[InsanityOne]

   
Re the bolded part, I already confirmed this in my previous post.  Fang said he plans on releasing a more affordable version for sure.

Haha oops, I must have missed your previous post about this. My apologies. If that is the case then I think we are all in for a real treat. I cannot wait to see the Shangri-La Edition X, or whatever it ends up being called!
 
- InsanityOne 

 

[Stillhart]

  Haha oops, I must have missed your previous post about this. My apologies. If that is the case then I think we are all in for a real treat. I cannot wait to see the Shangri-La Edition X, or whatever it ends up being called!
 
- InsanityOne 

 
I wouldn't get too excited just yet.  The EdX isn't really priced all that affordably, even being priced at 60% of the HEK.  I can see a trickle down version still costing upwards of $4-6k.  Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[icebear]

... No problem! I know people don't always like to watch videos, and Dr. Fang isn't always crystal clear with his English. So I figured I would write up a nice set of highlights.
 
- InsanityOne 

 

 LOL, especially if the video is captured in a public room and with other people chatting and distracting so that it hard for the presenter to get the message across in the first place and even harder for the audience to get it w/o putting a real effort into it. Not sure who captured the video, pretty unprofessional, just my $0.02.

 

[fjrabon]

  I 100% agree with you on this. As a consumer of high-end headphone products (and as someone with knowledge in consumer / business interactions) if my company (e.g. Sennheiser or Hifiman) was going to release a "statement product" that showcases the epitome of our research and technology I would want to price it so that at least 15-25% of my consumers could actually save up and afford it.
 
Pricing a "statement product" so that only the top 1%, .1%, or .01% of my consumers could enjoy it would be like taking those 10 years I (Hifiman) spent on development / research and just throwing them in the garbage in the name of exclusivity. It is a slap in the face to all the faithful followers (would-be buyers) of said company's products. It is like taking a childs favorite toy and putting it in a locked glass box right in front of them. The child will not understand why you did it, they will only understand that what you did was negative.
 
If the Shangri-La truly ends up costing in excess of $45,000, I hope that Dr. Fang will realize that barely anyone will be able to afford that and work on releasing a version of the Shangri-La that takes out all of the unnecessary expenses (like the amp and other overpriced construction materials) in favor of a more economically priced model. He has done this in the past with the HE-1000 and the Edition X, so there is still hope.
 
No problem! I know people don't always like to watch videos, and Dr. Fang isn't always crystal clear with his English. So I figured I would write up a nice set of highlights.
 
 
If this is really true, it will be sad to see Hifiman taking after Sennheiser's pricing scheme on the HE1060... 

 
 
My first quoted reply in this post will reflect on why the phrase "statement product" makes me very nervous.
 
- InsanityOne 

 

1) considering that the HE400s makes up like half their headphone sales, you do realize that if they priced it so that "15-25% of my customers could save up and buy it" like you suggest, it would cost less than the HE560.  I think head-fi distorts what the headphone market is, if this costs greater than a thousand dollars, it's going to blow past your "15-25%" mark.  And that would also effectively rule out anything that costs money in R&D, which means no innovation. 
 
2) I think most people will understand that if they want something that is potentially the best thing in the world, it's going to be expensive.  I don't think most people will act like a child with a toy behind glass.  They'll just say "oh, okay, that's crazy expensive, but the HE560 or HE400i are still really good and affordable, and I could *maybe* buy an edition X if I wanted to go crazy.
 
3) I'm 99% sure that you won't be forced to by the headphone and amp together, because why else would you go through the pains of making the connections STAX compatible?  I believe I read somewhere else that not only does Fang want the SL to be the definitive e-stat headphone, he also wants the amp to be known as the best e-stat amp.  He wants people to buy the amp for their SR009 systems too.

 

[InsanityOne]

 
1) considering that the HE400s makes up like half their headphone sales, you do realize that if they priced it so that "15-25% of my customers could save up and buy it" like you suggest, it would cost less than the HE560.  I think head-fi distorts what the headphone market is, if this costs greater than a thousand dollars, it's going to blow past your "15-25%" mark.  And that would also effectively rule out anything that costs money in R&D, which means no innovation. 
 
2) I think most people will understand that if they want something that is potentially the best thing in the world, it's going to be expensive.  I don't think most people will act like a child with a toy behind glass.  They'll just say "oh, okay, that's crazy expensive, but the HE560 or HE400i are still really good and affordable, and I could *maybe* buy an edition X if I wanted to go crazy.
 
3) I'm 99% sure that you won't be forced to by the headphone and amp together, because why else would you go through the pains of making the connections STAX compatible?  I believe I read somewhere else that not only does Fang want the SL to be the definitive e-stat headphone, he also wants the amp to be known as the best e-stat amp.  He wants people to buy the amp for their SR009 systems too.

