Headphones showdown- Spirit Torino Super Leggera vs. Focal Clear

Personal impressions

The Spirit Torino Super Leggera are open-back headphones with a rather natural and airy sound signature. I wouldn't call them neutral per se, but they're close—more on that later.

Processing quality

Spirit Torino doesn't use any plastic in its headphones. They're made of metal and genuine leather. The build quality is very, very good; I love the craftsmanship that goes into these beauties!

The Super Leggera are very comfortable to wear, at least for me. The beautifully padded headband and the custom-made Dekoni ear cushions made of the softest leather are wonderful to the touch and wear.



The standard cables from Portento Audio Italy are pretty much the best standard cables I've ever seen on a headphone, period. The packaging is also great, but more on all those details in a detailed review.

Sound characteristics

Just like I immediately liked the Radiante and the Super Leggera, too. However, the two are very different. The Spirit Torino Super Leggera has a much lighter and—as mentioned—airy sound signature, with vocal emphasis and more extension in the high frequency range. I didn't notice any sibilance, and I'm rather sensitive to treble. The bass/sub-bass is neutral to me—or to put it another way—not exaggerated. It's rather flat, but with a bit of energy that supports the midrange. Nevertheless, the bass of the Super Leggera is far from that of the Radiante.

The Super Leggera seem to be made for vocal and acoustic pieces and work best with music recorded in high quality. Guitars, in particular, sound so incredibly realistic and engaging; I can almost taste the strings—I love it! I must mention that they work very well with any other type of music as well; in fact, I couldn't find anything I didn't like about these cans.

The channel and instrument separation is excellent, and I feel the soundstage matches the recording conditions—intimate recordings like Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged sound like they were recorded in a small club (which they were), with the band playing right in front of you. If you're listening to Metallica's S&When they play the 'M' album, they recreate the atmosphere of the Berkeley Community Theatre, where it was recorded. There's plenty of space and three-dimensionality.

Amplification/synergy/tunability

Like the Radiante, the Super Leggera are quite source-dependent and also voice-friendly. The sound can be adjusted very well depending on the source used, although not as much as with the Radiante.

Switching from my main source, the Burson Soloist 3XP, to the Cayin N8 DAP in tube mode added a significant amount of warmth and a bit of bass extension, while maintaining excellent resolution and smooth highs. The Super Leggera are quite easy to drive, so you can enjoy them on the go with a decent DAP—in fact, Spirit Torino has designed them as a "portable" model. Since they're quite light at 365g and very comfortable to wear, I can imagine using them outdoors in less crowded environments.

Conclusion

After the time I've spent with the open-back Super Leggera, I can already say I really like them. There's energy, there's emotion, there's passion, even without the massive bass of the Radiante—perfect for life's quieter, more relaxed moments.

Comparison with Focal Clear OG (FC)

Processing quality && Accessories

While both headphones generally exhibit very good to excellent build quality, the Focal Clear's earcups still have some plastic built into them, which I find a bit disappointing given the (original) price of €1,500. The Super Leggera is made entirely of metal and leather and costs €1,600.

The cable quality is significantly better with the SL. The cable from Portento Audio Italy is much more flexible, making it easier and more comfortable to handle. The FC, on the other hand, comes with a total of three different cables in the box, along with a very cool carrying case.

comfort

I have to say that the SLs are actually more comfortable to wear for me. The padding on the headband and earcups is better than on the FCs, and at 365g, the SLs are much lighter than the FCs at 450g.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

overall tonality

The overall tonality of the two headphones is relatively similar. The FC is the more neutral and balanced sounding of the two. You could say that the FC is the "Swiss" of headphones: It doesn't overemphasize anything and holds back rather than polarizing. It doesn't want to stand out too much from the crowd, but rather remain neutral. There's a reason why the FCs are my reference point for review devices.

The SC isn't actually that far off. It's a bit less neutral than the FC and instead dares to stand out from the crowd when the time is right to add a bit more emotion and energy.

+1 Focal Clear
+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Heights

The highs are more pronounced on the SL. The SL also has the edge over the FC in terms of detail and resolution. This is especially evident on acoustic and guitar tracks. When I switched from the SL to the FC for Alice in Chains' "Rooster" from their MTV Unplugged album, I felt like there was a veil hanging over the entire scene, obscuring small details in the recorded guitars on the Focal Clear.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Midrange

The midrange is quite similar on both headphones, at least to my ears. Voices, both male and female, are a bit more prominent and direct on the SL, which leads to a more intense listening experience with certain recordings. As with the highs, I noticed a slightly muffled feeling on the FC when switching between the two devices, which I hadn't noticed before.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Bass/deep bass

The FC's bass goes deeper, with more punch and sub-bass extension than the Super Leggera (SL). This results in certain recordings sounding more balanced overall with the FC than with the SL. One could also interpret this as the SL being the more neutral of the two headphones in terms of bass reproduction. I'll leave it up to everyone to judge this for themselves when they have the opportunity.

+1 Focal Clear

Channel- & instrument separation

The channel separation is slightly better on the FC than on the SL. For certain titles, such as z.B. "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, one channel on the FC seems to be "dead," while on the SL, a little sound still spills over from the other channel. For me, this is sometimes almost a bit eerie, because it makes me think there's something wrong with my headphones. But that's purely a matter of taste, of course.

Due to the slightly boosted treble and upper midrange, the instrument separation on the SL is actually quite a bit better than on the FC. On hectic tracks like z.BOn AC/DC's "Thunderstruck," all the elements of the recording are more distinguishable from one another without compromising the overall sound. Here, I have to give both headphones 1 point each.

+1 Focal Clear (channel separation)
+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera (instrument sept.)

Soundstage

Again, it's a tight squeeze, as I feel the soundstage is quite similar between both headphones. They differ slightly in HOW the soundstage is reproduced, but I can't really decide which is better. I would say the soundstage is a bit wider and higher on the SL than on the FC, perhaps even more three-dimensional due to better instrument separation.

The FC's soundstage is smaller, but more immediate (due to the additional bass foundation), if you understand me correctly. Sorry if I'm not expressing myself clearly enough, but this is a difficult topic! Overall, for me, the SL has a slight advantage, especially for live recordings. But again: It all comes down to personal taste and impression.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Conclusion of the comparison

Both are great headphones in my opinion. The Focal Clear (Original) are definitely the more neutral headphones overall. The Spirit Torino Super Leggera (long name!), however, surprised me quite a bit. I never thought they could surpass the FC in certain areas, at least for my personal taste.

The SL also has one thing that the Focal Clears don’t have:
They have character and attitude, yet remain balanced and natural headphones. I really appreciate that quality!