[musicman59]

   
A WA5 with good glass is a very different beast. Those stock tubes are all kinds of suck.

+1

 

[negura]

  I'm going to be sending my he1k's back. They are a very nice headphone but lack refinement build quality wise and are a bit too polite in their sound for me. I also think I got a beta ver. as the headband is on the smallest setting and I have a normal sized head.

 
Not surprising to me. More than a few have returned the HEK, including myself. They are good headphones though, for about $1000 RRP.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

   
Not surprising to me. More than a few have returned the HEK, including myself. They are good headphones though, for about $1000 RRP.

A recommended retail price of $1,000.00, what are you smoking?!?!
 
Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.

 

[negura]

A recommended retail price of $1,000.00, what are you smoking?!?!

Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.

The modded HD800 are of course untouchable by the HEK in their strength areas and genres. The HEK are better with pop and compressed modern music. My modded HE-6s are imo actually overall slightly superior in all genres, hence my suggested RRP for the HEK. The LCD-3s should cost about $800 imo and yes the HEK are a bit better. But I do like a couple of things about the Audeze.

 

[preproman]

 
A recommended retail price of $1,000.00, what are you smoking?!?!
 
Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.

 
Vastly?? Nope, can't agree there.  Better in some areas yes.  The HE-6 has it's strengths as well that the HE1K can't touch.   

 

[doctorjazz]

 

Not surprising to me. More than a few have returned the HEK, including myself. They are good headphones though, for about $1000 RRP.

A recommended retail price of $1,000.00, what are you smoking?!?!

Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.

+1...the HEK are so much better than the $1000 headphones I own (HE-560 and Koss ESP-950), not even close. Whether it is 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 times better I have no clue, never could calculate that stuff. They may not have your favored presentation, which is more an issue of taste than SQ. Now, if you want to argue that ALL mid level to TOTL headphones should cost maybe a third of what they do, I'd second you there (so should BMWs and Lexuses..Lexi?). But, in technical terms, they are so much better than the 1k cans I have, haven't been able to listen to the 1k and below cans, think I have to sell them off. Are they perfect? Nope! Being imperfect means some of the imperfections will be troublesome to some listeners.
Now, my next topic, World Peace.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Not good - the best :wink_face:

Rochefort 10 is made from distilled angel tears infused with unicorn blood. A complex delight in every sip.... :tongue_smile:

How about a trade, some Kentucky Bourbon for a case of Rochfort?

 

[up late]

The modded HD800 are of course untouchable by the HEK in their strength areas and genres. The HEK are better with pop and compressed modern music. My modded HE-6s are imo actually overall slightly superior in all genres, hence my suggested RRP for the HEK. The LCD-3s should cost about $800 imo and yes the HEK are a bit better. But I do like a couple of things about the Audeze.

the hd800 still impressed after listening to the he-1000 and abyss

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Vastly?? Nope, can't agree there.  Better in some areas yes.  The HE-6 has it's strengths as well that the HE1K can't touch.   

OK, Daryl, I debated the word vastly, figured you would respond. You are right, I prefer the HEK to the HE-6, soundstage and excellent tone/texture are important to me. The HEK is better, vastly was an overstatement.

I find the HEK much better than my modded 560s, which I preferred to the Ethers at the Nashville Meet.

 

[jsgraha]

 
Shame, they really come alive after 100 hours or so. The build quality on mine is pretty good, better than my Audeze's but not tank like the Abyss which is a good thing as they are very comfortable to wear for a while.

Yes, I do agree. I did come alive after 100 hrs. Up till 80 hrs, it sound quite dark. I had to use my most aggressive tubes combo on stratus. Started about 120 hrs onward, it sound so close to modded hd800, Currently on 200 hrs plus, I used exactly the same tubes as HD800. IMO, they are a great companion phone to HD800. It's vocal seem had a sweeter tone in them (although in the similar level in bright-dark scale). It didn't have the attack of 800, but they are still close (I haven't heard HE6). They are quite transparent as well, though different from HD800. Their transparency seem to come to how effortless the flow of music and liquid its presentation (better than 800 in these regards), and I could hear the difference in these aspect between playing same song on TIDAL and jplay mini. While using HD800, the difference between TIDAL and jplay seem to on the edge and smoothness the sound being produced.
 