 
1.) I agree that my figure of "top 15-25%" was overly generous. Realistically I believe that the Shangri-La will most definitely be a top <1% boutique item. But that doesn't mean that the Shangri-La "Edition X" couldn't be in the price range that is relatively affordable by the top 5-10% at least, maybe even 15% (being generous again). I also completely agree with you in that Head-Fi definitely does distort the headphone market now that I really think about it. I mean, the total number of people who actually own gear worthy of "Summit-Fi" must total somewhere less than 10,000 - 20,000 people worldwide?
 
2.) "You get what you pay for" only goes so far though wouldn't you agree? I guess what I am trying to say is that the price should (ideally) fall somewhere between "unobtainable" and "unrealistic." Yes, people will look at the SL and say "that is amazing but I could never afford it and there are many other good alternatives" but what if instead they looked at the SL and said "that is amazing but I could actually entertain the idea of affording one." It could just be me being foolish, but I just think charging $50,000 for a headphone setup (no matter how amazing) blows way past "unrealistic" and nearly goes beyond "unobtainable" for 99.999% of high-end audio consumers, "statement product" or not.
 
3.) If that is really true then I guess I take back what I said about the amp being a "useless addition". If the SL amp is truly one of the best e-stat amps ever made (equal or surpassing BHSE) then by all means I will applaud Dr. Fang and his commitment to this project. The price of it all just makes me shudder and quite sad that one, I could buy a nice BMW for the price of this setup and two, I will never be able to own this setup. I could justify $12,000 for a SR-009 setup at the most, but I could never justify $50,000 for any headphone setup.
 
Regardless, I will be very excited to hear impressions / reviews from future owners and reviewers.
 
- InsanityOne 

 

 

[IceClass]

Not a half-bad looking amplifier really. Maybe doesn't look $45K pretty but what headphone amp does?
 
I'm not all that inclined to bitch about stratospherically priced Head-Fi kit. As much as it sucks I won't be able to afford them, I appreciate the rocket propelled development of the headphone sector has resulted in a huge range of very high quality products available new and in the used market for those like me whose budgets may be more earthbound.
 
These are good times for headphone lovers.
 
 
 
Quote:

  Here's another pic.
 

 

[LouisArmstrong]

But it doesn't have that pop up thingy in the Orpheus amp... That one was really cool lol

 

[InsanityOne]

 
Not a half-bad looking amplifier really. Maybe doesn't look $45K pretty but what headphone amp does?
 
I'm not all that inclined to bitch about stratospherically priced Head-Fi kit. As much as it sucks I won't be able to afford them, I appreciate the rocket propelled development of the headphone sector has resulted in a huge range of very high quality products available new and in the used market for those like me whose budgets may be more earthbound.
 
These are good times for headphone lovers.

It is a pretty amp, I'll definitely give them that!
 
- InsanityOne 

 

[Ali-Pacha]

I think the price will be set from hype over head-fi. That's what happened whit HE1000, initially planned as a $2000 headphones, ended @ $3000 juste because Fang knew he could do it.
So let's speculate about a $2000 target for the complete set 

 
Ali

 

[obsidyen]

I don't think Edition X is a trickled down HEK. It's more like a HE560 in terms of driver technology even if it looks more like HEK. 

 

[KewlMunky]

Why did he decide to put a big block of wood and a wall of metal in front of the tubes? Isn't seeing the tubes glow part of the aesthetics of a tube amp?

 

[Stillhart]

Why did he decide to put a big block of wood and a wall of metal in front of the tubes? Isn't seeing the tubes glow part of the aesthetics of a tube amp?

Prototype. I know they're reading this thread so if you have suggestions like this, it might actually influence things.

 

[VandyMan]

  I don't think Edition X is a trickled down HEK. It's more like a HE560 in terms of driver technology even if it looks more like HEK. 

 
I agree. I keep thinking I must be missing something about the HEX, because it seems like a whole lot of marketing and very little meat. The HEK is claimed to be special because of its very thin diaphragm. The HEX does not have that diaphragm yet is claimed to be trickle-down technology. I don't see it.

On the other-hand, a trickle-down SL would be pretty cool, if the sound and build quality competes with similarly priced electrostatics.

 

[KewlMunky]

Prototype. I know they're reading this thread so if you have suggestions like this, it might actually influence things.

 
It being a prototype isn't an all inclusive excuse for everything about the unit. 

 

[Stillhart]

   
It being a prototype isn't an all inclusive excuse for everything about the unit. 

 
No, not for everything; It certainly is for the aesthetics, though.  
 
Like I said, if you don't like it, that's fine.  But they don't need an "excuse" for how it looks because it's not how the final unit is going to look.  If you have suggestions on what you think would look better, I'm sure they'd love to hear it.