I pulled the trigger on the Black Star! I missed the delivery today so hopefully I can pick it up tomorrow. I can’t wait! I’m really excited for this one. I just received the Solaris SE this past weekend and I’m completely aware of how lucky am to be able to have the two side by side soon.
I have been a fan of CFA since the OG Andro release that I blindly purchased on pre-order. I wish I would have never sold it later down the road. I have since acquired the Orion, Nova, Vega, C/2019 Q4, Ara, Andromeda Gold TI, and the OG Solaris. I was never able to land the Jupiter…maybe one day.
I am hoping that the Blk Star is indeed a balanced iem or at least CFA’s most neutral/balanced offering yet. I think the Ara is nearly there. It’s a touch bright and the mids can sound busy at times with more complex passages. Over all though the Ara is very satisfying as it IS even handed and extended with some warmth. The Andro Gld TI is the Ara with some added focus to the mid/sub-bass region. A very fun and engaging sound.
I do believe that it’s about the tuning over the driver count. CFA has been able to offer very unique sound profiles with each model they release that I have heard. CFA has seemed to be focused more on driver advancement and execution over driver count to achieve their target sound profiles. Part of why I enjoy CFA iem’s.
I did very much enjoy and appreciate when Ken would chime in and lend some insight into the various iem models or their origin stories. I will say that their customer service is one of the best out there though.
Right now the Solaris SE has ticked all the boxes for me. I waited many years to be able to add it to my collection as I wanted to buy an unused version. I’m glad I waited for the right opportunity. With that being said I went out on a limb to be able to have a listen to the Black Star rather than miss out on it and hope for another opportunity to come around. I also feel that given the type of drivers, technology, and build quality that, for 1k, it is surprising! Dare I say a good deal too! Maybe CFA is able to offer the Black Star as a sort of “Thank You” to its loyal fan base? This driver configuration has normally been offered from $1500-$1900. Sound is king though so we’ll see if this goes down as one of the greats!
I have been a fan of CFA since the OG Andro release that I blindly purchased on pre-order. I wish I would have never sold it later down the road. I have since acquired the Orion, Nova, Vega, C/2019 Q4, Ara, Andromeda Gold TI, and the OG Solaris. I was never able to land the Jupiter…maybe one day.
I am hoping that the Blk Star is indeed a balanced iem or at least CFA’s most neutral/balanced offering yet. I think the Ara is nearly there. It’s a touch bright and the mids can sound busy at times with more complex passages. Over all though the Ara is very satisfying as it IS even handed and extended with some warmth. The Andro Gld TI is the Ara with some added focus to the mid/sub-bass region. A very fun and engaging sound.
I do believe that it’s about the tuning over the driver count. CFA has been able to offer very unique sound profiles with each model they release that I have heard. CFA has seemed to be focused more on driver advancement and execution over driver count to achieve their target sound profiles. Part of why I enjoy CFA iem’s.
I did very much enjoy and appreciate when Ken would chime in and lend some insight into the various iem models or their origin stories. I will say that their customer service is one of the best out there though.
Right now the Solaris SE has ticked all the boxes for me. I waited many years to be able to add it to my collection as I wanted to buy an unused version. I’m glad I waited for the right opportunity. With that being said I went out on a limb to be able to have a listen to the Black Star rather than miss out on it and hope for another opportunity to come around. I also feel that given the type of drivers, technology, and build quality that, for 1k, it is surprising! Dare I say a good deal too! Maybe CFA is able to offer the Black Star as a sort of “Thank You” to its loyal fan base? This driver configuration has normally been offered from $1500-$1900. Sound is king though so we’ll see if this goes down as one of the greats!