[VandyMan]

A few possible points of interest for CRBN owners.

Maybe start your own topic instead of posting your advertisements everywhere. I'd be glad to follow along there.

 

[FredSD]

a Maybe start your own topic instead of posting your advertisements everywhere. I'd be glad to follow along there.

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm a bit of a headfi.org idiot to be perfectly frank. I did email a friend with a lineage of experience on these pages looking for some advice...but yours seems spot on.

 

[MokhaMark]

Got my CRBN today. First impressions confirm what nearly everyone else has written and told me, these really need top of the line amplification....best I can do today is 007tii. I just do not think I can swing a Carbon or BHSE......interesting comparison nonetheless.

 

[jlbrach]

the sr1a is what keeps me from venturing into estats

 

[Hiker816]

the sr1a is what keeps me from venturing into estats

Loving the SR1a is what makes me tempted to try estats.

 

[jlbrach]

let us know if you do

 

[Hiker816]

let us know if you do

Oh, I absolutely will get an estat at some point. The question is when--the next upgrade on the list is my DAC. Then server/streamer. Then hopefully estat time.

 

[MokhaMark]

the sr1a is what keeps me from venturing into estats

I am new here and do not want to offend by cluttering up this CRBN thread with Raal love. I need to roll new tubes in and bias the amp this weekend. I'll see what happens. Just coming off of D8000 Pro and Stealth before these, both of which I liked but still preferred the Raal. Those two are thirsty for sure (especially the Stealth) but it seems the CRBN needs an entirely different level of amplifier than I have. It is fascinating and beautiful for so many things. I am finding I really like the CRBN for voices. But there is a strange (to me) cross feed thing going on where I am getting different parts of the same instrument spread around all over the place. Is this an e-stat thing or an amplifier thing? What I will say is the CRBN is really evocative (lack of better word) at modest volume. In fact, so far, I'm only disappointed if I turn it up. Must be the amp. I get plenty of volume, never even past 12 o'clock yet, but they seem to give immense detail at low db. These are really cool headphones......I love these gadgets.

 

[Chefguru]

I am new here and do not want to offend by cluttering up this CRBN thread with Raal love. I need to roll new tubes in and bias the amp this weekend. I'll see what happens. Just coming off of D8000 Pro and Stealth before these, both of which I liked but still preferred the Raal. Those two are thirsty for sure (especially the Stealth) but it seems the CRBN needs an entirely different level of amplifier than I have. It is fascinating and beautiful for so many things. I am finding I really like the CRBN for voices. But there is a strange (to me) cross feed thing going on where I am getting different parts of the same instrument spread around all over the place. Is this an e-stat thing or an amplifier thing? What I will say is the CRBN is really evocative (lack of better word) at modest volume. In fact, so far, I'm only disappointed if I turn it up. Must be the amp. I get plenty of volume, never even past 12 o'clock yet, but they seem to give immense detail at low db. These are really cool headphones......I love these gadgets.

When I heard the crbn’s I had a similar issue on the z10 but then went away on the Mjolnir Carbon. So yeah, this can is 007 territory tough to drive apparently.
Edit/ This is with regards to the volume not the spread instruments

 

[JLoud]

I will say the CRBN sounds great at higher volumes on my BHSE. Stays tight and fast. May indeed be the amp losing control at higher volume.

 

[Jomungur]

I am new here and do not want to offend by cluttering up this CRBN thread with Raal love. I need to roll new tubes in and bias the amp this weekend. I'll see what happens. Just coming off of D8000 Pro and Stealth before these, both of which I liked but still preferred the Raal. Those two are thirsty for sure (especially the Stealth) but it seems the CRBN needs an entirely different level of amplifier than I have. It is fascinating and beautiful for so many things. I am finding I really like the CRBN for voices. But there is a strange (to me) cross feed thing going on where I am getting different parts of the same instrument spread around all over the place. Is this an e-stat thing or an amplifier thing? What I will say is the CRBN is really evocative (lack of better word) at modest volume. In fact, so far, I'm only disappointed if I turn it up. Must be the amp. I get plenty of volume, never even past 12 o'clock yet, but they seem to give immense detail at low db. These are really cool headphones......I love these gadgets.

I think I know what you mean. The CRBN has amazing tone coloration in midrange but I find the separation and imaging has some flaws; it can smear the sounds unnaturally especially in the higher registers. It's not distortion, it's like you describe- certain instruments seem to get stretched across the soundstage. It's not an e-stat thing, because the other e-stats I have do not do this.

It could be an amplifier compatibility issue; I don't know because I only have one electrostatic amplifier. But the amp works fine for my other two e-stats.

 

[MokhaMark]

I will say the CRBN sounds great at higher volumes on my BHSE. Stays tight and fast. May indeed be the amp losing control at higher volume.

Yes, the most glowing impressions I have read of the CRBN seem to be by listeners with BHSE or Carbon. So now the $6K deliberation begins....

 

[MokhaMark]

I think I know what you mean. The CRBN has amazing tone coloration in midrange but I find the separation and imaging has some flaws; it can smear the sounds unnaturally especially in the higher registers. It's not distortion, it's like you describe- certain instruments seem to get stretched across the soundstage. It's not an e-stat thing, because the other e-stats I have do not do this.

It could be an amplifier compatibility issue; I don't know because I only have one electrostatic amplifier. But the amp works fine for my other two e-stats.

It begs a philosophical question. Is the placement of images arbitrary or a qualitative litmus for a headphone? When Beethoven wrote his late string quartets (monuments of Western civilization) was he hearing the voices left to right as if on a stage of a certain size from a certain distance? Or did the voices combine in his mind and swirl around in random ways more like Fantasia? So far for me the CRBN (in my chain) present music in a fantastical way, painting a huge space that to my ear may diverge from the source material in some respects. It's only when I hear different tones from a ghatam (or similar) appear distinctly in different channels that is is arresting. This is an instrument played in one person's lap, yet on the CRBN can appear 12 feet across! It is fun to listen to either way. Fascinating headphones.

 

[BTD1]

Yes, the most glowing impressions I have read of the CRBN seem to be by listeners with BHSE or Carbon. So now the $6K deliberation begins....

I am wrestling with the same issue. 5-6K just for an amp solely for the CRBNs is a real problem for me in that I still wonder if they will ever sound equal to or better than my Susvaras, no matter what amp I use with them. If I didn't already own the Susvaras I don't think I would be struggling with this decision. Maybe Audeze should attach a warning that the CRBNs are only to be used on the most expensive, TOTL electrostatic amplifier available. Just joking!

 

[MokhaMark]

I am wrestling with the same issue. 5-6K just for an amp solely for the CRBNs is a real problem for me in that I still wonder if they will ever sound equal to or better than my Susvaras, no matter what amp I use with them. If I didn't already own the Susvaras I don't think I would be struggling with this decision. Maybe Audeze should attach a warning that the CRBNs are only to be used on the most expensive, TOTL electrostatic amplifier available. Just joking!

I Googled if Schiit would ever make an e-stat amp like they did for the Raal and found a post here in fact that they definitely will not. Sad, it would be nice to have a sub $1000 amp that sounds really good, as the Jotunheim R does. I had a nice email exchange with Birgir of Mjolnir and he let me know the entry point for the CRBN (which he has tested on all his amps) would be the KGHHSV or KGST, so to be fair, $3000 entry.