[kiteki]

The SA-5000 was too light, I felt like on a windy day, it was going to float off like a helium baloon.
 
Sony said they like to use Magnesium [alloy] since it's the second lightest metal [after Lithium].
 
The internal housing of the respective sony IEM flagsihps EX700 and EX1000 is magnesium alloy too, so perhaps they think it has a good sonic character, either that or they just like light metal, not sure.
 
Final Audio thought it necessary to carve a headphone out of stainless steel in order to achieve the unique sonic character of a stainless steel statuette.
 
Brass, bronze, copper, nickel and zinc are all around the same weight so no issue there, who knows if FAD simply like the aesthetics of "VIII", or if IX is in development?
 
Anyway, I think vapour depositing metals onto a diaphragm is potentially more significant than the enclosure, as Yamaha has done with Beryllium speaker cones, and Sony with diamonds and sapphires, et cetera!
 

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

I strongly expect them to be rubbish. Very strongly. Even if they somehow aren't...$8k? We don't need a company trying to make headphones more ridiculous than the ED-10s.

one of the rare occasions in which I agree with you. 
 

 

[music_4321]

.
 

 

[ssrock64]

Prediction: These are no Stax. They'll sound relatively nice and technically be portable, but will be hellishly picky with amps and will sound $1500 good at most when tested even on the best setups.

 

[kiteki]

Quote:

Prediction: These are no Stax. They'll sound relatively nice and technically be portable, but will be hellishly picky with amps and will sound $1500 good at most when tested even on the best setups.

 
I think that looks pretty realistic yes, however the Final Audio FI-BA-SS sounds significantly better than the Etymotic ER-4, which was the best single-driver BA for 20 years or so, so I'll reserve some optimism.
 

 

[MuppetFace]

 
Quote:

Prediction: These are no Stax. They'll sound relatively nice and technically be portable, but will be hellishly picky with amps and will sound $1500 good at most when tested even on the best setups.

Statements like this perplex me. How does one assign a universalized monetary value to the way something sounds with such confidence? What does $1500 sound like, exactly?
 
Why not $1501? I mean, just how much difference is there in that one dollar? Are we really going to begrudge it that? Then what about $1502? Seems like there's little difference there once again. And $1503. And $1504. In fact you can keep adding on dollars, because it seems so utterly random to just say "alright, THIS extra dollar is too much given the sound."
 
Reminds me of the problem of aggregates: Say you have a pile of sand and remove a single grain of that sand. Then another. And yet another. At what point is the pile no longer a pile?

 

[ssrock64]

I used the $1500 figure as a reference for the types of headphones that I predict it'll have the general SQ of (T1, ED8, HD800) and since it's a well-rounded figure. It doesn't mean it won't sound like $1000 or like $2000, or any other number for that matter since it's a prediction. I'm just thinking that it'll have, at most, the sound quality of headphones around $1500.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

 
you must use his hair style to make it up for the lack of headband padding.

 

[Duckman]

For Melbournians, Jaben Audio has a pair on order. Will be interesting to audition.

 

[wink]

 
 
Reminds me of this:-
 

 

[Maxvla]

Those pads look absolutely crushed to his head. The weight and the clamping force are both far higher than could be considered comfortable, imo.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

Those pads look absolutely crushed to his head. The weight and the clamping force are both far higher than could be considered comfortable, imo.

who cares, they shine.

 

[wink]

 
Quote:

Those pads look absolutely crushed to his head.

I thought He was a She......

 

[Maxvla]

^^

you must use his hair style to make it up for the lack of headband padding.

I was just following James' lead on that one.. I couldn't tell.

 

[Smeckles]

Quote:

These headphones require a level of submission and surrender I find compelling. It requires a major commitment: first the money required to obtain them, and then secondly the discomfort one must endure to wear them. These headphones are the material representation of the question "how far are you willing to go to listen?" They're not so much an aesthetic statement as they are an ascetic one.
 
The line between pleasure and pain can be difficult to delineate at times. This is the headphone equivalent of a bondage performance. Just don't forget the safe word.

apologies to Steve Martin
 

[size=12.0pt]Anna knew she had to have a new pair of headphones today, and Carlo had helped her demo every pair in the store. Carlo spoke wearily, "Well, that's it. That’s every pair of cans in the place." "Oh, you must have one more pair. . . .”   "No, not one more . . . . Well, we have the cruel cans...  but no one would want to try . . .   “Yes, let me see the cruel cans!"   "No, you don't understand, you see, the cruel cans are . . .'   "Get them!"  [/size]   [size=12pt]Carlo disappeared into the back room for a moment, and then reappeared carrying an ordi­nary box. He took off the lid and re­moved a hideous pair of gleaming silver cups. But this was not an ordinary pair of gleaming silver cups; both were left ear only; one was set on the band 3 inches higher than the other, perhaps for an ear located on the top of the skull. They were so heavy and unbalanced looking that it would surely be impossible to keep the head upright while wearing them.  The headband was an old leaf spring from a Peterbilt tractor, polished and repurposed with a spring force to lock a locomotive to a box car for a cross country journey and was adjusted by a vise. Razor blades held it in place on the skull to hold the head still while listening.  [/size] [size=12pt]Carlo spoke hesitantly, ". . . Now you see . . . they' re not fit for humans . . ." [/size]   [size=12pt]"Put them on me!"  [/size] [size=12pt]"But..."[/size]   [size=12pt]"Put them on me!"  [/size] [size=12pt]Carlo knew all arguments were useless. He plugged in the 1/4" Furutech gold-plated plug into the amp and forced her head into the clamp.  [/size]     [size=12pt]The screams were incredible.  [/size]   [size=12pt]Later, Anna crawled over to the mirror and Carlo helped her to lift her tilted and bloody head up where she could see.  [/size] [size=12pt]"I like them."  [/size] [size=12pt]She paid Carlo and crawled out of the store into the street.  [/size]   [size=12.0pt]Later that day, Carlo was overheard saying to a new customer, "Well, that's it. That’s every pair of headphones in the place. Unless, of course, you'd like to try the cruel cans."[/size]