Marlowe
500+ Head-Fier
I wouldn't rely on using lower case/caps to differentiate between two different models for multiple reasons. not least because posters here are frequently careless and/or indifferent to their use of capitalization. Ditto for punctuation, grammar, and intelligible writing. I'm sorry (well, not really) to be pedantic, but as a retired attorney who also spent years writing/editing legal reference books, I take these things very seriously. (Of course, I'm talking about people whose first language is English. I am frequently impressed how well those here from non-English speaking countries express themselves in English. To loosely paraphrase Professor Henry Higgins: Why can't the English-speakers (most particularly my fellow Americans) learn to write?) Anyway, I'd call the HEK Special Edition the SE (or, if you must, se) and the HEK V2 Stealth Magnet edition the Stealth. See how much less confusing that is?That’s the HEKse not the HEKSE.
Hifiman and their nomenclature
In any event, I've had the HEK Stealth for several weeks and have fallen in love with it. I liked my Arya Stealth a lot, but the $1400 price tag for a headphone that was essentially $3K not that long ago proved too enticing. I found the upgrade over the Arya Stealth to be bigger than I expected. While there is obviously a lot of similarities in the sound signature of both headphones, there are a few pretty significant differences. While I found the bass quality of the Arya Stealth to be terrific, it was a little light in bass quantity; the HEK Stealth is not. Bass is much more prominent in the HEK and bass lines (I'm a bass guitar aficionado) are much easier to follow. Resolution is also clearly improved. But the biggest--and to my ears the most surprising--difference was in imaging. While the Arya Stealth is very good at this (and is an absolute steal at its current price), the HEK Stealth is even better. Sound stage is bigger in every dimension, instruments are even more precisely placed, and it is much more holographic. I upgraded with Hifiman for my Arya Stealth and $705USD (a product of the recent Arya Stealth price drop to $759) and I don't regret a single penny.
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