[sahmen]

I feel like there's a tradeoff with planars. You either have incredible punch, slam or wider, airier soundstage. Can't have both. The original Audeze LCD-2 had amazing slam and dynamics, but very intimate sounding and closed in.

Speaking of planars, incredible punches, slams, wide, airy soundstages, and audiophile desiderata of that kind, you might want to hear an Abyss 1266 TC and see whether it might inspire you to revise your thesis about trade-offs... Just saying, just in case...

 

[Thetaburn]

Thank you so much for these extremely helpful responses. You guys have saved my life coz now there is hope . I have ordered HEK V2. I don't know why I did not research it this time, probably because i had given up on it as " out of my league" headphone 4 years ago when i got HEX V2 which turned out to a good decision but Arya has now given me a taste for more details from the same songs I have heard before and I would settle for it if not for slightly peaky treble that I am more sensitive to than I thought. Right now, i have to take it off after an hour and give my ears a rest but that hour is full of emotional engaging music listening. Still, I like to go for 5 or 6 hours straight with HEX v2 and I don't know if I can do it with Arya even after burn in.

I went back and saw many reviews comparing HEX v2 vs HEK V2 and they confirm @haasaaroni 's description. I still have a few days left where I can return Arya if needed and keep HEK v2 if it is any smoother than Arya and has same detail and soundstage. I plan to try it with Zen Dac and Xduoo MT 604 to get more insight about how it may possibly sound with high end tube amps but I am still thinking about Forge or Kenzie as endgame tube amp so that I can stay away from this pattern of endless search for another few years. WA 7 V3 is out of contention because of @SemiAudiophile 's feedback and that's why i am so grateful to hear from people who have " been there, done that" . I will report back in a few days and get the ball rolling on learning about tube rolling from you

Yea. I cannot listen to the Arya SE for over 90mins. The details and high treble plus cozy soundstage overwhelms and fatigues me.

When you receive the Hekv2 please share your opinion between the 2 headphones.

 

[haasaaroni]

Thank you so much for these extremely helpful responses. You guys have saved my life coz now there is hope . I have ordered HEK V2. I don't know why I did not research it this time, probably because i had given up on it as " out of my league" headphone 4 years ago when i got HEX V2 which turned out to a good decision but Arya has now given me a taste for more details from the same songs I have heard before and I would settle for it if not for slightly peaky treble that I am more sensitive to than I thought. Right now, i have to take it off after an hour and give my ears a rest but that hour is full of emotional engaging music listening. Still, I like to go for 5 or 6 hours straight with HEX v2 and I don't know if I can do it with Arya even after burn in.

I went back and saw many reviews comparing HEX v2 vs HEK V2 and they confirm @haasaaroni 's description. I still have a few days left where I can return Arya if needed and keep HEK v2 if it is any smoother than Arya and has same detail and soundstage. I plan to try it with Zen Dac and Xduoo MT 604 to get more insight about how it may possibly sound with high end tube amps but I am still thinking about Forge or Kenzie as endgame tube amp so that I can stay away from this pattern of endless search for another few years. WA 7 V3 is out of contention because of @SemiAudiophile 's feedback and that's why i am so grateful to hear from people who have " been there, done that" . I will report back in a few days and get the ball rolling on learning about tube rolling from you

Glad we could help! I feel like this thread should be renamed “Arya owners who are curious about switching to the HEKV2”

I think you have a good plan going, but just remember that the HEKV2 requires a LOT of juice. More than the Arya V2 in my experience, just to get to the right listening levels.

In any case, I really think you’ll find the HEKV2 to be the more resolving and spacious sounding headphone, while also having a smoother treble response. Looking forward to your impressions of the HE1000.

 

[Ficcion2]

I’ve admittedly been enjoying my Arya SE lately more so than my Diana Phi.
Switching back and forth between the two leaves the Diana sounding awkward at times but it’s hard to describe.

The smaller stage and the (at time) wonky mids fall short compared to the Arya Stealth.
Certain songs sound grainy with the Diana Phi even though I appreciate the higher resolution.

Certain songs sound extremely flat or poorly recorded while the Stealths are more fun and forgiving.

The Diana have smoother treble and the bass doesn’t go as low as the Arya but It still punches with greater texture retrieval.

I’m still not hearing any sibilance or crazy treble peaks in the Stealth. So I’m not sure what others hear when they claim it’s too piercing but I’m guessing it’s system dependent.

I have an R2R DAC incoming this week; the K DAC from XI Audio. It’s my fist foray into R2R so I don’t know what to really expect to hear.
My Matrix has been a solid DAC for the past 2 years so I wonder how DS vs R2R will par up.

Anyway, I think my point is my Diana Phi might eventually become a HE1000SE sometime in the future unless the Diana TC fixes its predecessor’s faults.

