[Jazzi]

  It took a bit of time but my portable setup is now complete 

 
RWAK380+RWAK380AMP
Norne Audio Therium Cable
Empire Ears Zeus R
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Congratulations, Apina.  Love the design of the EE Zeus-R!

 

[mysony1]

009/500 for me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joshuachew]

I just found out from my dealer that AK is having a deal now that every AK Black will come with the amp for free. I have just inquired of Alex An if the same can be done for the first adopters of the black. Should the answer return no, I'd be furious. Anyone else have any idea if they will extend it to early adopters of the black?

 

[Gosod]

I just found out from my dealer that AK is having a deal now that every AK Black will come with the amp for free. I have just inquired of Alex An if the same can be done for the first adopters of the black. Should the answer return no, I'd be furious. Anyone else have any idea if they will extend it to early adopters of the black?

you get the complete amplifier?

 

[kel77]

I just found out from my dealer that AK is having a deal now that every AK Black will come with the amp for free. I have just inquired of Alex An if the same can be done for the first adopters of the black. Should the answer return no, I'd be furious. Anyone else have any idea if they will extend it to early adopters of the black?

Same thing when HK dealer had promo for AK320 and get free AK380 amp. Early adopters do not get it.

 

[Apina]

  Congratulations, Apina.  Love the design of the EE Zeus-R!

Decided to put some of my own artwork on them 

 
 
The guys at empire were unbelievably patient with me especially Richard 

 I was a bit of a customer from hell.... 
"No don't like that, change the image this way rotate the image that way can you make that character a bit bigger!"
 
End of the day they nailed it, my photography skills are not good enough to capture all the fine details from such a tiny headphone 

 

 

[Jalo]

15/500

sonickarma and mysony1 were out of order

 

[Jalo]

Same thing when HK dealer had promo for AK320 and get free AK380 amp. Early adopters do not get it.

This is another crazy practice of AK. Product price will unexpectedly fluctuate crazily without any apparent reason. Sure it is their right to do whatever they want but that doesn't give customer any confident in buying their staff. For instance, a few months ago, the 240ss all of a sudden dropped more than 60% of its price to even below the regular 240. I understand if it is a close out sale or open box sale or end of cycle run etc. But for no reason? You don't even do that on Black Friday.

 

[Jalo]

Decided to put some of my own artwork on them :wink_face:  

The guys at empire were unbelievably patient with me especially Richard   I was a bit of a customer from hell.... 
"No don't like that, change the image this way rotate the image that way can you make that character a bit bigger!"

End of the day they nailed it, my photography skills are not good enough to capture all the fine details from such a tiny headphone :blink:  

Alpina, I have also ordered and waiting for the Norne Therium 8 cores cable for my U12 to go with the 380cu. How do you find the sound on the Therium. Do you have the 8 cores? I am also very interested on your take on the RWAK mod. I am waiting for my 240ss RW mod to come back from Vinnie. If it turns out good I may mod the 380cu also. The key question many people want to know is if the change is readily noticeable without any critical listening, or if the change is subtle? The problem of course I'd when you mod your AK, you don't have the original to compare to directly and have to rely on memory. If I ever mod my cu, I'll get hold of Gavin and give him a blind test. If you have a friend that have a 380, please do a blind test.

 

[Apina]

Alpina, I have also ordered and waiting for the Norne Therium 8 cores cable for my U12 to go with the 380cu. How do you find the sound on the Therium. Do you have the 8 cores? I am also very interested on your take on the RWAK mod. I am waiting for my 240ss RW mod to come back from Vinnie. If it turns out good I may mod the 380cu also. The key question many people want to know is if the change is readily noticeable without any critical listening, or if the change is subtle? The problem of course I'd when you mod your AK, you don't have the original to compare to directly and have to rely on memory. If I ever mod my cu, I'll get hold of Gavin and give him a blind test. If you have a friend that have a 380, please do a blind test.

I am no expert at reviews but this was my initial feedback I posted when I received the RWAK380+RWAK380AMP
http://www.head-fi.org/t/763752/astell-kern-ak380/3315#post_12306599

For the cable yes it is the 8 wire version and it is a very pretty cable indeed. I have only had the cable and Zeus R for a week and now I am away on a trip again.
Soon as I get some real time to have a good listen I will post some feedback.

 

[Kiats]

This is another crazy practice of AK. Product price will unexpectedly fluctuate crazily without any apparent reason. Sure it is their right to do whatever they want but that doesn't give customer any confident in buying their staff. For instance, a few months ago, the 240ss all of a sudden dropped more than 60% of its price to even below the regular 240. I understand if it is a close out sale or open box sale or end of cycle run etc. But for no reason? You don't even do that on Black Friday.

Heheh! Oh well... What can we do? It's like how the Cu came out not too long after the stock 380 amidst the interesting controversy as to whether they sound different. And now the free amp with each 380 Black.

Doesn't seem to stop the hobbyists who want the best SQ and can afford the asking price.

 

[jonstatt]

Heheh! Oh well... What can we do? It's like how the Cu came out not too long after the stock 380 amidst the interesting controversy as to whether they sound different. And now the free amp with each 380 Black.

Doesn't seem to stop the hobbyists who want the best SQ and can afford the asking price.

 
 
I suspect the Black isn't selling and that's why they have bundled the amp. The original colour is a nice one, and the copper is something "different" and "unusual". But Black? I didn't see many people asking for this....

 

[Kiats]

I suspect the Black isn't selling and that's why they have bundled the amp. The original colour is a nice one, and the copper is something "different" and "unusual". But Black? I didn't see many people asking for this....

You may be right. Though I imagine that there would be some people who might find black cool, with the red stripes on the volume button...

 

[Jalo]

Kiat, how do you compare the 380 to the LPG, care to share some impressions?

 

[Kiats]

Kiat, how do you compare the 380 to the LPG, care to share some impressions?

Ooh... That's a pretty close one...

Well, please do note these are my own point of view. For me, the 380Cu takes it but it is very close without the amp unit. With the amp unit, the 380Cu pulls away.

The LPG is my little pocket battleship: tough with amazing SQ. However, the 380Cu has better width of soundstage and is probably more detailed. In terms of depth of soundstage and layering, it's a toss up. What the LPG has a slight edge is a slightly more raw edge to its sound.

With the amp unit, I feel that the 380Cu is better grip on the music, better note weight and more 3D soundstage.

Whilst the LPG is excellent for long term listening, the 380Cu is just effortless.