Aeon 2 closed Impressions and Discussion

[bcowen]

In the end I did settle on my Ember II as my preferred amp. The staging with the stock cable was just a smidge more cohesive, and staging is one of the qualities about A2C that drove me to purchase it.

In short I felt full silver brought the following

• Better precision in staging
• Vivid power in the lows
  • Transients were shocking give the slight added heft without being as "forward"
• Improved mid-range clarity and texture
  • Reverb trails are even more resolved
  • Slightly smoother
  • Also a smidge more "tactile"
• Air'er top end without any "roughness"

Also I get all of my solid silver from @teds headfood as I mentioned earlier his silver sounds a little "dark" compared to other full silver cables. But honestly I find quality to be more transparent overall

Overall the only qualm I had with solid silver vs stock copper was big drums sounded a little toooo fast, that's likely a problem more so with my amp than anything tbh.

Amp is an Ember II, Psvanne CT 181 OG "Treasure" The TOP Tier ones from when they sold em at like $75 upwards to $125 [different grades] before they developed MK II and removed their "graded" CT 181's I've also got an @atomicbob noise nuke and all bypasses active. So overall it's quite nice, but not perfect. An that slight misgiving in the drums is more my amp than it is the headphone, so hopefully my replacement amp will be in shortly!

An yikes, I went right to silver first tonight after pulling A2C off it's 4th straight day of pink noise [at like 75 dBs] burn in. and after a few minuets I swapped back to the stock afterwards and it's hard to ignore the difference, like A2C is already smooth but it can get EVEN smoother and slightly more detailed. It's odd to say but the stock cable sounds slightly shouty? If it's silver plated copper that makes sense, as I've yet to hear an SPC that doesn't strike me as "shouty" and while that's not always a bad thing... here I don't think it's helping. I mean maybe on richer systems, but not on mine

But the bass... *sigh* solid silver really pulls out the flaws in my amp... as mentioned with copper I get a smidge more decay/reverb in the lows. Especially in big drums, silver is just a smidge to quick for those big Drums imo [reverb is a bit short] BUT with stuff like Cello's/double bass it's just right! As copper tends to sound toooo drawn out an almost boomy, with a loss in detail/clarity

An what else freaks me out is the detail/reverb on bass guitars... is scary good... like I've got a lovely 192k/24bit rip [trusted lineage] of the 2018 System of a Down Self Titled Album Vinyl re-release and it's INSANE to hear A2C resolves then ENTIRE reverb of that bottom octave string... literally the undertones just keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep going [getting a little quieter] without blurring or softening the leading edge of those over octave strings over top!

The power/clarity are INSANE!! I don't think my HD 800 has even pulled out that low level transient.

Many thanks for the detailed impressions! You think there will be further improvements after the cable plays and breaks in some?

I'm going a different direction with a high purity all-copper wire. A friend is putting it together for me 'cause getting the weave done right is way above my pay grade. May be a nice upgrade....may not. Time will tell. If it flops in comparison to the stock cable, I can pull it apart and use the wire for other projects. I tossed around the idea of trying the 99% silver / 1% gold alloy wire, but it's just too price prohibitive (for me) to 'experiment' with.

 

[Makiah S]

Many thanks for the detailed impressions! You think there will be further improvements after the cable plays and breaks in some?

I'm going a different direction with a high purity all-copper wire. A friend is putting it together for me 'cause getting the weave done right is way above my pay grade. May be a nice upgrade....may not. Time will tell. If it flops in comparison to the stock cable, I can pull it apart and use the wire for other projects. I tossed around the idea of trying the 99% silver / 1% gold alloy wire, but it's just too price prohibitive (for me) to 'experiment' with.

Ahh let us know what you think man!

I can't say regarding burn in, I did like a 4 hour listen last night and I'll run another days worth of pink noise when I head into work today. But I've a few of @teds headfood full silver and they all bring roughly the same improvements, namely more vivid transient and a more fleshed out envelope without loss of body or the addition of harshness

I've got the same wire on a Campfire Cascade/HD 800 and an HE 560

 

[Nostoi]

Cascade needs a few things to shine, 1 remove the stock white filters in the pads 2 opt for the new Velour pads

Those things really help open it up tho it get's a little dry and a touch bright. But the mid range keeps a nice slight wetness and the bass while still forward isn't AS thick

Hi, since you have/had the Cascades, can you kindly offer your impressions on how the Cascades compare to the Aeon 2 closed? As a Cascade owner, I'm quite intrigued by the Aeon 2's, I have to say.

 

[Makiah S]

Hi, since you have/had the Cascades, can you kindly offer your impressions on how the Cascades compare to the Aeon 2 closed? As a Cascade owner, I'm quite intrigued by the Aeon 2's, I have to say.

Cascade has Slightly more macro dynamics but other wise not as detailed, not as much SLAM and not as tonally balanced. I guess Cascade is kinda more "fun" as the bass is a bit humped and more forward but I don't have a reason to listen to it with A2C in the office... In terms of staging they sound about as wide but A2C is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeper

An this is with both having the same silver cable mind you

 

[Nostoi]

Slightly more macro dynamics but other wise not as detailed, not as much SLAM and not as tonally balanced. I guess Cascade is kinda more "fun" as the bass is a bit humped and more forward but I don't have a reason to listen to it with A2C in the office... In terms of staging they sound about as wide but A2C is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeper

An this is with both having the same silver cable mind you

Thanks for the comparison, just to clarify - because it's ambiguous - which headphones are you talking about in the first sentence, the Cascade or the Aeon?

 

[Makiah S]

Thanks for the comparison, just to clarify - because it's ambiguous - which headphones are you talking about in the first sentence, the Cascade or the Aeon?

