King Sound Emperor: New Electrostatic Headphones! - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer 

I'm going to venture a guess here and say those comments about it being well engineered never involved actually taking it apart? 

Your probably right. I the Greene was referring more to the build quality.  Since they don't measure like Stereophile does  and it was a loaner they probably did a plug and play.  I guess we will have to wait an see when they release them see what you think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank I 

Your probably right. I the Greene was referring more to the build quality.  Since they don't measure like Stereophile does  and it was a loaner they probably did a plug and play.  I guess we will have to wait an see when they release them see what you think.

Greene (REG) is a stickler for "accurate" tonal balance, so if he gave it a positive review it must be at least decent in this regard.

Kevin

King Sound Emperor Electrostat Headphones $800 total including amp!

Starting a thread on these as I think they'll make quite a splash as a very affordable electrostat headphone with a sound that's warm and fun for a 'stat.

These will be carried by Moon Audio for $800, total, including a solid state amp. There will be a higher-end tube amp option for $1600, 'phone and amp, total. Naturally, you can get the headphones and amps separately--getting phone and amp together gets you a bit of a discount over buying separately.

I spent a little time with these at the NY Audio meet and I can say that they are quite nice with a warm sound signature. People were coming away wowed at the meet because, well, it's a 'stat at $800 amp included and it's nice for the price.

The Moon Audio rep was saying that it's not meant to compete with the flagship Stax, but it does very nicely against 'stats other than the 007/009. I won't comment except to say that I hope these headphones do cause a stir and force other headphone makers to really compete with higher value at this price point and maybe more affordable electrostat options.

Pictures: I found some pictures but they seem to be from a prototype so I'll wait and see if anyone from the NY meet has pictures.

Thanks!!! Really looking forward to here more about these!

Meet impressions were brief (as expected), interested in hearing more about these as well.

The earcups look the same, but there may be changes to the headband (?). I can't remember as I didn't really inspect them before putting them on.

I had a bit of a listen, indeed quite good, especially at the price.  Can't believe how light they were.  They hung a bit low over my ears

There WAS a slight edge to the sound, not really sibilance, but like a little sheen to the sound (EDIT: I wouldn't have described them really as having warmth, but "edge" may be too strong of a word, implying brightness, and that's not what I meant).  But bass was very good for an inexpensive set, and the piano bit I heard was very good.

Drew told me that this uses a 5-pin Stax connector, and should be able to be driven by a Stax Pro amp (though the amp there was only 400V he said).

Still, for $800 with the SS amp, it should provide a great intro to stats.  As I mentioned at the show, my experience with the Koss ES is limited, but based on my (sometimes suspicious old-man) memory, this may be better overall....!

There is a thread on the Kingsound headphones in the HighEnd forum:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/648624/king-sound-emperor-new-electrostatic-headphones

For a review that discusses the build quality of King Sound Speakers, you can check out this one from Dagogo for the King III:

http://dagogo.com/kingsound-king-iii-electrostatic-speaker-review

The review loved the sound, but was not nearly as impressed with the construction.

Good. At $800, though, I think it fits in Heaphones quite nicely.

I heard the proto that Drew Baird brought to the meet and I will be trying to get one for a review for Dagogo also. I thought they sounded very promising and predict this will be the success story of 2013. Funky looking but light and they sounded crystal clear with a very balanced presentation. I am looking forward to getting my hands on one.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kunlun 

Good. At $800, though, I think it fits in Heaphones quite nicely.

Yep, at $800 for the full setup it might be more appropriate in this section than High-End. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by skullguise 

I had a bit of a listen, indeed quite good, especially at the price.  Can't believe how light they were.  They hung a bit low over my ears

 

There WAS a slight edge to the sound, not really sibilance, but like a little sheen to the sound (EDIT: I wouldn't have described them really as having warmth, but "edge" may be too strong of a word, implying brightness, and that's not what I meant).  But bass was very good for an inexpensive set, and the piano bit I heard was very good.

 

Drew told me that this uses a 5-pin Stax connector, and should be able to be driven by a Stax Pro amp (though the amp there was only 400V he said).

 

Still, for $800 with the SS amp, it should provide a great intro to stats.  As I mentioned at the show, my experience with the Koss ES is limited, but based on my (sometimes suspicious old-man) memory, this may be better overall....!

Thanks for chiming in with some initial impressions. Everyone is coming from different places in terms of what they own and we only get a few minutes with any one set of 'phones at a meet, but still, I think it's nice to share a little even with those caveats.

By warm, I mean I had the impression that the tuning gives a little extra to the bass and lower mids from what I expected from a set of stats.

I hope more people post their impressions!

I also tried those new headphones at the NYC meet and they really sounded great so for me this is the way to go when I will be able to handle headphones upgrade but now I have to sell stuff I no longer need to cover my WA7 purchase