Campfire Audio Clara Review – Polite yet Complex

Comparisons –

Campfire Audio Astrolith ($2199): The Astrolith is the epitome of CFA’s fun, technical tuning. It has similar colourations to the Clara but dials everything up a few notches, creating a more vibrant, V-shaped sound overall. Its bass is bigger and warmer in the mid-bass and punchier. The Clara meanwhile, is slightly more balanced and dynamic. It doesn’t have the same fullness and punch, but more slam and a more defined rumble. It has slightly better separation and individual note definition. The Astrolith has a similarly tuned midrange with a bit more upper-midrange presence balanced out by greater warmth. The Clara sounds more tonally transparent and defined due to its more subdued mid-bass. In turn, it also has higher resolving power of small details despite being more smoothly articulated. Clara overall offers a slightly more natural and coherent character.

Meanwhile, the Astrolith is slightly more laid-back, warmer and more contrasted. It has a sharper articulation and a richer, more full-bodied voicing, albeit with less definition and layering. The treble is quite the opposite,e being notably more forward and aggressive on the Astrolith. Both have a similar tuning and excellent extension and detail retrieval that are nigh on par. The Astrolith does so with a thinner, more energetic voicing, the Clara a more balanced, organic one. The Astrolith does have a bit more foreground bite, and it pushes background details further forward. It has the advantage with treble speed and retrieval of background details. The Clara, meanwhile, has a more natural timbre and equivalent resolution overall. The soundstage is slightly larger on the Astrolit,h while the Clara has sharper imaging and better separation.

Soft Ears RS10 ($2500): The RS10 is a true reference monitor with excellent linearity and technical performance. Surprisingly, the difference isn’t stark when comparing the two, albeit the Clara is undoubtedly the more fun and colourful monitor. The Clara has notably more sub-bass and better extension, while the RS10 has a faster, more responsive BA bass. The RS10 does have a bump in the deep-bass and mid-bass, which gives it a bit more punch and impact, but it pales in comparison to the dynamics and rumble provided by the Clara. The RS10 is notably more defined and agile, but it lacks the natural decay and timbre of the DD-powered Clara. Those wanting max detail will want the RS10, whilst those prioritising a more natural timbre and texture alongside more enhancement will want the Clara. The midrange tuning is very different between the two, but the voicing is not.

The Clara has a touch more body and warmth, but not by a huge degree. Both have top-level definition and excellent separation. The Clara is a touch more forgiving, while the RS10 draws out a hair more fine detail. Both also have standout layering. The Clara has slightly bigger, richer male vocals while the RS10 offers more forward, delicate female vocals. Both are on the smoother side in terms of articulation with a small mid-treble bump. The Clara has a bit more treble overall and also notably more upper treble, which gives it more energy and headroom. The Clara is airier and has a more aggressive background detail presentation. The RS10 is more linear with more body and texture; its lower treble has more fine detail and nuance, but it lacks the vibrance above. The soundstage is larger on the Clara. Imaging is slightly more defined on the RS10 and both offer similar separation.

Kinera Thorking ($2500): The Thorking is a more traditional DF-neutral style monitor, albeit with a zestier treble response for engagement. The bass is dead flat on the Thorking while the Clara has a more typical sub-bass shelf. The Clara has much more bass and is also notably more dynamic and assertive. The Clara creates a lot more pressure and has much bigger, bolder notes. The Thorking has superior definition and is much cleaner. However, it doesn’t have much technical advantage besides the differences in tonality. The midrange is vibrant on the Clara. It has more clarity, contrast and vocals are more centred and enlarged. The Thorking offers a more neutral, drier voicing.

It has a similar balance between male and female vocals, with more room and body. It offers a slight resolving power advantage in the midrange, retrieving slightly more fine detail. The treble is not overly forward on either, with the Thorking having more presence due to it being more relaxed otherwise. The Clara has a slightly more energetic mid-treble, it has a more defined note bite and greater note clarity. Meanwhile, the Thorking offers slightly greater speed and fine detail retrieval with its EST tweeters. Notes are a bit wispy, but it has more detail presence, and micro details are more abundant. Both are airy, open and extended, that said. The Clara offers a slightly larger soundstage,e and both have sharp, multi-dimensional imaging.

Timestream Ultra Cable –

Campfire Audio was kind enough to send over their Timestream Ultra cable, which is a $389 USD upgrade unit and the current flagship of their Timestream cable lineup. It uses the same SPC and pure copper conductors as the Clara’s included Duet cable, but in a 4×2 8-wire configuration as opposed to 2×2 4-wire. As expected, given the similarities in construction, the tonality is broadly similar, with the Ultra offering a slightly cleaner, more transparent tone to my ears and a small increase in brightness. Another notable difference was a slight improvement in general instrument separation and note definition throughout. Small details are easier to discern, and each instrument and strum is more clearly defined. The stage is a touch larger and more organised. The jump in space isn’t huge, so to me, this cable is more about the imaging side delivering a more nuanced stage alongside an increase in resolving power. This cable is a good choice for those wanting to bump the technical performance and transparency without drastically changing the characteristics of the Clara.

Verdict –

As this review comes to a close, we return to the initial question at hand – is Clara the all-rounder many have wanted from the brand? As always, the answer isn’t so simple. Indeed, Clara is a restrained take on the Campfire Audio house sound and, as comparisons have elucidated, isn’t hugely far off from a balanced reference monitor in terms of voicing. Relatively speaking, it does have notably more bass and some minor dips and peaks above that inject a bit more engagement. However, the overall character and timbre are well metered and versatile. Clara is therefore broadly a strong all-rounder despite not being perfectly linear. It still crafts its own identity and does so atop terrific sub-bass definition, sparkle and overall resolving power as we’ve come to expect from Campfire Audio. On the flipside, it does lose some of the magic fans of the brand may have come to expect, that being a more colourful treble, an artisan metal design. Regardless, if you want a versatile monitor sporting a highly natural voicing without shunning a powerful yet nimble bass or sparkly top-end, the Clara is a unique and accomplished offering.

The Clara is available from Campfire Audio (International) for $1999 USD at the time of writing. I am not affiliated with CFA and receive no earnings from purchases made through these links.

Track List – 

Billie Eilish – dont smile at me

Bob Seger – Night Moves

Courtney Barnett – Rae Street

Cream – Wheels of Fire

Dire Straits – Communique

Dirty Loops – Next To You

Eagles – Hotel California

Elton John – Honky Chateau

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

H.E.R – I Used To Know Her

Jasen – BYE

John Mayer – Continuum

Kanye West – Ye

Missy Higgins – The Sound of White

Radiohead – OK Computer

TALA – ain’t leavin` without you

The Beatles – Abbey Road

The weeknd – After Hours

Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride