[shinbojan]

I’ve tried some top tier headphones today.
1000se were incredible. Really comfortable with excellent sound quality. Not bright at all (maybe Naim Unity Atom helped).
Aria Organic were pretty good, but nowhere near 1000se. They look a bit cheap in person.
I did not like Empyrean 2 at all. The sound was solid, but something was lacking. I would not pay more than 600 for those, did not like the fit and materials.

How close are 1000 Stealth to 1000se? SE is excellent, but they are above my budget.

 

[Nick727]

I’ve tried some top tier headphones today.
1000se were incredible. Really comfortable with excellent sound quality. Not bright at all (maybe Naim Unity Atom helped).
Aria Organic were pretty good, but nowhere near 1000se. They look a bit cheap in person.
I did not like Empyrean 2 at all. The sound was solid, but something was lacking. I would not pay more than 600 for those, did not like the fit and materials.

How close are 1000 Stealth to 1000se? SE is excellent, but they are above my budget.

I haven't heard the SE, but I own the Stealth and I've watched and read probably every review of the 2. I think the overall consensus is that the SE is technically "better" in that they have a bit more detail and are overall more technical than the Stealth, while the Stealth generally has the more preferable sound signature. If you prioritize technicalities and being the "best", the SE is the way to go but if you prioritize a more easy listen and overall more pleasing sound signature, the Stealth is the way to go. The Stealths are still detail monsters for what it's worth.

Maybe someone who has A/Bed them can give some more detail.

 

[kernel8888]

i havent a/b'd them, but given how close the stealth is to the susvara (which ive owned and a/b'd for 3-4 weeks it cant be far behind.

i think another difference might be bass, the stealth is likely going to have more bass weight than the SE.

ive had both but havent had the se in a long time. The treble on the SE bothered me, but it seems less so on the stealth.

i think they are probably similar enough youd only be able to tell the diff when a/b directly, even the he1000 non stealth i had to really nit pick to find the differences between it and the SE. even then the SE was as much different as it was better.

if the stealth is in your budget and you liked the SE, then its the obvious choice as its going to be very very similar.

 

[Nick727]

i havent a/b'd them, but given how close the stealth is to the susvara (which ive owned and a/b'd for 3-4 weeks it cant be far behind.

i think another difference might be bass, the stealth is likely going to have more bass weight than the SE.

ive had both but havent had the se in a long time. The treble on the SE bothered me, but it seems less so on the stealth.

i think they are probably similar enough youd only be able to tell the diff when a/b directly, even the he1000 non stealth i had to really nit pick to find the differences between it and the SE. even then the SE was as much different as it was better.

if the stealth is in your budget and you liked the SE, then its the obvious choice as its going to be very very similar.

I was just thinking about how the HE1000 line and Susvara are probably the pinnacle of where we're going to get resolution wise with headphones. Doesn't seem like there's much left to do in that area.

Will be interesting to see where the tech and hobby overall goes from here, as the price of headphones have been for the most part correlated to their overall resolution and you can get crazy detailed headphones like the HE1000 Stealth for ~$1K used.

 

[Satriany]

It is true that I got a as knew he1000 stealth for 1000€ and it is a great deal.
It is confortable, well built and reacts very well to eq as the response has no accident and it has a lot of margin I think.
Then you can even turn this bright headphone into a warmer headphone.
You keep the great staging.

 

[Slackaveli]

It's a fabulous deal and one only rivaled by Tungsten SS right now at this price tier.

 

[psy472]

it's the ADI-2/4 Pro SE, but the FS also ran the HEKS with zero issue. Not even close to max volume.. people really overestimate headphone power requirements. I'm at like 50% high gain on the WM1ZM2 and it only puts out 500mw.

The output is 250mW per channel for the Sony Walkman. Yes you can still have pretty loud volumes from the HEK with that, but I think leylandi meant you won’t be able to get the full performance with that kind of output. That performance can range among resolution, body and texture, and low frequency clarity and slam.

 

[psy472]

i havent a/b'd them, but given how close the stealth is to the susvara (which ive owned and a/b'd for 3-4 weeks it cant be far behind.

i think another difference might be bass, the stealth is likely going to have more bass weight than the SE.

ive had both but havent had the se in a long time. The treble on the SE bothered me, but it seems less so on the stealth.

i think they are probably similar enough youd only be able to tell the diff when a/b directly, even the he1000 non stealth i had to really nit pick to find the differences between it and the SE. even then the SE was as much different as it was better.

if the stealth is in your budget and you liked the SE, then its the obvious choice as its going to be very very similar.

The HEK stealth is fine. I suspect the difference between stealth and SE version has more to do with the DAC/amp synergy than a major sound improvement between SE and the stealth. As far as how it’s comparable to the Susvara, that’s only if you are using mid fi level DAC and Amps. Once you scale up the chain, the Susvara will leave the HEK far behind. This is also why people were using the Susvara on that 108K USD tube amp at CanJam to check the amp performance.

 

[Slackaveli]

The HEK stealth is fine. I suspect the difference between stealth and SE version has more to do with the DAC/amp synergy than a major sound improvement between SE and the stealth. As far as how it’s comparable to the Susvara, that’s only if you are using mid fi level DAC and Amps. Once you scale up the chain, the Susvara will leave the HEK far behind. This is also why people were using the Susvara on that 108K USD tube amp at CanJam to check the amp performance.

Im curious if the DS will be able to scale up as well as Sus.

 

[Satriany]

The HEK stealth is fine. I suspect the difference between stealth and SE version has more to do with the DAC/amp synergy than a major sound improvement between SE and the stealth. As far as how it’s comparable to the Susvara, that’s only if you are using mid fi level DAC and Amps. Once you scale up the chain, the Susvara will leave the HEK far behind. This is also why people were using the Susvara on that 108K USD tube amp at CanJam to check the amp performance.

It is pretty bad looking!

 

[jcgriff]

I know this is an older post but I have both the V226 and the V380 and they're both great with the HE1000 Stealth.

 

[bagwell359]

i think another difference might be bass, the stealth is likely going to have more bass weight than the SE.

It does - esp in the mid bass

 

[bagwell359]

Which amplifiers would you recommend for HEK stealth in the 2k price range?

Rag 1 used ~$650, Rag 2 $999 - then upgrade your source, plus drive your speakers too

 

[Slackaveli]

Flux Mentor - $1299. No SS touching that in that price range.

 

[psy472]

Flux Mentor - $1299. No SS touching that in that price range.

And no SS touching that amplifier in even in 4 times the price.