I have the genuine Leap Year model of the El-8 closed. According to the card, it was inspected on February 29, 2016!
It may be that this pair incorporates the 2016 improvements, or it may be my aging ears, or both, but I certainly do not hear either an antinode (assuming I know what you mean by that word) nor a spike. Given the various reviews, I was certainly listening for the former so if we tend to hear what we expect, I am pretty sure I would hear it, if it were there.
I have been comparing the El-8 to a pair of Beyerdynamic T90's, a model whose treble is sometimes considered excessive and even shrill. By memory, I was comparing to a NAD HP50, the demise of which led to the purchase of the Audeze. ( I wanted another closed pair, to save my wife annoyance, and the build quality became a major item for the new purchase.) For me, the Audeze clearly comes out on top of the three pairs. I don't ahve the equipment for an immediate switch between phones, so I tend to listen to whole pieces of music or even albums consecutively and then try to assess the "feel" of each pair. I used, for example, the last few variations of Jacques Loussier's jazz version of the Goldberg Variations. Glenn Gould playing the same. The soundtrack of Avatar, some B. B. King cuts, some Gospel from the Blind Boys of Alabama and Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with Perlman and Stern. That last piece may be the most beautiful music ever written, in my ears, but the particular version is so pure in its virtuosity that it may ascend beyond purity to nearly painful shrillness. it is a good test of treble, IMO. My own summary would be that the bass and mids of the El-8 are as reviewed and the treble is rich, compared to the Beyer. If it were some way inadequate, I think this comparison might reveal it.
At any rate, I'm a happy camper so far.
