[F208Frank]

These IEMs are for pre order and cost a jaw dropping $6999. Now I do not have any doubts that Effect Audio making good products as I own some of their stuff, but the initial reaction of the price tag just made me feel a bit of disgust. Not so much towards this specific pricing/product but just the overall feeling of the industry sometimes taking advantage of people who are willing to pay ridiculous amounts for that perceived "higher cost = better quality". In general, from experience I do feel that higher cost items are GENERALLY better but there is a point where you just look at the price and just think "This is ridiculous."

Anyone else have similar thoughts? To be fair I never heard the IEM, maybe it will be amazing and may be worth the money. And if that is the case I will bow down and even buy myself a pair and update this post. But damn, don't make the industry into a money grab taking advantage of people, or being a part of that even if parts of the industry tread that direction.

I think a big part of my purchasing decision process includes the feeling of the company's overall approach/vibe. I can't help but to feel that after seeing this price tag, that EA cares more for their profits than for their customers. You can always market your product well but you can never change how a customer feels and that aura of truth versus gimmick (including gimmicky pricing) always shines through for the most part.

On a more positive note I did always look at EA cables with respect and they are indeed beautifully crafted.

Just some opinions.

Discussions welcome.

 

[Afsa]

Well maybe they did crack something and these IEMS are the best sounding thing on the planet....
I thought the same about the Vision Ears Erlkönig until i listend to them. They sound absolutely incredible and are, in my opinion, worth the 4.7k that Vision Ears are asking. I still cant afford them but I understand the pricing.

But you are right 7k is a huge amount of money. We are rapidly approaching very ludicrous prices. I hope this stops at some point. I like eating and not living in the street.

 

[Infoseeker]

Crinacle already got a chance to graph the King Arthur.

https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/effect-audio-king-arthur/

Treble roll off. Not some kind of unique treble frequency response, just all out timbre + warmth dedication that does not make sense.

 

[Jalo]

Well I own the Erlkonig and think they are the best iems I have heard. I also own other totl iems. A month ago I have the opportunity to audition the King Arthur and the price is not a factor on my mind. I just want to know how good this iems sounds. After half an hour I am totally confused. I could not understand the sound signature, it is like a lot of sound components got thrown together, some sound good but others do not but as a whole they are not coherent. It is like an orchestra without the director and everyone is playing their own tune. I am very familiar with multi drivers iems. The Erlkonig has 13 BA drivers for instance but if you don’t know you would think the Erlkonig is a single driver iem, it is that smooth. Personally if I don’t know about the price of the King Arthur, I would not price it over $1000.00.

 

[RPKwan]

I had a chance to listen to the King Arthur yesterday using Hifiman R2R and Cayin N8. This was after listening to the UM Mini Mest. For me, and I can already imagine many will disagree, but it was one of the most enjoyable listening experiences I've had. Similar to Jalo I didn't think about how much it cost, I only wanted to hear the difference myself. I agree that it is intense. Some have reviewed it as lively but personally it was like lifting a veil on songs I've listened to thousands of times. All of a sudden it was a tsunami of sound - but not mushed together - separated and yet still musical. I prefer natural, more analog sounds generally. The King Arthur and R2R was great but the N8 in balanced mode took it to another level. For reference, I currently use the Legend X and KL The Trio as my dailies. As a side note, I went and tried my Legend X with the Wagnus Omnisheep cable and will say that it literally blew me away. Still recovering....

 

[RPKwan]

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Definitely an unique iem, with their own character (thick sound, fast, with spacious soundstage). I think some other brands like Final Audio and O Bravo also too the same path by produced their unique sound signature that of course not for everyone, but the one who able to enjoyed it, then it would be really hard to beat.

$6999 iem definitely crazy expensive, but to create acceptable or good sound on iem is much cheaper than to do the same with headphone set up. To make Arthur sound good we can use 2000 bucks dap and be done with it.

How about to optimise the USD 6000 Susvara?

 

[RPKwan]

Definitely an unique iem, with their own character (thick sound, fast, with spacious soundstage). I think some other brands like Final Audio and O Bravo also too the same path by produced their unique sound signature that of course not for everyone, but the one who able to enjoyed it, then it would be really hard to beat.

$6999 iem definitely crazy expensive, but to create acceptable or good sound on iem is much cheaper than to do the same with headphone set up. To make Arthur sound good we can use 2000 bucks dap and be done with it.

How about to optimise the USD 6000 Susvara?

Very true, if you find the sound you like then it can be any price, from $5- infinity. In the past week I've seen people buy the new L&P with the Obravo without even testing, so assume it's based on reputation or hype? I also like how you mentioned the signature sound. It's common to find the harman or Bose sound but it's become vanilla. The King Arthur set was different and stood out. Regardless of the price it was a sound I enjoyed.

 

[Green Golden Retriver]

Well I own the Erlkonig and think they are the best iems I have heard. I also own other totl iems. A month ago I have the opportunity to audition the King Arthur and the price is not a factor on my mind. I just want to know how good this iems sounds. After half an hour I am totally confused. I could not understand the sound signature, it is like a lot of sound components got thrown together, some sound good but others do not but as a whole they are not coherent. It is like an orchestra without the director and everyone is playing their own tune. I am very familiar with multi drivers iems. The Erlkonig has 13 BA drivers for instance but if you don’t know you would think the Erlkonig is a single driver iem, it is that smooth. Personally if I don’t know about the price of the King Arthur, I would not price it over $1000.00.

I know it’s iem vs full size but have you ever have a chance to compare full size such as utopia , abyss or Susvara or Stax to high end iem such as the erlkonig?

 

[Jalo]

I know it’s iem vs full size but have you ever have a chance to compare full size such as utopia , abyss or Susvara or Stax to high end iem such as the erlkonig?

Yes, I own the Utopia, they are different. At the moment I prefer iem more.

 

[James Shoegazer]

sorry I am lost in the wall of texts but is there any comparison with the 14 BA Arthur ?