[Deezel177]

A double bill from me today, as my reviews of the Empire Ears Phantom and Ares II 8-wire have gone up:

Empire Ears Phantom - Beauty To Behold
&
Effect Audio Ares II 8-Wire - Grand Symphony

​

Outstanding! I’ll be giving them a read over dinner. I just left Music Sanctuary’s offices by the way, so I should have a thing or two to post late tonight as well.

 

[Wyville]

Outstanding! I’ll be giving them a read over dinner. I just left Music Sanctuary’s offices by the way, so I should have a thing or two to post late tonight as well.

Great! Looking forward to reading about all the goodies you have been listening to!

 

[proedros]

@Wyville once more with an excellent write-up , very happy to see you enjoy a truly TOTL ciem - and without having us to open a head-fido pet store

or a pastry-mushrooms-audiofi-dogs store in lovely amsterdam with @flinkenick (not a bad idea though )

 

[491326]

@flinkenick if you have the time, will you do some cable swapping with the u12t and the other new 64 iems? i'm still having trouble deciding. if not, what were some cables that you liked with the vision ears ve8?

 

[ctsooner22]

Did some catching up on reading this thread this morning. So many hilarious 'cat vs dog' gifs and great reviews / impressions over the past week. I had a great morning because of that



Have you ever tried the (mid-tier) PS500 Pete? I've had the GS1000 (great soundstage and sounded wonderful out of a RudiStor tube amp which I had at that time) and the RS2 (which sounded especially good with acoustic music). Both lacked in the (sub)bass department for my taste.
I still have the PS500 around though, as that one delivers more than enough bass imo. Not LCD-2 level, but surely still enough to enjoy the heck out of it whenever I reach for it
Besides that, it's also easy to drive from a dap.


I also always carry a RUSH list with me wherever I go

Yes, I have, but it was awhile ago. I do know that I enjoyed it. I feel the LCD 2 is a bit on the syrupy side of neutral to my ears. I've heard most of their constant upgrades, but they don't do it for me. I do like the 3's a bit as well as teh 4's. I got my Ori's over the LCD3 and 4 though. In the bocote (ultra rare cups I was told) they sound better than I've heard them with other cups. I think for the price Grado's get a really bad rap. They are outstanding. They used to get panned due to the foam 'cups' they use, but they are more comfy than so many of the ultra heavy can's out now as well as some of the head clamps that hurt your head so badly, that you can't even wear them.

Nic, is that what you have been told sex is? We need to have a discussion my misguided friend.

 

[ctsooner22]

Just spent some time with the Phantoms, AK380cu with cu amp and Beats Supernova 4/8, Thor adn Prima Donna 4/8. They make a really nice cable. Supple to say the least. I loved how the 8 wires bend and feel. Pretty impressive. I won't be changing gout my stock cable with them, but great detail and soundstage in all of them. Fast with nice note roll off. Good cables. You can really see how cables change the sound on CIEM's and for anyone who doesn't think they do, they just aren't listening.

I'm enjoying these tours and getting to listen to what I keep reading about. @Barra has been just incredible to do this for us all and to let me participate. Will get these shipped to teh next person on Tues.

 

[Wyville]

@Wyville once more with an excellent write-up , very happy to see you enjoy a truly TOTL ciem - and without having us to open a head-fido pet store

or a pastry-mushrooms-audiofi-dogs store in lovely amsterdam with @flinkenick (not a bad idea though )

Thanks bud! Yeah, I am really happy with the Phantom and don't need anything more. "need", because I certainly still "want" plenty more and have this strong sense that destiny is creeping up on me... or at least trying to.

 

[flinkenick]

Nic, is that what you have been told sex is? We need to have a discussion my misguided friend.

Are you sure? If that's the case, I might have been doing it all wrong. That's the one downside of having a 3D-printed girlfriend, you don't get a lot of feedback.

@flinkenick if you have the time, will you do some cable swapping with the u12t and the other new 64 iems? i'm still having trouble deciding. if not, what were some cables that you liked with the vision ears ve8?

Well it really depends on what you are trying to achieve, and how much you want to spend. Personally, I would pair U12t with a warmer cable. But TBH I am not the best person to ask for advice on which one, since I only own a handful of cables and don't have access to more. I would help if I could, but I am not up to date with what is available at different price ranges. See if it were up to me I'd say a SilverFi IEM-R4, but I doubt that's helpful.

