[rb2013]

Quote:

 
After reading Steve Guttenberg's review, I, too, would love to see what David thinks about them.  As one who respects Steve's opinions, I am very excited about these headphones!  Here are a couple of quotes from his review:  
 
"The AB-1266's dynamic range capabilities radically advance the state of the art, the [size=15.333333015441895px]$5,200 Stax SR 009 headphone may be the equal of the AB-1266's transparency and sound staging, but the SR 009's dynamic kicks and bass oomph aren't remotely in the AB-1266's league."[/size]
 
"The Abyss AB-1266 is the most expensive headphone I've ever tested, but it outruns the competition in every way I evaluate headphone sound."
 
What excites me the most is that these have planar magnetic drivers, and, as such, I suspect that my Violectric V200 will be able to drive them.  (They can handle the HE-6, so here's to hoping.)  If these are even better than the Stax SR 009, I may very well have to spring for a pair!  Look ma, no electrostatic amp required!  

 
 
Double whoa!!!

+1  Would love to see reviewed by David

 

[Silent One]

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Dubstep Girl,
 
Thanks very much for your review of the Abyss.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading your impressions!
 
J 

 
+1
 
However, no Bass, no purchase. 

 

[rb2013]

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i just wish the Abyss looked a bit more pleasing. To me it looks abyssmally ugly (just personal opinion)

A headphone that would make totally arrestable! Got to have it.

 

[rb2013]

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Yup because we can definitely hear that low of a frequency. Just as we can hear 28 kHz.

No - but maybe we can feel it.  Visceral head vibrations.

 

[rb2013]

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I meant to share this with you all yesterday, in honor of Mahler's birthday (which was in fact yesterday).  Because of the tinnitus, I've not been able to listen to music as much.  I started painting.....and specifically, I've been painting my favorite musicians as a way to keep with the music while giving my ears a rest.  It's been helpful for me too as a way of sticking with music.

Since my user name is DavidMahler, I thought this was a fitting inclusion here 
 

++1 Wow -  makes the Impressionist Oils i did look like cartoons.

 

[rb2013]

DSG - Och!
 

 

[jonathanvaljean]

Quote:

++1 Wow -  makes the Impressionist Oils i did look like cartoons.
 

 
LOL!  It makes my poor excuses for sketches look far worse.  I wish mine would at least approximate cartoons!  
 

DSG - Och!
 

 
I know, right?  What's that I hear?  Ah, yes... That is air being let out of the balloon... Better than a POP!  

 

[jonathanvaljean]

DSG, 
 
Out of curiosity, on which amp did you audition the Abyss?  According to Steve Guttenberg, these guys are really hard to power.  (Of course, if it were a vendor table, I'm thinking that they certainly would have brought more than ample amplification to the table (pun intended).  

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

DSG, 
 
Out of curiosity, on which amp did you audition the Abyss?  According to Steve Guttenberg, these guys are really hard to power.  (Of course, if it were a vendor table, I'm thinking that they certainly would have brought more than ample amplification to the table (pun intended).  

 
it was a cavalli liquid gold (i think, it was the cavalli amp though). powered them just fine. it was an endgame setup for sure. dac was a mytek 192
 
Stax was still better though. 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

 
+1
 
However, no Bass, no purchase. 

 
they had decent bass, didn't pay too much attention to it. definitely more than stax though. i guess similar to audeze. seemed to be much more neutral.
 
 
 

+1  Would love to see reviewed by David
 

 
 
+2
 
would be nice to see his impression. i'm with the side that pretty much says "good, sounds very nice, but not worth the asking price, and wasn't really a "wow" type of thing like the SR-009 or something like that". though someone at the meet said the abyss was basically like the SR-009 just better at different things. i guess thats another way to look at it.

 

[ska-YJ]

why not consider about TAKET H2+, I am the user and I hope this headphone can help.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
they had decent bass, didn't pay too much attention to it. definitely more than stax though. i guess similar to audeze. seemed to be much more neutral.
 
 
would be nice to see his impression. i'm with the side that pretty much says "good, sounds very nice, but not worth the asking price, and wasn't really a "wow" type of thing like the SR-009 or something like that". though someone at the meet said the abyss was basically like the SR-009 just better at different things. i guess thats another way to look at it.

