Headphone Showdown- Spirit Torino Super Leggera vs. Focal Clear

Personal impressions

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

Build quality

Spirit Torino doesn't use plastic in its headphones. The headphones are 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 custom-made Dekoni ear pads made from the softest leather are wonderful to touch and wear.



The stock cables from Portento Audio Italy are pretty much the best stock cables, I've ever seen on a pair of headphones, period. The packaging is great too, but more on all these details in a detailed review.

Sound characteristics

Just like the Radiante, I liked the Super Leggera straight away. However, the two are very different. The Spirit Torino Super Leggera has a much lighter and - as already mentioned - airy sound signature with an emphasis on the voices and more extension in the treble range. I didn't notice any hissing noises and I'm rather sensitive to heights. For me the bass/sub-bass is neutral - or to put it another way - not excessive. It's rather flat, but with a bit of energy supporting the midrange. Still, the Super Leggera's bass is a far cry from that of the Radiante.

The Super Leggera seem tailor-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 have to mention that they also work very well with any other type of music, in fact I couldn't find anything I didn't like with these cans.

The channel and instrument separation is excellent and I feel like that 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. When they play Metallica's S&M album, they recreate the atmosphere at the Berkeley Community Theater where it was recorded. There is a lot of space and three-dimensionality.

Gain/Synergy/Tunability

Like the Radiante, the Super Leggera are quite source dependent and also voice friendly. You can adjust the sound very well depending on the source you are using, although not as much as with the Radiante.

Switching from my main source Burson Soloist 3XP to the Cayin N8 DAP in tube mode added a significant amount of warmth and added a bit of bass extension while maintaining excellent definition and smooth highs. The Super Leggera are quite easy to operate, meaning you can enjoy them on the go with a decent DAP - in fact, Spirit Torino has intended them as a "mobile" model. Since their weight is quite low at 365g and they are very comfortable to wear, I can imagine using them outside in less busy environments.

Conclusion

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

Comparison with Focal Clear OG (FC)

Processing quality & accessories

While both headphones generally have very good to excellent processing quality, There is still some plastic in the earcups of the Focal Clear, which I find a bit disappointing given the price of (originally) €1500. The Super Leggera is made entirely of metal and leather and costs €1600.

The cable quality is significantly better on the SL. The Portento Audio Italy cable is much more flexible and therefore easier and more pleasant to use. The FC, on the other hand, have a total of 3 different cables in the box and a very cool carrying case.

Comfort

I have to say that the SL is actually more comfortable to carry for me are. The padding of the headband and earcups is better than the FC, 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 overall more neutral and balanced sounding headphone of the two. You could say that the FC is the "Swiss" of headphones: it doesn't emphasize anything too much and holds back rather than polarizing. He doesn't want to stand out too much from the crowd, but rather stay neutral. There's a reason the FCs are my reference point for test equipment.

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

+1 Focal Clear
+ 1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Highs

The highs are more pronounced on the SL. The SL is also ahead of the FC when it comes to details and resolution. This is particularly evident with acoustic and guitar tracks. When I switched from SL to FC for Alice in Chains' "Rooster" from their MTV Unplugged album, I felt like there was a veil over the whole 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 female and male, are slightly more prominent and direct on the SL, resulting in a more intense listening experience on certain recordings. As with the treble, when switching between the two devices I had a slightly hazy feeling on the FC that I hadn't noticed before.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Bass/ Deep bass

The FC's bass goes deeper, with more power and sub-bass extension than the Super Leggera (SL). This means that certain recordings sound more balanced overall with the FC than with the SL. One could also interpret that the SL is the more neutral headphone of the two in terms of bass response. I'll leave it up to everyone to judge this for themselves if they have the opportunity.

+1 Focal Clear

Channel & Instrument Separation

The Channel separation is a little better on the FC than on the SL. With certain tracks, such as "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, one channel on the FC simply seems to be "dead", while on the SL there is still a bit of sound spilling over from the other channel. It's almost a bit scary for me sometimes because I think there's something wrong with my headphones. But of course that is purely a matter of taste.

Due to the slightly raised highs and upper mids, the instrument separation on the SL is actually quite a bit better than on the FC. With hectic tracks like AC/DC's "Thunderstruck," all elements of the recording are easier to distinguish from each other without detracting from the bigger picture. Here I have to give both headphones 1 point each.

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

Soundstage

It gets tight here too, as I feel like the soundstage is quite similar on both headphones. They differ a little in HOW the stage is rendered, but I can't really decide which one is better. I would say that the SL's stage is slightly wider and higher than the FC's, perhaps even more three-dimensional due to better instrument separation.

The FC's soundstage is smaller but more immediate (because of the added bass foundation) if you understand me correctly. I'm sorry if I can't make myself clear enough, but this is a difficult topic! All in all, for me the SL has a slight advantage, especially when recording live. But again: This will depend on everyone's own taste and impression.

+1 Spirit Torino Super Leggera

Conclusion of the comparison

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

The SLs also have one thing that the Focal Clears don't:
They have character and attitude and They remain rather balanced and natural headphones. I really appreciate this feature!