ES2a discussions \ reviews \ reasoning \ impressions

[icnaiwhimor1975]

ES Labs ES2a discussions - made a separate thread for es2a for you all))

 

[smk5r]

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

it seems this es2a got into the right environment

 

[alota]

Megatron XXL?

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Megatron XXL?

Megatron XL

on XXL - 8 x 300B or others

 

[draytonklammer]

Looking forward to some impressions!

 

[TheAbyss2022]

Wow the brown colour looks so good! I'll be getting mine on Monday and I'll provide some impressions with it running on Carbon CC and iFi Phantom.

 

[RogueCrusher]

The brown looks SO damn cool, but the original black ES1-a was gorgeous too. Tough choice! Think I'd like the Stax ribbon cable better, though. It's got so much precedence of being "the" electrostatic cable, it's an inherently ultra-low capacitance design, it's proven durable as hell, and I'm just not a big fan of the soft, slightly loose textile cover of the ES-R10 cable (which this looks like).

ES1a and ES2a are the sexiest looking e-stat headpohones.

I agree about the cable, particularly for my use case, since I use the Stax extension anyhow (I have a 15 foot listening distance) and I wanted to have a consistent appearance to the cable.

I have the HifiMan Mini Shangri-La and it has the mesh-sheathed cables, which I wasn’t fond of. But the ES-2a sheathed cable appears leagues better. For the HSL I went with custom ear pads and the Capra Strap and quite enjoy these as well. The pads elevated the bass, tamed the top end (without resolution loss) and the clamp force and seal are much better. Now I have three, distinct sounding (more or less) eStats. I add an analogue “bass shelf” to all my eStats via iFi XBass. The Stax L700 Mk2, HifiMan MSL, and the ES-Lab ES-2a (previously owned the ES-1a). Only 3 others I’m interested in listening to - Aperio, CRBN2, DCA Corina.

The thicker 30mm Ntrax Mod pads for HifiMan MSL and the Capra strap…

 

[TheAbyss2022]

I agree about the cable, particularly for my use case, since I use the Stax extension anyhow (I have a 15 foot listening distance) and I wanted to have a consistent appearance to the cable.

I have the HifiMan Mini Shangri-La and it has the mesh-sheathed cables, which I wasn’t fond of. But the ES-2a sheathed cable appears leagues better. For the HSL I went with custom ear pads and the Capra Strap and quite enjoy these as well. The pads elevated the bass, tamed the top end (without resolution loss) and the clamp force and seal are much better. Now I have three, distinct sounding (more or less) eStats. I add an analogue “bass shelf” to all my eStats via iFi XBass. The Stax L700 Mk2, HifiMan MSL, and the ES-Lab ES-2a (previously owned the ES-1a). Only 3 others I’m interested in listening to - Aperio, CRBN2, DCA Corina.

The thicker 30mm Ntrax Mod pads for HifiMan MSL and the Capra strap…

No surprise here, Hifiman cables are the worst in the high end industry. Even the Shangri La Sr had a cheap looking and feeling cable.

 

[smk5r]

Though these are early impressions, whatever shortcomings I perceived with the Es-1a have been addressed with the Es-2a. Kudos to Benson!

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

Though these are early impressions, whatever shortcomings I perceived with the Es-1a have been addressed with the Es-2a. Kudos to Benson!

how much higher is the resolution?)
there seems to be a new membrane there

 

[RogueCrusher]

Though these are early impressions, whatever shortcomings I perceived with the Es-1a have been addressed with the Es-2a. Kudos to Benson!

How is bass presence and extension compared to ES-1a?

 

[smk5r]

how much higher is the resolution?)
there seems to be a new membrane there

Though I am going-off auditory memory, I did have the Es-1a for several years and know it quite well. With the ES-2a, I feel that resolution and clarity are significantly (and most obviously) improved. The congestion that was sometimes present in complex musical passages is no longer present. Bass quality and presence are improved as well. Bass extension is not as obvious (to me at this point).

 

[Kabeer]

Though I am going-off auditory memory, I did have the Es-1a for several years and know it quite well. With the ES-2a, I feel that resolution and clarity are significantly (and most obviously) improved. The congestion that was sometimes present in complex musical passages is no longer present. Bass quality and presence are improved as well. Bass extension is not as obvious (to me at this point).

my complaint with ES-1a was a noticeable mid-range honk. Did you feel that when you had an ES-1a? and if so do you feel that is now not present in the ES-2a?

thanks

 

[RogueCrusher]

Here is a shot with two of the black units with different cables on the same table. The Stax cable and the PC-Triple-C option. Both cables are 2.3M long.

I asked about spare pads and Benson said “the spare pads are not the same from the default pads. The spare pads are the same pad as in ES1A. The default pads are not sold separately and the es1a pads are sold as extra for people who like pad swapping and want to try a different tuning.”

I should have ordered a set of the ES-1a pads but I neglected to do so. I did, however, order my unit with a narrower (by 2cm side to side) and thicker (4mm vs standard 3mm) headband frame to improve clamping force and seal. One thing that multiple reviewers noted about ES-1a was that it had a rather weak clamp force, and I experienced the same thing. I noticed with some added pressure creating a better seal, the bass response improved - hence Mr. Wong accommodating me with that option as he had done for several other clients on the ES-1a. It’s killing me that I can’t audition these yet despite the fact that they were delivered last Monday since I’m still on holiday. The only thing I can listen to are my travel BT ANC Focal Bathys