[supabayes]

Maybe the development of the Edition 6 prompted the changes for the HE1000 V2. Trickle down?

Oops did you just reveal the Hifiman playbook and strategy for 3Q2017? V3 could be released citing improvement/gain from the development of Ed6. And consumers will feel that they get a bargain since HEK list for half of Ed6

 

[Astral Abyss]

Good luck convincing me a pair of Hifiman headphones, let alone any brand, will ever be worth $6k.

 

[wasupdog]

At this point they're just pushing it to see how much they can get away with. It's worked so far considering how many of us own $4k headphones.

 

[KewlMunky]

At this point they're just pushing it to see how much they can get away with. 

 
This.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Good luck convincing me a pair of Hifiman headphones, let alone any brand, will ever be worth $6k.

 
Particular after the craptastic build quality on the original HEK. 3K and the workmanship was 'ordinary' to say the least.

 

[Tobes]

Yes, it does seem like they have a strata pricing model to try to cover all wallet sizes.
Having said that I wonder how it would be received by HE1000v1/v2 owners if the Ed 6 was priced at $3K? I'm tipping the knives would be out.

 

[sahmen]

Whiles we are at it, let's not forget the Shangri-La, which has been touted as "the Ultimate" Flagship by hifiman for a while now, although it is supposed to be electrostatic, whereas the Edition 6 is a planar...  I wonder what the MSRP of the Shangri-La is now, if anyone knows...
 

 

[Tobes]

 I wonder what the MSRP of the Shangri-La is now, if anyone knows...  

I thought it was $55K with amp - or something similarly ridiculous.

 

[sahmen]

  I thought it was $55K with amp - or something similarly ridiculous.

Yeah, $50,000, which is close enough, and is so ridiculously overpriced that the $6k for Edition 6 almost sounds quite reasonable, suddenly, in comparison...  I hope it at least eclipses the Utopia, as the new SOTA sheriff in town, in planars and dynamic hps... And then 3 years from now, we shall revisit both the Utopia and Edition 6 in order to ask, again, whether they are really the the bosses of the summit they appear to be today, or whether they only represent one more illusory "breakthrough."
 
I remember when the He-1000 (v1) was being touted as possibly "the best headphones in the world," and it has not even been 2 years since I saw that description.  Today, after the appearance of the Utopias, the Ether Flows (regular, and C) etc etc the honeymoon seems to be over, and not even the v2 refresh seems to be doing much to place the He-1000 back at the summit...(Ask Tyll at Innerfidelity who has demoted the he-1000 from his Wall of fame)... I know the new products are changing the sq of cans at the summit, but I have got to ask whether these changes are always for the better SQ-wise, or whether "better" is just "different" hyped by placebo and different shades of "new toy syndrome"?

 

[Tobes]

  ........ $6k for Edition 6 almost sounds quite reasonable, suddenly, in comparison...

That's what they want you to think.....perhaps the real purpose of the Shangri-La.

 

[Jozurr]

Yes, and price on the headphones is US $5,999...

Until the V2 comes out in 6 months and this falls to $3k with people easily losing more than half the value. I see the HEX now being sold for under $900

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

When I got my used pair of he6 for 800 I was shaking partly out of joy and partly out of my own audacity of spending so much on a pair or cans. Fast forward 18 months and he6 is just mid-fi now.

My m11 dac+ first watt j2 + he6 + kef ls50 + svs sb12 sub cost me 6k in total, granted most of them were used. The headphones market is getting ridiculous with these prices. I'd much rather spend on speakers.

 

[EDN80]

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Edition 6? Is this the HE-6 successor? What's the sensitivity?
 
HFM is quickly becoming the Anti-Schiit, with laughable prices, mediocre build quality, and the PR disaster of withholding the v2 pads out of greed. I can't see how they're moving that much inventory. Sennheiser only sold a few hundred of the original Orpheus. I'd be shocked if they sell a dozen Shangri-La.
 
If they're charging $6k for the E6, I got my HE-6 for 12% of that. I'd much sooner buy a high end amp and the Yggy than pad Hifiman's pockets.

 

[Armaegis]

Maybe they're just taking a page out of the Ultrasone playbook... they've certainly got the shimmer and price and even naming convention to match now.