[BoyNamedSue]

@goofyvic, beautiful grain and cool serial number. Congrats! When you get chance, any comparisons to the W3000ANV in your signature? I recall when the W3000ANV came out, there were some posts debating which one had the better midrange for vocals. I have way too much woodies right now, thanks to Protoss , but I may add an es-r10 to my collection at some point. Not just the huge price difference, I may prefer owning an ES over the original as I think owning an original would make to too anxious, with its irreplaceable, ageing parts. Along this line, I have a W3000ANV that has amazing sound but treat it more like a museum piece than a headphone I use regularly.

 

[tholt]

Just got an email that mine will arrive by next Tues, with the expedited shipping option (to US). This will be around 2 weeks after I placed the order. Apparently there may have been delays on the outer wooden box? I inquired a few days ago on the status and he said the headphones were done but he was waiting on the box. At any rate, I'll be happy to finally get them!

 

[Ciggavelli]

What the heck? The wood cuts are much better in these recent pictures.

Schiit, I should of waited for the final batches
I am not too happy about my early R10 wood cuts now........ if these new batches also sound better I be pissed!
Vs

I'm with you. My wood cut doesn't look as good as the new ones either. I should have waited. I still might pick up a new pair, given that we're getting closer to 100

 

[purk]

Just caught up with this thread again. Glad to hear that others are loving them as well. Work has been super busy and daughter and wife got sick at the same time. These days I actually spent more time listening to the D9200 more than anything else. Not that it sounds better than the ES-Lab R10, but I like that the Denon 9200 is more discrete looking than the ES-R10 and is more suitable for my work rig.

 

[goofyvic]

@goofyvic, beautiful grain and cool serial number. Congrats! When you get chance, any comparisons to the W3000ANV in your signature? I recall when the W3000ANV came out, there were some posts debating which one had the better midrange for vocals. I have way too much woodies right now, thanks to Protoss , but I may add an es-r10 to my collection at some point. Not just the huge price difference, I may prefer owning an ES over the original as I think owning an original would make to too anxious, with its irreplaceable, ageing parts. Along this line, I have a W3000ANV that has amazing sound but treat it more like a museum piece than a headphone I use regularly.

@BoyNamedSue ES-R10 sounds way more natural. The W3000ANV has this upper mids emphasis ("coloration") which added intimacy and details to vocals which makes some vocals really enjoyable.

Vocals on the ES-R10 is on a different level. It is the first pair of headphones which gave me goosebumps when I listen to some of my vocal albums. I have never heard vocals produced in such realism and so natural. The textures and nuances are amazing. The closest i have to it is the D8000 pro. Technical, D8000pro is stronger in terms of wider soundstage, slightly airier details and better all rounder. But ES-R10 is pure musicality.

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Thanka for the comparison!

 

[justanut]

I can't stop listening to the R10 on my HA-300ii~ re-listening to the entire Beatles collection is just an amazing experience. Vocals and strings wow me the most with this combo. The occasional Vivaldi is just sublime~

 

[tholt]

Mine arrived today. #76. My cups aren't as nicely grainy as #69. 69 must just be a lucky number

Those cups also look a little darker than mine? Maybe it's just the lighting.

I put them on for all of 10 seconds just to gauge fit and that sound was coming from both drivers.

A few immediate observations – I don't detect anything mechanically amiss. No squeaking gimbals or cheap feeling parts. They seem solidly built. My only initial nits are that the build quality is good but not 100% refined like something that would come from a bigger company with more resources. Others have mentioned that. There is also a pretty strong smell mostly from the ear pads and it doesn't smell like leather to me. I don't know if it's adhesive somewhere? Anyway, hopefully that goes away with time.

I'll look forward to breaking these in.

 

[justanut]

There is also a pretty strong smell mostly from the ear pads and it doesn't smell like leather to me. I don't know if it's adhesive somewhere? Anyway, hopefully that goes away with time.

It goes away~ welcome to the club!

 

[tholt]

It goes away~ welcome to the club!

Good to know

 

[MN8372]

Just took delivery of no.73. A cracking bargain compared to my other headphones. I was on the hunt for a closed back and these are just the ticket.

Not as punchy as my LCD 5’s or Utopias and not as transparent/airy as my Susvaras. But they are really lush and smooth. A real easy listen. As others have said they are magic with vocals and simpler/acoustic music. There’s a refinement there which reminds me of my Susvaras even if they are quite different headphones.

Maybe they struggle a bit with louder/more complex music? I feel they get a bit congested.

What else can I say - build quality is acceptable for me especially at this price/performance ratio. The wooden cups are beautiful with nice tight graining (see attached). The headband less so - but it works well (at least on my head) and the headphones are very comfortable. The pads are super soft. I ditched the stock cable and went with a Lavricables Master silver cable.

Really pleased I got these headphones based on all the recommendations on this thread. Thanks all.

Intrigued to see what this company comes up with next. Hopefully this can be the start of a resto-mod movement like you get in the car world with Singer Porsches, Alfaholics Alfas and Eagle E-types…

 

[justanut]

Sharing another beautiful album for these beautiful headphones

Adding another to share.. the percussion just bounces around my noggins on these!

 

[sennfan83261]

Been loving the following track with my ES-R10's:

 

[justanut]

Has anyone here had the opportunity to run the R10 out of the WM1Z/AM2? Interested to know if there's synergy there

 

[Aura]

anyone using a tube amp that offers extremely low noise floor with ES-R10 or similarly low-impedance? SET or OTL, wouldn't matter. i've tried both a Raal PDT-1a on demo and a Schiit Vali 1 and the R10 is simply too sensitive and noise floor (hiss) too distracting.

Naim Uniti HE's barely-audible floor is now impressing me more in comparison.