So I finally got to audition the Stealth at a local HiFi summit (Sound-Society in Aarhus Denmark), which was my first summit. Super exciting! Listened to headphones mainly, but also to speaker systems that went from a couple grand up to 500.000€.
I came there with the hopes of listening (mainly) to the He1000 Stealth to get some initial impressions. For reference, I am an owner of the He1000 V2, 3.5 mm (non-Stealth) with an EF400 Dac-amp, new to the hobby. I originally auditioned the Ananda, Arya Stealth and the Susvara before ultimately taking the plunge on the He1000 V2's - but it was a blind purchase since, I just could NOT find them to audition anywhere.
The room with Hifiman products was almost completely empty for hours (crazy, but a lot of people were downstairs listening to speakers), so I got to sit with them for quite a while, in peace, and trying them out on a few amplifiers (mainly the Violectric DHA V590-2, and the HPA V222). The booth also had heaps of other cans for me to contrast and compare (got to revisit the majestic Susvara that sat with the Enleum, but also Ananda, Arya, Meze Empyrian and Elite, and the D8000Pro).
So! Initial impressions! (take everything with two scoops of salt - I'm new here, and just sharing my impressions the best that I can).
-Overall, the Stealth sounded great! Very detailed, though not overly so. It seemed like a great allrounder, with authoritative bass (more mid-bass than the He1000 V2's) and extended yet polite(ish) treble. Key differences, outside of detail and imaging, were that the vocals were definitely a bit more recessed than on the He1000 V2's, and I had the sensation of being in a smaller room with the music. I could just write soundstage, but being new to the hobby I would rather describe the sensation I got than pretend to have heard dozens of cans to be able to comment on their relative soundstage. Drums sounded amaaaazing on the Stealth (I'm a drummer, so I really appreciated that).
(Pictured below)
While I listen to a lot of genres on an everyday basis (I'm into both experimental rap, art-pop, some heavy & punk) my main listens with the He1000 V2's are with singer-songwriter, acoustic and alternative music (think Adrianne Lenker/Big Thief, Ben Howard, Bon Iver and Black Country, New Road). This is the music that I love to just sit down with and get swept away in emotions. And for those genres I seemed be
closer, more emotionally connected to the music with the original He1000 V2's than with the Stealths. It wasn't that the vocals were just louder in the mix, it is as if the singer is presented in a more (non-expert jargon here) 'vulnerable' way, with an airy but really potent quality to vocals.
-I know auditory memory is not something to rely on, and I know that HiFi Summit places are not equivalent to at home listening, but with this carpeted, curtain-draped old hotel room that I had to myself for an hour I would say was a pretty good opportunity for close auditioning.
I've also never heard my own He1000 V2's on anything other than the EF400, so a next step for me is to bring them both to a local dealer, who have just gotten the Stealths on hand, compare further, and also try out both cans on various chains. I'll let you know how it goes.
Here's a photo of the He1000 V2, sitting at home:
Oh, and notable mentions from the summit: The dCS stack (with a LCD-5) was bonkers. I would love to have heard that stack with any higher-end Hifiman can. I tried out the Chord line-up and wish that I could spend more time the Hugo TT2 and M-scaler. Also, the Audeze CRBN electrostats were actually very reminiscent of my He1000 V2's, and I liked them A LOT.
Thanks for reading along!
for $1299, but after enough musing about it, I thought, "what the hell," and just pulled the trigger on the HE1000 V2.
And I also thought the price was too good to pass up.
