[BassicScience]

Almost most of the people here cannot have afford the Shangrila Sr., is there a huge difference between the JR and the SR?

Soundstage I suppose is larger on the Sr?

Yes, to my ear there is quite a significant difference between the Shangri-la vs. Shang Jr., more than I expected actually. They're both voiced neutrally in the Hifiman style, but I made the analogy that if the Shang Jr. is a great bookshelf speaker, the Shangri-la is its companion full-range floor-stander. The Shang Jr. rolls off in the bass too much to convincingly convey music with significant bass energy.

From my recollection, the Sr. soundstage isn't necessarily wider, but it is a bit taller. You're sitting even closer to the stage with the Jr. than with the Senior. The Senior's imaging is also tad more pinpoint. Some of these differences may be dependent on amp and chain, of course. I recall being a little farther from the stage when listening to the Junior on its dedicated HFM amp vs. on my home setup.
I wouldn't take my impressions as definitive, but hopefully they are of some use anyway.

 

[fiiom11pro]

Yes, to my ear there is quite a significant difference between the Shangri-la vs. Shang Jr., more than I expected actually. They're both voiced neutrally in the Hifiman style, but I made the analogy that if the Shang Jr. is a great bookshelf speaker, the Shangri-la is its companion full-range floor-stander. The Shang Jr. rolls off in the bass too much to convincingly convey music with significant bass energy.

From my recollection, the Sr. soundstage isn't necessarily wider, but it is a bit taller. You're sitting even closer to the stage with the Jr. than with the Senior. The Senior's imaging is also tad more pinpoint. Some of these differences may be dependent on amp and chain, of course. I recall being a little farther from the stage when listening to the Junior on its dedicated HFM amp vs. on my home setup.
I wouldn't take my impressions as definitive, but hopefully they are of some use anyway.

thanks sir

 

[ufospls2]

Yes, to my ear there is quite a significant difference between the Shangri-la vs. Shang Jr., more than I expected actually. They're both voiced neutrally in the Hifiman style, but I made the analogy that if the Shang Jr. is a great bookshelf speaker, the Shangri-la is its companion full-range floor-stander. The Shang Jr. rolls off in the bass too much to convincingly convey music with significant bass energy.

From my recollection, the Sr. soundstage isn't necessarily wider, but it is a bit taller. You're sitting even closer to the stage with the Jr. than with the Senior. The Senior's imaging is also tad more pinpoint. Some of these differences may be dependent on amp and chain, of course. I recall being a little farther from the stage when listening to the Junior on its dedicated HFM amp vs. on my home setup.
I wouldn't take my impressions as definitive, but hopefully they are of some use anyway.

Apart from the low end and slightly better imaging, do you feel the Sr. is also better than the Jr. in terms of overall detail and technical prowess?

Would an EQ boost to the Jr. bring it more in line with the Sr? Or do you mean that the Jr lacks impact in the low end, or similar.

Very curious given the significant price difference between the two.

 

[BTD1]

I must say that while I'm waiting on my x9000s to be repaired and the SGL SRs to arrive this summer, I am really enjoying the 007Mk2s. I know that there is criticism of these, but on the right recording with just the right amount of EQ they sound great. Plus, I love the way they fit! The rotating pads and cups and the use of elastic to fit on the head is so interesting. Unlike any other headphone I have or have seen. Technicalities aside, these are great headphones and even though they are voiced thicker and somewhat darker, they still have that Stax e-stat quality.

 

[BassicScience]

Apart from the low end and slightly better imaging, do you feel the Sr. is also better than the Jr. in terms of overall detail and technical prowess?

Would an EQ boost to the Jr. bring it more in line with the Sr? Or do you mean that the Jr lacks impact in the low end, or similar.

Very curious given the significant price difference between the two.

I don't think the Sr. has much of an edge in overall detail. The Junior may actually give the impression of slightly greater detail (or perhaps presence, especially in the treble), but if you just listen to the Sr. without comparing, you assuredly won't feel like you're missing anything. "Technical prowess" is a somewhat nebulous term, and I'd say both headphones are elite technically, but the Sr. is just a far more versatile and complete headphone.

