Very fair, I should of added I'm in Australia. The HD800S is regularly priced at $1599 AUD ($900 EUR) and the Focal Clear MG is currently $2800 AUD ($1600 EUR)
I looked at many online retailers in Australia and still didn’t see HD800S at the price you listed. The HD800S also came out 10 years ago. I dunno, bitching about a theoretical price of a product that is in early alpha stages seems silly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just wait and see once it’s officially announced. Or at the very least when it’s farther along the development cycle.
I could see it being competitive around that price if the materials reflect it.
The picture of the rear kind of screams dual mono design based on the visible heatsinks, and the separation of the left/right inputs/outputs. It will be interesting to see the inside of the unit, but I assume those pictures won't be available for some time. All and all, it looks like quite the beefy headphone amp compared to their other offerings.There was two models at the booth, first revision and second revision. It has more bass than the SR7000 on both of them, even if its open back. And slam harder, satisfying way. First revision had a little to much into the low mids, making it less clear and open. The revision two had more balance and clearer sound, it also sounded more controlled. But I would not call them bass heavy headphones, just more than whats neutral but then we can ask what is truly neutral?
No, they just got it in so even the staff didnt know much about it. Probably take some time before its properly launched, I will try and review it and compare it against the S17 Pro Evo. I did try SR7000 on both, and the slam and dynamics seemed better on the A17 than S17 Pro Evo and with even more headroom. But it was a noisy show floor and hard to really evaluate it, I focused at trying the AR9000 instead when the doors opened on Sunday and was less noise so I could help them on which variant was the best of AR9000. The variant one had more fun bass response and was fun but the version two seemed more high end to me and balanced, I trust Aune to have heard feedback from many of us who heard it and will improve if needed.
Price is not decided yet, but will be some. Its a beast of a amp.
Looking at the material it seems similar to that of the AR5000 and SR7000...
I think I read that the AR5000 is mostly a plastic chassis? Not sure if the SR7000 is similar or if that’s even the case at all. I just know personally I expect high quality materials to come with a high price.
Love this design, everything manages to be so coherently inconsistent!
