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Astrotec Stepping Up to Become a Big Player

post #1 of 46
10/21/12 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 

Seems the company that brought us the under $50 armature AM90 and dynamic AM900 is launching their foray into the high end.

 

First up is the dual driver Excalibur AX-7

http://www.astrotec.cn/product.asp?id=3

 

They also have a potential hybrid on the way.

Not sure if it will be single armature and dynamic or dual armature and dynamic yet.

 

I'm sure more info may be out there or will come. Feel free to post any if you have it. Just throwing these out there. Astrotec look like they are making their move toward the high and giving us even more choices in our crazy crowded earphone market.

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post #2 of 46
10/21/12 at 8:51am

The production shots of the AX-7 look less pleasing; I saw the concept art a while ago and was rightly impressed by the design, but this looks much more ho-hum. Granted, it still looks good, especially when you consider that it's a Chinese company's design (which usually means they spend little to no money on aesthetics), but the strain reliefs and cable don't look comparable to that handsome, sleek looking housing. The exchangeable filters also look a bit weak. I also hate it when they don't even bother to use a proper font for lettering the model number on the y-split. Yes, many a respectable company have been guilty of such transgressions (Hifiman is still guilty of it now at times), but I'll be impressed when the day comes that these Chinese companies get their act together and actually pay real attention to aesthetics and corporate typefaces, instead of just pretending to. /rant

 

Conversely, that hybrid render looks quite attractive. Let's hope it stays that way.

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post #3 of 46
10/28/12 at 12:37am

indeed, the Excalibur AX-7 looks very interesting. any idea of release date and price??

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post #4 of 46
10/28/12 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 

The Excalibur was seemingly out when I started the thread and the price converted to $143 US. So, it looks to be a $150 phone but not widely available outside of China yet unless you pay a premium or use a buying agent. Soon bigbargainsonline and other ebay sellers should have them at around the GR07 price point.

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post #5 of 46
10/28/12 at 9:06am

More pictures:

 

Exchangeable filters, one for highs and one for lows.

Accessories. Why give a separate set of white and black triple flange tips? Weird.

The cable is made from thermoplastic polyurethane.

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post #6 of 46
10/28/12 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 

Different material/color tips provide slightly different sound due to the silicone used(firmness and sealing ability to be specific) just like the MEE black and clear sets(buy softer clear ones if you want less bass) and the Grado iGi including black and clear big bi-flanges instead of just two pair of black.

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post #7 of 46
10/28/12 at 10:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jant71 View Post

Different material/color tips provide slightly different sound due to the silicone used(firmness and sealing ability to be specific) just like the MEE black and clear sets(buy softer clear ones if you want less bass) and the Grado iGi including black and clear big bi-flanges instead of just two pair of black.

 

Yeah, I know, but they look identical to me? I guess I wouldn't really know until I actually saw them up close.

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post #8 of 46
10/28/12 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 

Same as these triple flange tips, my CX985 regular tips and bass tips look identical and my Grado big bi-flanges (clear and black) do as well. Same size and shape, just different feel and F.R.


Edited by jant71 - 10/28/12 at 11:43am
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post #9 of 46
11/12/12 at 4:02pm
Thread Starter 

In case anyone is interested, these are available at lendmeurears now and they say the AX-7 are another TWFK based phone...

 

http://www.lendmeurears.com/product_info.php?products_id=55?osCsid=81e1e333d077782ad439980acb76742d

 

They seem like a direct GR01 competitor.

 

Not positive, till now, they were a TWFK phone and I like my CX985 better than any of the three TWFK phones I have had and/or heard so not interested myself. The AX-7 do look well done and well accessorized though. Maybe we will get a GR01 vs. AX-7 comparison.

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post #10 of 46
11/13/12 at 9:17am

160$ is a bit high though, especially when you can get TWFK based phones for around 100$...

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post #11 of 46
11/13/12 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 

But, that's not exactly apples to oranges is it? Models with less frills like the B2 and R-50 don't have the metal housings, better cables, two cases, sound tuning, more elaborate fit kits, etc. like the GR01 and the DBA-02 MKII, and the AX-7. So, you pay more for the others but you get more for the extra you spend. For what you get(if you get the stuff pictured above), $160 for an AX-7 vs. $119 for an R-50 seems like a totally within reason added cost. Factor in also that they are relatively new(esp. to the foreign market) and when more widely available may be found even cheaper. I think the price is fine provided they live up to expectations in the SQ dept.

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post #12 of 46
11/13/12 at 4:37pm

The problem that I see with the AX7 is the use of what looks like pretty low quality plastics in the nozzle area, strain relief, and tuning dampers, despite the nice-looking metal body. It just doesn't match up.

 

If they used better quality plastics, it might've been a different story, but as it stands, it looks like they spent their entire budget on the design of the metal housing and forgot about the rest of the earphone.

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post #13 of 46
11/13/12 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 

Again, I'm not really interested in these myself but everyone else seems to love the Astrotec build quality so far. Nothing but high praise: "top of the scale", "superb", Joker gave a 4.5 out of 5 on the build quality. Build doesn't seem to be an issue and you can't tell from pics well anyway. The way I see the pics I see Dunu-like reliefs which are good and I see the plastic nozzles that seem decently thick and have metal mesh screens in them. Much better than a Westone nozzle. Not metal nozzles like the GR01 but then the GR01 is now $210 at Lendmeurears. To me it looks like they only cheaped out on non-essentials such as the stamped lettering on the housing. Nicer than some cause it is stamped into the metal but they didn't pay for the Astrotec S and it is just a regular old S as this pic which has both logo and housing next to each other to easily see...

1000

 

and yes the AX-7 on the Y joint seems like also a plain thin font and the aesthetic choice could have been better.

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post #14 of 46
11/21/12 at 9:33am

I do hope to see a review on this soon

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post #15 of 46
11/28/12 at 2:00am

Just found this image of the AX9 hybrid:

 

700

 

 

It's supposed to be soon availble in China, with a price of 2000 YUAN (about $320). But to me it looks pretty much like the future VSONIC "GR08" without the detachable cable...

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