I tried adding a 2-3 dB bass shelf at 100 Hz with the Jr. and it was somewhat beneficial, but you can't completely compensate for significant bass roll off with EQ. If you could, no one would buy floor-standing speakers or subwoofers, most likely. IMHO, no estat I've heard has quite the bass impact of a great planar (or dynamic) headphone, but the SGL has the bass extension that the Jr. lacks, and enough thump for 99% of what I listen to. FWIW, the Stax X9000 may have just a bit more bass punch subjectively than the SGL, depending on the track. The X9000 imaged things like a kick drum more realistically, while the SGL was somewhat more diffuse in its rendering of bass overall. And yet, the SGL had more bass grip than the X9000 in the sense that it felt more in complete control of bassy passages in the music. I would guess based on subjective impressions that the SGL would measure a bit lower in bass distortion than the X9000, although the latter has overall superb bass as well, especially in the realm of estats.

 

[hifixman]

Agreed, now that I've found a couple of estats that not only deliver competent bass but all of the other estat virtues (in spades), I think estats have taken the mantle from planars as my overall favorite headphone technology. Will definitely be doing some direct comparisons to the Susvara over the coming days.

And yes, as requested above, I'll add some more photos going forward.

The best bass is HE-1 and HE90, then between X9000 and Warwick Aperio

 

[BassicScience]

The best bass is HE-1 and HE90, then between X9000 and Warwick Aperio

Thanks for your input. I heard the HE-1 at CanJam a few years ago, but it was brief and Sennheiser determined the music. Frankly, I was a bit underwhelmed by the experience given the reputation and price of the headphone. I also don't recall being wowed by the bass specifically, but I may arrange to audition the HE-1 again at my local Sennheiser store to give it another shot. It's been a low priority, as there's no chance I'll be spending $60k on a headphone in this lifetime...

 

[hifixman]

We can't talk about bass of electrostatic headphones without the connection to specific amps. I feel the bass from electrostat competible to plannar cans with Woo 3se and T2

 

[BassicScience]

We can't talk about bass of electrostatic headphones without the connection to specific amps. I feel the bass from electrostat competible to plannar cans with Woo 3se and T2

I do agree that estat bass (and general frequency) response will be dependent on the amp. Based on my very limited experience with it, the T2 is the best I've heard for bass. That said, I used the same chain for comparing the three titular estats in this thread, so will stand by my comments about their relative merits in the bass department.

Of course, one should take any headphone review in context, and only as a single data point.

 

[hifixman]

You made me consider buying Hifiman Shangri-la Sr to mate with T2, which is way cheaper than HE-1 lol

 

[HugoFreire]

You made me consider buying Hifiman Shangri-la Sr to mate with T2, which is way cheaper than HE-1 lol

And sounds better, I’m sure.

 

[Roukii]

You made me consider buying Hifiman Shangri-la Sr to mate with T2, which is way cheaper than HE-1 lol

oh my.... you will definitely not consider buying a hifiman estats If you read this post
https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/21643-a-diy-shangri-la-headphone-for-hifi-xmen/

 

[eskamobob1]

oh my.... you will definitely not consider buying a hifiman estats If you read this post
https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/21643-a-diy-shangri-la-headphone-for-hifi-xmen/

Why would this post stop you from buying them when they are universal reviewed to be at the absolutely pinical of sound quality? Not like anything stated there is a physical danger or anything

 

[Chefguru]

Why would this post stop you from buying them when they are universal reviewed to be at the absolutely pinical of sound quality? Not like anything stated there is a physical danger or anything

There is a post in the thread that shows the SGL grows mold on the driver foam. The person said they had this happen on 2 different replacement units and it only takes about 2 years to cause.
It seems the drivers are not sealed in a way to prevent this.

 

[eee1111]

There is a post in the thread that shows the SGL grows mold on the driver foam. The person said they had this happen on 2 different replacement units and it only takes about 2 years to cause.
It seems the drivers are not sealed in a way to prevent this.

yikes

maybe there is something you can put on it to kill the mold without messing it up