 

[Radaos]

Listening to an Arya Stealth for hours tonight, via a Mojo 2. No fatigue here.

 

[Doc21]

I’m giddy with my Arya v2 with bf2/Soloist XP (thx haasaaroni). That said, I’m googling he1000 reviews/comparisons. Hobby sure is fun, but damn expensive.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Speaking of planars, incredible punches, slams, wide, airy soundstages, and audiophile desiderata of that kind, you might want to hear an Abyss 1266 TC and see whether ti might inspire you to revise your thesis about trade-offs... Just saying, just in case...

Abyss has been on my radar but always felt they were out of my price range. Having never heard any of them also left me with some doubt. And the fact that they don't have any entry level lineup makes it hard to get a taste of what their sound signature is like. Will definitely keep those in mind though and do more research.

How do you think those compare to your HiFiMan's? And what would you say is a flaw of the Abyss 1266 TC?

I'm pretty happy right now with HEKV2 and Arya as backup. Feel like these are good all arounders and forgiving to bad recordings. Plus the comfort and non-fatiguing listen is exactly what I want. I feel like i found the sound I want. Gonna turn my attention towards a better source and tube amp now.

 

[RKClem]

I'm thinking about adding good headphones into my system. Chain would be Antipodes CX/EX -> Hugo TT2. Would the Arya Stealth be a good match for this? I'm not wanting to EQ at this stage. Difficult to audition anything due to my location. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ficcion2]

It seriously is both a fun and damn expensive hobby. Ive thrown more money at this hobby than any other previous one. Including my actual instruments I use to practice music.

Still, nothing beats coming home from work, a beverage of choice and music with excellent sound.

I suffer through work to do cool things after.

@RKClem I don't think you can go wrong an Arya Stealth Edition. Im unsure about your rig but I highly doubt it'd sound "bad".

 

[rlanger]

I'm thinking about adding good headphones into my system. Chain would be Antipodes CX/EX -> Hugo TT2. Would the Arya Stealth be a good match for this? I'm not wanting to EQ at this stage. Difficult to audition anything due to my location. Thanks in advance.

It sounds great out of a Mojo 2, so I'm pretty sure it will sound ok out of the TT2, although I can't say I've heard it.

 

[haasaaroni]

Ive thrown more money at this hobby than any other previous one. Including my actual instruments I use to practice music.

That’s quite a statement! I’m not there yet, but I must be getting close. In the end both the enjoyment and creation of music are sacred.

 

[Derek Dean]

Well, I just got my Arya Stealth headphones last week, and they did sound a bit peaky at first, but I'm really quite amazed at how they've smoothed out over the past week, and honestly, now they sound, "just right", with a gorgeously open and airy feel. Of course, that's with the right source material. They can still be a bit unforgiving and edgy with less than perfectly recorded songs, but when the recording is great, so are the Aryas.

Tonight is my first night listening to Ultra HD on Amazon Music Unlimited, and wow, Brian Bromberg's bass is so clean and clear that it's really blowing my mind. I'm a bass player (both upright & electric), so bass is important to me, and the deep deep bass the Arya's are able to produce is wonderfully rich and detailed.

My only quibble so far, with my limited listening time, is that female vocals don't seem to have the full body I would hope for. I've found Diana Krall and Nora Jones voices to be just a tiny bit thin. Not terrible, but just missing a wee bit of something. It might simply be a trade-off for the open & airy quality that gives the Arya's their wonderful clarity.

Anyway, just thought I'd chime in with my first impressions. I'm looking forward to putting many more hours into listening and enjoying these wonderful headphones.

 

[sahmen]

I'm pretty happy right now with HEKV2 and Arya as backup. Feel like these are good all arounders and forgiving to bad recordings. Plus the comfort and non-fatiguing listen is exactly what I want. I feel like i found the sound I want. .

Agreed, and both are excellent choices, if you ask me. I never foresaw nor planned this, but over the years, I have collected so many HFM cans that I have had to recognize them as constituting my preferred default "house sound"--i.e they produce quite effortlessly the the sound that my ears instinctively recognize as the most "natural," among all the others I happen to have. Till today, it is still far easier for me to blind-buy a Hifiman can, or repurchase one I have already sold, than it is for every other type of can I owned. I have never experienced any regret doing so, even though I never expressly or voluntarily planned to be such a big fan of the Hifiman sound, It was as much a matter of these cans slowly and progressively "choosing" me by educating my ears, as it was one of my choosing them as I progressively purchased one after the other and their sound growing on me till I came to the recognition and admission i have spoken about... I see no down sides to this process at all, apart from committing occasional follies that I cannot fully explain (such as buying a second Sundara i could have done without for exclusive use in my office, because i found a great deal on that 2nd pair and could not resist. In my defense, the Sundara has turned out to be my most favorite can for listening casually to music, movies, and other programs on my computer and hand-held devices without any amp. That preference is what inspired me to choose one exclusively for office use, but I digress...