In the case of the 64 iems, the stock cable actually contributes to their nice tone (at least of A4t, A6t, and A18t), even though the control of the bass is not very good. But, the SPC cable is less warm than a standard copper cable like say an Ares II or PW no 5, and provides a very nice melodious tone of the upper mids. Switching cables might improve their performance, but lose some of the tonal balance by making them either warmer or brighter. VE8 I generally just like to listen with Zen for example.

 

[491326]

SilverFi IEM-R4

how different are the r4 and r5? and whats the prices, i still don't really understand silverfi's website, i find it hard to navigate, i'm pretty dumb...

 

[kubig123]

Just spent some time with the Phantoms, AK380cu with cu amp and Beats Supernova 4/8, Thor adn Prima Donna 4/8. They make a really nice cable. Supple to say the least. I loved how the 8 wires bend and feel. Pretty impressive. I won't be changing gout my stock cable with them, but great detail and soundstage in all of them. Fast with nice note roll off. Good cables. You can really see how cables change the sound on CIEM's and for anyone who doesn't think they do, they just aren't listening.

I'm enjoying these tours and getting to listen to what I keep reading about. @Barra has been just incredible to do this for us all and to let me participate. Will get these shipped to teh next person on Tues.

Hey Pete,
so, which out of the 2 cables did you prefer the most with the Phantom?

 

[Andykong]

heh, a good 2ch system might not be likely, but 2ch systems are still healthy if not as popular as they were a decade ago.

I too live in hk, and before getting into head-fi (due to the frequent need to go overseas) i had the luxury of having a dedicated listening room in my 700 sq ft flat for my 2 ch system.

The image you attachef above is the typical layout for a "mid-fi" retailer in the mong kok area, there are better set up places around central and in distributor showrooms.



(showroom in central)



(flat of an accquaintace of mine via 6moons)

there are many sides to the story, and yes, head-fi is more democratising, but it has not replaced 2ch. Setting proper set up aside, brands like Magico, Goldmund and Wilson sells more in HK than most countries aside from Russia and China.

And if one look at 2nd hand forums like https://www.review33.com/2ndhand/
you will see how fast and furious the market is.

just my 2¢

Having a dedicated room for audio is a dream to many audiophiles in HK, possible if you don't have any kids in the family. A lot of my 2 channels friends converted to headfi because of kids taking over the space that was previously occupied by audio equipment.

The so-called premium HiFi stores were either show-room of a reputable distributor, or retail shops own by the distributors, so can only audition equipment represented by that particular distributors. Back in the 2000s when I was an active member of local 2 channel community, 80% of their business were coming from sales to local community, but the number drop gradually to 20% max nowadays.

By the way, glad to run into a headfi/2 channel audiophiles from Hong Kong, HeadFi forum is amazing.

 

[flinkenick]

how different are the r4 and r5? and whats the prices, i still don't really understand silverfi's website, i find it hard to navigate, i'm pretty dumb...

Yeah don't bother, it won't be as funny when you find out hehe. For U12t, I would prob look at a quality copper-based cable from one of the popular manufacturers. Perhaps something like Lionheart, Saladin (haven't heard either myself), a GPC from PlusSound, or a just a simple but good pure copper cable if you don't want to spend too much (like Zen or no. 5).

 

[Andykong]

Wish I had computer access to share proper thoughts. As soon as I do, I will. I would have a blast setting up a nice near field listening system there. Very easy believe it or not. Lol. Andy, my buddies at Ayre like the Dual Dims too and that’s why they will incorporate it going forward I think. I own the Ayre QX5 DAC not the Codex. They built it for the 4 to 5 k price range. Long story. They now sell it off that new website that Computer Audiophile started.

In such small spaces I would be going with speakers designed to hug the wall for bass reinforcement. A Vandersteen Quattro like I own, with an 11 band Eq in the bass from 100hz down allows you to position the speaker for the best soundstage and then let you dial the 11 most important bass frequencies in for perfect installs. Match it with and Ayre AX5/20, Gryphon or 2k Belles integrated amps and feed it off whatever source you want and you have a great sounding system.

HK is a dream for me. I’ve have many good friends from there.

Well, how to setup a decent sound system is the second step, the bigger problem is the new generation simply can't afford an apartment, or they have to devote all their resource for the downpayment and mortgage payment, that why portables, DAP, IEMs, exotic cable etc before very popular.

 

[491326]

it won't be as funny when you find out

i reread your reviews, it wasn't funny

 

[Adventure]

Indeed, I haven't even mentioned all the other stuff you are getting

Well I did what you asked... burn-in the 4T and Fourté, and I did have one slot extra, so I decided for the Earsonics S-EM9...
So we see (hear) at the end of the week how they changed for the better!!