[Beolab]

Yeah, ALL the TOTL headphones are just sidegrades of each other. None of them have a clear advantage over any on every spectrum of the sound.


From the impressions I read, the Abyss seems the closest when paired with some of the ~$10,000-ish amps. Apparently the midrange is not scooped & the staging can be as good as the HD800 with them, along with its natural hard hitting bass & speed.

You are correct Mr !

I am a reseller of a variety hand picked High End brands, and got great connections in the HiFi / HeadFi market, and i can be truly honest when i say that i have tested many many headphones, but mainly focus on 1500 USD - 6000 USD range. I have the oppertunity to listen and own every single TOTL headphone.
Incl. the Senn Orpheus HE-1.

I got a 50.000$+ rig in my house consisting of Moon 600i Dual Mono amp ( Previously HeadTrip , Woo , and many more) , Aurender W20 Streamer, Isotek power, Chord DAVE , ( MSB Analog optional dac ) , DHC Prion 4S headphone cable , DHC Flagella speaker adapter , Transparent Ref 5 XLR and more..

All of this is connected to a pare of Abyss!

They may not be the ultra best when it comes to the midrange presentation, here the Focal Utopia is the best in the world on midrange, , and the Abyss got some flaws hear and there, yes they do, but the overal sound is the best money can buy connected to this statement rig. The scale very appropiate to what you feed them with, but can also sound very moving and magically with just a Ifi iDSD Micro Black Label also.

They sound on pair or better with HD800 when it comes to resolution / imaging / soundstage and on pair with SR-009 when we look at resolution layering , depht , clarity, and outrun every headphone on the market when it comes to the ultra fine out-of-the-head visceral low end with a magic tone, and the play with great room and atmosphere that no one else.

And if i would rank the buildquality i have to say not many headphones got deacent buildquality in comparision to a pair of High End speakers , Amps , DACs etc etc.

I find the Utopia / Abyss / SR-009 / LCD-4 / Sony ZR-1 to be good, and there is no better
, but they all could be one or to notch better year 2017.

I actually think the Abyss will over live them all, because they are made of one solid alu block and got no moving parts, and is very solid, and i do think they make up for their price.

 

[Beagle]

So basically a HE1000 with flow mod and double sided magnets for $6000. Lmao! No way its going to be better than the Utopia.

 
 

 
Nah, HE-6 with a grill mod and improved headband.

 
They should write a script for a movie "Head Of Dreams". "If you build it, they will come".

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Oh, and probably improved earpads. Those too.
 
To review—
 
Used HE-6: $700.
Grill removal, headband upgrade, improved earpads: $5300.
Customer loyalty: priceless.

 

[Toolman]

No sooner than HEK V2 are out in the wild, Edition 6 is announced.

Think I'll wait for Edition 6.2 with the improved cables, Edition 6.3 with an improved pads, or Edition 6.4 with a headband with an additional adjustment notch...which by then should cost $8,999...then we might just see a baby Shangri-La selling for $12,999.

Exciting time to be a HiFiMan mule client  

 

[gikigill]

Oh, and probably improved earpads. Those too.

To review—

Used HE-6: $700.
Grill removal, headband upgrade, improved earpads: $5300.
Customer loyalty: priceless.

Pass Labs amp: $1500, new HE-6 $1300,very nice DAC $2000,
associated cables and miscellanea $200.

 

[Toolman]

Maybe they will engineer another "theft" of their $50,000 Shangri-La to generate free publicity, then we will all feel so blessed with their "bargain" $6,000 Edition 6?

 

[Jozurr]

Last year the Orpheus were stolen and this year the Shangri-La. Not fishy at all.

 

[drwlf]

Last year the Orpheus were stolen and this year the Shangri-La. Not fishy at all.

Razers three-screened laptop got stolen this year at CES as well.

 

[Fink24]

Last year the Orpheus were stolen and this year the Shangri-La. Not fishy at all.

Yeah, on top of that, they didn't even call the police, but posted a funny picture on facebook instead.

 

[Jozurr]

Razers three-screened laptop got stolen this year at CES as well.

HFM never filed a police report AFAIK. Also, they got their set back on day 2 or they had another one, considering people posted about them on day 2 etc?

 

[drwlf]

I wonder what the truth is, miscommunication and hasty conclusions perhaps?

 

[Toolman]

Last year the Orpheus were stolen and this year the Shangri-La. Not fishy at all.

 
It is fishy when they won't even bother to report them to the organiser and/or the police. But Razer did

 

[mysticstryk]

The price is going sky high is true, but not very agree with the anger towards the pricing in this thread.
After all are we hifi enthusiasts or TOL HP enthusiasts? I think there is kind of instinct line between these two category.
Currently, $4000 is the point to be concerned, if HIFIMAN ED6 can beat the 4000 HP on SQ, why can't it priced higher? if it cannot, we as buyers can definitely failed it by not buying or return with money-back policy to safe guard our money.
By any means, a $6000 ED6 cannot degrade the SQ of our HE1000 and Utopia. What are we mad about I think is it will make our HP a layer down in the high end HP pyramid, which is the only real hurt the ED6 will make if we don't buy it.
I am actually happy there is a $6000 HP out there, at least we are closer to HE1 and Shangri-la than our current HE1000 and Utopia with this close to/within our reach HP, isn't it?

Who cares if it sounds better if the build quality and everything else about it is worse than some $100 headphones.

 

[ubs28]

IMO, above certain price point, same priced speakers provide better overall experience  than HP,  only issue with the speaks is they basically need a private room to sing while HP doesn't

No they don't. Even a cheapo HD 600 sounds comparable to $10.000 speakers from the commercial brands.

The Focal Utopia sounds better also than the flagships from the commercial brands. It's only when going to the uber expensive speakers when things start to sound really good, but those speakers costs way more than an Orpheus 2.

 

[Blueswyh]

Who cares if it sounds better if the build quality and everything else about it is worse than some $100 headphones.

Did you already exame and audition the Phone?  
A reasonably assumption is its build quality should at least be in the same level of HE6, HE560 and HE1000, then HE6, HE560 and HE1000 must be worse than some $100 HPs and out of consideration following your statement, what a bad news for HFM, fortunately for them not totally happened