 
Do you think there was some expectation bias - I mean not getting that "WOW" factor and all?

 

[DavidMahler]

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 Wonderful David! The Arts can serve really well as therapy.

It really does  thanks!
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Ha, ha!  Yes, it's probably not going to win any beauty pageants...  Further, they are heavy!  (660 grams without the cable...)  Even so, if the the consensus view ultimately is that they best the Stax SR-009, I will certainly seek out a pair to audition.  
 
Ditto!  Outstanding work there, David!  Wow!  
 
 
Goodbye, Qualia... 

  (Just kidding, of course, but it would be fantastic if someone in NYC would allow you to audition their pair before too long.)  

Yeah, the Qualia would definitely be the one I'd get rid of first (but who would buy it from me now and I wouldn't want to take a loss...the supplemental headband alone cost me 680 bucks)
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can extend to 100+ battle

HA! I need a better living space first
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+1  Would love to see reviewed by David

Regarding the Abyss, there's always going to be flagships and if money and time permits, I'll update the article from time to time.   I know in 10 years there will be brilliant flagships which will totally devalue this writeup.  Hopefully not by too much
Quote:

++1 Wow -  makes the Impressionist Oils i did look like cartoons.

Wow! You're kidding.  Your art is beautiful man.  I did the Mahler portrait using the Brushes app on the iPad, but not real paint.  It takes more skill to do real oils I think. I used to do real paint, but in my living space its too inconvenient (for now)
 
Quote:

why not consider about TAKET H2+, I am the user and I hope this headphone can help.

I would love to add the Taket H2+ to the review, but I probably won't be able.

 

[scolaiw]

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I know in 10 years there will be brilliant flagships which will totally devalue this writeup.  Hopefully not by too much

 
Not at all! Let me remind you that the HD 600 was released 16 years ago and still holds a respectable 21st place. The Stax SR-Sigma is more than 36 years old and is 16th place. The MDR-R10s were released 10 years ago and are 4th/3rd. Meanwhile your #1, the HE90 is almost 20 years old!

Until we develop a whole new way of reproducing sound from the ground up that is ultrarealistic, these headphones are here to stay.  

(And don't even try to convince me otherwise or my wallet will throw a tantrum! 

)

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

 
Not at all! Let me remind you that the HD 600 was released 16 years ago and still holds a respectable 21st place. The Stax SR-Sigma is more than 36 years old and is 16th place. The MDR-R10s were released 10 years ago and are 4th/3rd. Meanwhile your #1, the HE90 is almost 20 years old!

Until we develop a whole new way of reproducing sound from the ground up that is ultrarealistic, these headphones are here to stay.  

(And don't even try to convince me otherwise or my wallet will throw a tantrum! 

)

True, in the very late 80s and early 90s there was an aura in the comparatively small but budding headphone enthusiast market.  Models like the MDR-R10, K1000, SR-Omega, HP1000 and Orpheus were all built as demonstration products to showcase what each manufacturer was capable of doing.  Although the almighty dollar always plays a role, I believe the industry was different then because there was such a small audience.  Despite the enormous (car-equivalent) pricetags of the SR-Omega + SRM-T2 and the Orpheus setup, I am doubtful that Stax and Sennheiser were thinking "hey this is going to bring us lots of money"....most of the money that circulates around these products today is all in the used market anyway.  I believe that each manufacturer set-out to create something truly their own and came away with their signature product.  It was a very special time, and a time I was too young to even know about it, let alone appreciate it. 

I was delighted when the SR-009 showed itself to be so good (better than the SR-Omega in my opinion in both sound and construction).  I feel that companies like Hifiman and Audez'e are potentially paving the way.  There is a crudeness to the ergonomic designs of both companies that I don't like, but I do feel that the vision for both is solely for the audiophile market, and that's a very exciting thing in itself.  Who knows, maybe the Abyss is amazing.  I surely wish I could include it.  It won't be possible for now.