Well your question was how does aeon compared to Cascade So my answer was regarding how I felt aeon compared to Cascade but you're right I could have been more specific

 

[Nostoi]

Well your question was how does aeon compared to Cascade So my answer was regarding how I felt aeon compared to Cascade but you're right I could have been more specific

Much obliged, your edited reply now clears up the ambiguity. Back to the substance, from your description it seems as though the Aeon 2 is not quite as resolving as the Cascades? I also have the silver SXC8 cable for the Cascade and find it renders them quite a bit more resolving. If the Aeon 2's aren't really a step-up in this respect, then I'd probably give them a pass.

 

[Makiah S]

Much obliged, your edited reply now clears up the ambiguity. Back to the substance, from your description it seems as though the Aeon 2 is not quite as resolving as the Cascades? I also have the silver SXC8 cable for the Cascade and find it renders them quite a bit more resolving. If the Aeon 2's aren't really a step-up in this respect, then I'd probably give them a pass.

Nope. Whole structure was a mess lol Cascade has a bit more macro Dynamic kind of falls behind everywhere else except that it might be more fun to listen to because the bass is humped

I have little reason to listen to Cascade when a2C is in the office

buut

Something I haven't mentioned is aeon is particular with amplification Cascade in my experience full scale with nicer amplification but doesn't suffer as much when it's under driven.

 

[Makiah S]

So I'm exploring some new music tonight with my Ember II and SilverCable'd A2C

Starting with John Denver, I never realized how beautiful his music was! I might be tearing up a little lol super corny I know but these headphones are really beautiful to listen with!!!!!! I've heard "Take me Home Country Roads" like a gazillion times but exploring the rest of his Poems, Prayers & Promises album tonight has been an absolute delight.

I feel like sometimes I forget the point of all this Hi-Fi, it's easy to get caught up in the gear reviewing ect... and forget to actual connect to and just experience MUSIC. An wow I wasn't expecting to have this reaction but I really feel A2C captures everything that HiFi should be, purely transparent a perfectly open window to the music! Granted I don't know the album very well but it really just sounds beautifully real! Yea the mix is a little odd but the timbre and tonality of what's captured is... just really stunning

I'm working through some of The Shins now, an honestly I wasn't expecting something out of 2001 to be produced as well as this stuff is, but all in all good production quality! A heck of a lot more detail than what I gleamed listening via youTube Earlier this week! Again this is what Hi Fi is about! Get some good quality music [well produced and Redbook quality at least imo], run it through a good quality playback system and just enjoy!

I also spent like 2 mins with Walk Off the Earth... which very fun youTube vids but most of their studio stuff is... BRICKWALLED. An for better or worse A2C wasn't too tolerant of that but again I appreciate the transparency even if it's a little unforgiving!

All in all Bravo @mrspeakers

 

[human bass]

Well, just bought it with a balanced cable , it will take some time to arrive. I plan to run them with my q5s thx module balanced and canary 2 single. According to Dan, both have enough juice (>200mw @16ohms). Besides having a eae cup design that really fits the ear, the super compact case will help me avoid taxation by the customs.

 

[bcowen]

So I'm exploring some new music tonight with my Ember II and SilverCable'd A2C

Starting with John Denver, I never realized how beautiful his music was! I might be tearing up a little lol super corny I know but these headphones are really beautiful to listen with!!!!!! I've heard "Take me Home Country Roads" like a gazillion times but exploring the rest of his Poems, Prayers & Promises album tonight has been an absolute delight.

I feel like sometimes I forget the point of all this Hi-Fi, it's easy to get caught up in the gear reviewing ect... and forget to actual connect to and just experience MUSIC. An wow I wasn't expecting to have this reaction but I really feel A2C captures everything that HiFi should be, purely transparent a perfectly open window to the music! Granted I don't know the album very well but it really just sounds beautifully real! Yea the mix is a little odd but the timbre and tonality of what's captured is... just really stunning

I'm working through some of The Shins now, an honestly I wasn't expecting something out of 2001 to be produced as well as this stuff is, but all in all good production quality! A heck of a lot more detail than what I gleamed listening via youTube Earlier this week! Again this is what Hi Fi is about! Get some good quality music [well produced and Redbook quality at least imo], run it through a good quality playback system and just enjoy!

I also spent like 2 mins with Walk Off the Earth... which very fun youTube vids but most of their studio stuff is... BRICKWALLED. An for better or worse A2C wasn't too tolerant of that but again I appreciate the transparency even if it's a little unforgiving!

All in all Bravo @mrspeakers

John Denver? Holy crap, I sure hope that never happens to mine.

 

[Makiah S]

John Denver? Holy crap, I sure hope that never happens to mine.

Boooooo lol more for me then huh!

 

[Makiah S]

I'll upload a pic here shortly,

but I'm running Qobuz into my Geek Out v2+ balanced out into A2C and it's very good, Not as detailed/taut as on my desktop systems but quite close.

More Music notes and back to the desktop system,

I gave Lemon Song a listen finally and I was impressed! I prefer the original Vinyl Masters so the bass line is THICK but again A2C renders that fullness without sounding forward or soft! Thick but powerful and quite detailed

 

[JTabacs]

So far I've tested my A2C with no inserts, and the thin black foam inserts. I'm kinda leaning to the black foam inserts...anyone else try out the thicker ones yet?

 

[Makiah S]

So far I've tested my A2C with no inserts, and the thin black foam inserts. I'm kinda leaning to the black foam inserts...anyone else try out the thicker ones yet?

I have not, of the 3 Mr Speakers Headphones I have on hand I do not like any of the inserts in any of them