Focal Arche - Headphone DAC/Amp

The Gone (but not forgotten) Legend
(Buy It Now purchase includes upgraded AudioQuest NRG-X3 power cable)
Let's get this out of the way upfront - if you own a pair of Focal Clear, Elear, Elegia, Stellia, or Utopia headphones, this is a flat-out no-brainer. I can assure you from personal experience, the built in presets for those models are most definitely not Marketing hype. They are game-changers.
I previously owned a pair of Elegia's and was so impressed, I sprung for the Stellia's. When I first listened to them, I was very disappointed. I had clearly reached the limits of my headphone amp and it showed. I then purchased a very well-known and respected headphone amp, but the results were still underwhelming. The manufacturer was nice enough to allow me to return the amp, and that's when I tried the Arche. The difference was not subtle - it was night-and-day. I was finally hearing what I had hoped to from the Stellia's - and then some.
But don't get the impression the Arche is ONLY a great match for Focal headphones - I have had great experiences with a wide range of models, including ZMF and Abyss to name just a couple.
Along with functioning as a superb dual-DAC, Class-A headphone amp, the Arche also serves as an excellent pre-amp for speaker systems.
So why sell? Because I bit the bullet and sprung for the successor to the Arche from their sister company Naim (Uniti Atom HE) which also allows me to replace my previous network streamer.
But don't take my word for it - here's a couple reviews:
Arche strikes the right balance of power and versatility to find a home, with any headphone. As a highly revealing DAC/amp of this quality, it will illuminate both the best and worst in your headphones and source music. So if you own a pair of high-end headphones and some high-quality digital or analog recordings Arche will help you make beautiful music together. - Audioholics
Especially tethered to one of Focal’s premium headphones using the special amp settings for that particular can. I had the Stellia on hand to mate with the Arche. The sonic pairing was easy listening personified. I never had to strain to hear even minute details buried way back in a mix. - Steven Stone, The Absolute Sound