You now, I have found this thread very very interesting.
We head-fiers are crazy picky and I find our perspectives to be very unstable.
Until this very headpone- the stealth, there have been so many complaints about how unbalanced the frequency response is of flagship headphones. Finally we have a headphone that got it so so so close to right, and we complain that it has no slam. Well of course it doesn't, it is not stressing one frequency over the other and evenness equals smoothness.
I remember when the Susvara first came out, for quite a while there were multiple criticisms of it's poor build quality, yet people complain how heavy and strange looking the TC is. So how do we want it? Do we want a light but perfectly durable frame like the Susvara, or do want want something for certain sturdier but crazy heavy and quite weird looking like the TC frame? There is no right answer- but we are all so sensitive about these issues.
We can all review this discussion 1000 times, and I bet we will but bottom line is-- do we want v shaped responses, or W shaped which offer excitement and fun due to discrepancies in frequency response, or do we want a frequency response which is as even and balanced as possible and is smooth but less punchy? We cannot have it all in one headphone.
I love the TC, and no question- it is highly COLORED;- but it is fun and sounds incredible. I love the Susvara, and it is less colored than the TC, less punchy, but smoother and perhaps more realistic. I think the Stealth is taking the Susvara FR one step further from what I am reading here in the evenness direction which means less coloration and more balance.
My tastes are evolving over the years. For quite a while I preferred the TC to the Susvara- and I do listen to modern genres which fit the exaggerated TC bass response better. However- I am in recent months leaning to the Susvara- even for rock. Less slam, less soundstage, but more correct, more balanced, more even keeled, smoother. I am really thinking about going one step further with the Stealth. My hunch is that the FUN headphones which shock us with their hard hitting nature are going to get a much better first response than the smoother counterparts but that after careful listening over time, the latter will become more favorable. Long term appreciation of the beauty of music vs slam me in the face immediate shock..... That is the question.