend anybody who hasn't tried these to pick it up. If you can get over the build quality and comfort, this is the best bang for the buck. SQ alone they could've charged over $1,000 with these, so it's a steal at $350.
 
dL