I don't like the Senn 800 variants. If I want open and detailed, I'll listen to STAX. If I want rich and vibrant with good detail, I'll listen to Z1R. Z1R also has a bit of reflectivity to create ambiance, which is a quality that I think some headphone listeners do NOT want, they just want...

Listened to some headphone rigs at the audio show today. They included the new Woo ES/dynamic amp with the 300b tubes and the two eared rectifier. I heard the new ZMF biocellulose model with the open design. The ZMF with a tubed Schiit amp didn't sound nearly as good as Z1R to my ears, even...

Z7 is a wonderful headphone, and the bargain at it's price in the 300 to 400 dollar range. A high current amp, and all of the "complaints" disappear and they become very 'stat' like. Bass becomes disciplined and balanced. Want that extra touch of refinement, balance and succulence, spend the...

Maybe they need Bert to be the next ear testing dummy, Har.

I don't know, but when I put them on, time melts away. I avoid them when I need to be task oriented and time is of the essence. I would agree that they do fantastic with low rez AAC or MP3, even down to 128kbs through Yamaha RX AV digital processing.

The Z7 has high sound output at low power and still sounds pretty good that way. My speculator speculates, however, that more power makes the large diaphragm move more uniformly, thus optimal power is higher rather than lower. I would also speculate that this would be in the vicinity of 250mW...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/122750947478 Don't know if they are still for sale. Takes about 100 hours of break in. The box says "Breeze Audio". The circuit diagram looks like JFET input stage with dual MOSFET driving a push pull pair of output MOSFETs. With Z7, it is some of the smoothest and...

Strange, I bought a small Chinese headphone amp using JFET and MOSFET circuitry for less than $130 ebay, and it is such a sweet sounding headphone amp, it is impossible to tell it is solid state. That is something I would never have expected from topology alone. I actually bought it as a gain...

Why would you want measurements when you could be enjoying all of the pleasures of mystic superstition? Heh, Heh! I loved the video above. "It is impossible for the average consumer to choose the right equipment based on objective data."

Yup, I think music_man nailed it. the Z1R is the master of PRAT, the way the music dissolves, attacks, pans and flows is so seductive. My Stax rig is still a better "technical" headphone in terms of detail, imaging, and the Stax even has bass slam and tone, but I can't say that it is more...

"I don't object to expensive cables at all. I'm sure that they generally don't sound any worse than oxygen free copper."

After getting some hours on it, my sample of Z1R is in fact improving above its maiden state. Larger sound space, smoother bass, more linear sounding. I went over some of the impressions of people on the various sites. What a confusing tower of babel about a great headphone. I guess the...

I like the Z7, too. My thought was that the Z7 was the best sales pitch for the Z1R. However, the Z1R is such a refinement, I'm not so sure the Z7 comparisons are quite as literal as some observers have made them out to be. I think the thought is whether the Z1R is worth the upgrade price...

Z1R are immersive, just what I want. They are like a hypnotic 300b amp on good speakers. Not the headphone that you put on and say "wow, listen all that DETAIL" and you are tearing them off your head fifteen minutes later and swearing off headphones for a few days. More like, you put them on...

Yes, thank you Naim.F.C., I also appreciate your talent in articulating your impressions.

The high bass emphasis that comments have addressed does not seem to exist in my Z1R sample so far. The bass, and the defined low bass, are clear and vibrant, but sound very proportionate and not exaggerated. I suppose the bass response might lift with further break in. I suppose it is also...

I have just had them for two days and I think they are wonderful even without break in. If they stay just the way they are, they were worth the upgrade price from Z7. I am wondering if some of the opinion dichotomy stems from where people are coming from. If you cut your teeth on high end...

Listening with the Manley Neo 300b with Svetlana 300b tubes, the Z1R, like the Z7, becomes very pure and stat like. The bass is amazing. If they actually get better with break in, I might not be able to stand it. Already powerful emotional connection, which is the most elusive audio spice...

Hmm, just got my pair. Right out of the box with no run in with an inexpensive Chinese JFET head amp and a listening session, some of the most REFINED dynamic headphone listening I have ever heard. This thing is cool, the detractors must be mad. Haven't even hooked it up the the Manley Neo...

Groupthink is an odd thing with headphone criticism. It seems that the critics talk about 'enjoyment' factor like it is something to apologize for. It is something they are embarrassed to admit. Striving for shrieking detail or "neutrality" means you are one of the cognoscenti. I find the Z7...

Hi, Initially, Mac Mini to Airplay to Yamaha AV preamp(ESS Sabre Dac) to Manley Neo 300b preamp/headphone. CDs through Yamaha etc. played by DVD player. If I take it to another location, Mac Mini to another ESS Sabre Yamaha receiver to a souped up Little Dot MkIII. I don't do balanced, too...

Just bought a Z1R. It'll be fun comparing it with Z7 when it arrives.

Still have my Frankenstein Stax 507/z565/normal bias and they are still the best headphones I have ever heard. Several times I have heard 009/Blue Hawaii, various 007 with 300b or Cavalli amps, Abyss etc at shows, and these strange 507 DIY still sound better to me, I don't know why. 009/Blue...

I made a similar observation with the Z7. On Manley 300b preamp, with a 1 watt headphone output, the Z7's variously reported bass heaviness etc. evaporated and the sound became extremely clear, detailed and almost stat like, and the bass became powerful but proportionate. The Z7 is efficient...

He doesn't seem to recognize that so called neutrality is as subjective a quality as any other. He is obsessed with that goddam measuring stuff. He needs to take a vacation and chill from his delusion that he can measure everything and then hear it.