"How do you think those compare to your HiFiMan's? And what would you say is a flaw of the Abyss 1266 TC?"

I like the 1266 TC and other non-Susvara alternatives, from other brands (Audeze, Sennheiser) because of the different listening flavors they bring to the table. However, ironically, sometimes I suspect that I am chasing those alternative flavors, at least partially, out of a concern for keeping my affection for the hifiman fresh, by preventing them from becoming too monotonous as. a listening diet, and me from becoming bored with it.

With that said, I think the 1266 TC slams and punches really hard and deep when the source calls for it, without losing any of its spaciousness, airiness, its powers of instrument separation, detail retrieval, as well its size of soundstage, which is always quite significantly huge. That is why I pointed them out to you. In this respect of extra slam and punch, they compare very favorably with the Hifiman cans (notably the Susvara), which are not necessarily slouches when it comes to slamming and punching, but we are speaking of "going for broke" in punching and slamming when listening to the 1266 TC, types of slamming and punching which could become excessive sometimes depending on the music at the source and how one prefers to hear it'll. Typically, for many of the genres I habitually listen to, the hifiman cans give me as much slam and punch as I'll ever need and are more than satisfying...

Regarding possible flaws, I occasionally read about the 1266 TC's "sucked out mids" or something to that effect, but this is more of a critique I have encountered in reviews I have read about them, than it is some unpleasant experience I have had first hand in listening to the 1266 TC myself. Personally, I do not miss any kind of "mids" when listening to the 1266 TC, but that might because of the genres of music I habitually listen to and how I prefer to hear them with the TC. Besides, whenever I am craving a particular richness of mids, I always have the Audeze cans to turn to, but I do not necessarily want to think of any flavors I might prefer in the Audeze cans as "flaws" of the TC, if you see what I mean.

 

[tradyblix]

What is more interesting is the placement of the Hekse. It's the stealth version of Hekv2 but way more expensive like almost twice. Arya v2 to Arya SE same price.

Less actually because the MSRP for Arya V2 was 1600. Maybe people didn't pay that much, but that's what it was retailed at. They recently knocked 300 bucks off that price (and sadly, off the perceived value of all Arya headphones everywhere as well)

Essentially it's a market segment placeholder. The extra price you pay may not be reflected in the performance. The people paying for it are not expected to be worried about price, after all. They just want the best money can buy, price is no object or at the very least, they are willing to pay the premiums. All the "flagship" headphones have some amount of this extra price in there that doesn't translate to performance in anyway shape or form. You can see it in some of the responses in this thread. People like the Arya, so they are like, well if I could get just a little bit more out of it... I should get an HEKV2..... it's only another 700 bucks or so... etc.

This is due to people at each segment (2k, 3k, 4k, 5k, 6k etc) being willing to spend that much no matter what. on a headphone. So the companies create an offering for that price range. That's why we have things like the Susvara or the Final 8000 Pro LTE, that probably and maybe should not be priced that much, but are because they can be.

It didn't use to be this way.

About 10 years ago, maybe closer to 15 now, you'd be hard pressed outside of boutique items like the HE1 or exotic equipment like electrostats to pay that much. But we've had a massive amount of new products come out, an entire generation reach their peak earning potential and a good economic climate that has led to luxury items or at least non-essential goods like headphones being able to reach these prices. I remember when paying 700 bucks for a Grado RS1 seemed like an extreme amount of money to pay for a headphone. I remember Abyss was the first company with a really, really expensive headphone at 5,000 dollars. It created an appetite for headphones around 5,000. Audeze had to have one there, then Hifiman, then Focal, now suddenly everyone and their mother has a 5k headphone. Even brands you never heard of before. Sennheiser probably would have had a HD900 or HD1000 there as well if they hadn't abandoned the enthusiast market.

That's why those of us in the know like the Stealth Arya so much. Probably one of the better price performance propositions I've ever made. Now, we'll see how long it lasts, that will be a factor. And also the build quailty is what I would describe as workmanlike, it's not jewel like, like the Empyrean is, lol. But it's solid. It's a good design. I like it. I always was lusting after the weird "window shade" and the magnets being slightly off ever since the HEK first came out many years ago.

Ultimately, if companies are well run, at least, that extra profit goes into the health of the company, R&D for better products in the future, and the wellbeing of employees, making them (hopefully) happier and more likely to make that company better at what it does. If you're a glass is half empty type person then it probably just lines the pockets of the execs but I try to take the optimistic approach.

 

[tradyblix]

I prefer the sound signature of the v2 > SE. Once you have heard the soundstage on the v2, it's hard to listen to a smaller soundstage.

Don't ever buy Focal Utopias or related family headphones then, if you think the soundstage on the Arya SE is small.