Even though not hard in term of amplification (only about 10% in volume compared to 800 using stratus), it seem scaled as well from schiit vali-GO720 to stratus-yggy. But using vali-GO, they were much better than HD800 though.
 
So far out of my setup, I seem to still prefer modded 800. They sound more lifelike listening to acoustic instruments and classical. HE1000 seem to offer different point of view, adding a tiny bit of sweetness. I quite like them though, so I think that's the reason of being a great companion phone. After listening to 009 from BHSE and abyss, I would say HE1000 still a good phone as a companion to both 009 and abyss, not a replacement. IMO, HE1000 will be an upgrade from Audeze though.
 
I have zero regret upgrading from LCD-X

 

[Wildcatsare1]

The modded HD800 are of course untouchable by the HEK in their strength areas and genres. The HEK are better with pop and compressed modern music. My modded HE-6s are imo actually overall slightly superior in all genres, hence my suggested RRP for the HEK. The LCD-3s should cost about $800 imo and yes the HEK are a bit better. But I do like a couple of things about the Audeze.

Thanks, will see what I think of the HD800 in my system later this week. My apologies if my statement was over the top, this is indeed a hobby steeped in personal preferences.

 

[up late]

and hyperbole and diminishing returns

 

[sometic13]

Since so many are giving their opinions I thought I should as well. Remember a person's opinion is just ONE opinion. Some like to give the impression (for one reason or other, eg. they think they have better hearing etc.) that their opinions are better than others. As such they think that their repeated assertions will convince others. Actually they are just showing their insecurities about their viewpoints. My personal opinion is that the HEK is currently the best available headphone in the market. Whether 3K is too expensive is up to each individual to decide taking everything into consideration. There are some who think a 30K interconnect is reasonably priced. I feel the price of the HEK is ok especially when there are more expensive and less capable ones in the market - SR009 and Abyss. Both are not comparable, IMO. The SR009 has many strengths but falls flat when it comes to low end. It's difficult for me to listen to music without good low end whether it be classical or popular. In classical low end is crucial as it gives weight to the music even in solo instruments like the piano. I play the cello and I find it quite difficult to listen to this instrument on the Stax. It just does not sound like the instrument. As for the HD800 this headphone has many flaws as many have pointed out. Of course, many others love it too. The soundstage is just too unrealistic. I used to have a cheap headphone (with a switch!). The soundstage sounds closed without the switch on. But when I flip on the switch wow! the soundstage suddenly becomes unnaturally wide! The HD800 reminds me of that. It sounds gimmicky. As for build quality I think SR009 has the edge though some have complained about the headband being easy to come off. I think the HEK will suffer from that problem as well. Oh yes, I have the HE6 too. That's a great headphone but generally loses out to the HEK IMO. I don't like to compare with modded headphones so I have no idea if it's better.

 

[Hifi59]

[quote name="Wildcatsare1" url="/t/748334/hifiman-he1000-planar-dynamic-flagship/4995#post_11760026

Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.
[/quote]

In reference to the LCD-3(f) you couldn't be more wrong on that one! They are simply magical and well worth their asking price IMHO.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

[quote name="Wildcatsare1" url="/t/748334/hifiman-he1000-planar-dynamic-flagship/4995#post_11760026

Of your headphones, the only one that gives them a run for their money is the HD800. The HEK is vastly superior to the HE6 and the LCD 3 is truly the most overpriced headphone on the market.

In reference to the LCD-3(f) you couldn't be more wrong on that one! They are simply magical and well worth their asking price IMHO.[/quote]

Hence my comment on personal opinions, many love the Audeze sound, I don't.