[Christer]

We love to hear what you are about to say. I myself also am considering in upgrading my V2s to SE because I cant stand the upper midrange forwardness of the V2. I prefer my 500s and 6s more.

That is an interesting observation and something comparing both my old HD800 and the HEDD also made me a bit more aware of again, recently.
But does HEKSE really solve that problem?
I only have by now rather vague memories of auditioning the SE with TT2 /Mscaler in Singapore a few years ago. But to me it sounded similar to my HEKV2 in that respect ie bright but very open and clear upper midrange.
My memory of Susvara though is that it does not have that problem at all.
Susvara is the most convincing planar I have auditioned to date.
On the other hand the upper midrange is a region where my HD800 can sound a bit bright and hard too, but the HEDD laid back and even a bit coloured and closed in, in comparison.
The HEDD never sounds overbright in that register, rather somewhat dull compared to the other two,imho and my systems.
But the HEKV2/HEKSE exchange offer sounds tempting anyway.
Cheers CC

 

[joseph69]

All you can do is compare the SE with the memory of the V2 (which is what I had to do - and in my case the SE won quite comfortably )

Good point and I definitely want to compare them side by side.
I guess my best bet is to borrow them from The Cable Company as I've mentioned before, but just haven't gotten around to doing.

 

[UntilThen]

Good point and I definitely want to compare them side by side.
I guess my best bet is to borrow them from The Cable Company as I've mentioned before, but just haven't gotten around to doing.

I think I know your taste Joseph. I'll bet a dollar that you will prefer He1000se.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Good point and I definitely want to compare them side by side.
I guess my best bet is to borrow them from The Cable Company as I've mentioned before, but just haven't gotten around to doing.

I owned HEKv2, purchased a used HEKse and compared them for a while. I felt like the HEKse wasn't a huge upgrade over HEKv2, but I did hear it as significant enough to make me sell v2. See these posts for some early impressions:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15628428
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15633575
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15637250

 

[silversurfer616]

Have just ordered a HE-1000se from A2A in Melbourne. Had the HE6, HE-500 and HE6SE before.
Decided against Susvara because I want to simplify everything and just use a TT2. Mildly excited…well, I expect a lot.

 

[TheAttorney]

I myself also am considering in upgrading my V2s to SE because I cant stand the upper midrange forwardness of the V2. I prefer my 500s and 6s more.

They both have an open, airy, forwardness, but it occurs at different frequencies:

All headphones have all sorts of dips and peaks in their FR, but the particular one that bothered me with the HEK V2 was a peak approximately around 8 kHz.
At the time, I felt it necessary to tone that down with Roon's PEQ (around -3db dip at 8.3 kHz) - despite the downside of Roon's DSP generally impacting transparency.

The HEK SE doesn't have that particular treble peak (it's actually got a dip at that frequency according to some FR charts).
But it does have a peak approximately around 4 kHz and maybe another smaller one around 6 kHz. Different graphs show different outcomes, so this is not an exact science, and each headphone coming off the production line may well have slight variations anyway.

Whatever, the key point is that I found the SE less troublesome than the V2 in this area - to the point that Roon PEQ's loss in transparency was greater than whatever gain I could get from adjusting SE's FR. So I currently listen quite happily to the SE with no EQ.

But at the end of all this, the SE is still a touch too forward to be tonally perfect. That doesn't stop me from loving it, but it's not tonally perfect. So if you don't like that kind of tonally forward presentation, then you may also not like the SE - unless you're prepared to EQ it.

As a different reference point, I couldn't stand the HD800S - I felt its tonal balance was considerably worse than V2 or SE. But on one occasion, I did hear a heavily modified HD800 and that sounded fine. So many variables.....

 

[joseph69]

I think I know your taste Joseph. I'll bet a dollar that you will prefer He1000se.

I'll have think about that bet for a dollar being it is a big gamble and I don't want to risk losing it so I'll let you know when I get around to getting the SE.

I owned HEKv2, purchased a used HEKse and compared them for a while. I felt like the HEKse wasn't a huge upgrade over HEKv2, but I did hear it as significant enough to make me sell v2. See these posts for some early impressions:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15628428
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15633575
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-he1000-se.886228/post-15637250

Thanks for the links to your impressions, I'll give them a read tonight.

 

[Bob Ley]

I just got my SE's today from the upgrade program. They're great but I wish I had the V2's side by side cause I can't determine if these are $1000 better from memory. I do remember how impressed I was when I first heard the V2's. I can't say the same thing so far with the SE's. If they're brand new, do they need burning in? The V2's I bought from HiFiman were open box so they have been broken in somewhat.

Curious what other V2 to SE upgrader's think. (I did read all the recent posts)

 

[smodtactical]

Anyone compare the HE1000SE to Solitaire P on the same chain ?

 

[UntilThen]

When comparing high end headphones, I've never question whether one headphone is worth that much more than another headphone. When I heard Susvara on Chord Hugo TT2 + M'Scalar > Auris Nirvana, I did not not question whether it's worth AUD$7600 vs the AUD$4500 He1000se but Susvara in that setup is better no doubt.

When I listen to He1000v2 vs Se, the difference is there and it's not negligible. V2 has more body and sound more 'full' in tone. Se certainly resolves better. Details are outstanding. High end is sparkly and not fatiguing. Bass is tighter. I like it. Both have equally wide soundstage. However there will be some who will prefer the V2 ... like my friend who owns the V2. You have a choice... or maybe not as the V2 are no longer on sale.

Lastly you do need to burn in the Se.

When I had the 2 headphones together for a week and listening with two 300b amps.

 

[Bob Ley]

When comparing high end headphones, I've never question whether one headphone is worth that much more than another headphone. When I heard Susvara on Chord Hugo TT2 + M'Scalar > Auris Nirvana, I did not not question whether it's worth AUD$7600 vs the AUD$4500 He1000se but Susvara in that setup is better no doubt.

When I listen to He1000v2 vs Se, the difference is there and it's not negligible. V2 has more body and sound more 'full' in tone. Se certainly resolves better. Details are outstanding. High end is sparkly and not fatiguing. Bass is tighter. I like it. Both have equally wide soundstage. However there will be some who will prefer the V2 ... like my friend who owns the V2. You have a choice... or maybe not as the V2 are no longer on sale.

Lastly you do need to burn in the Se.

When I had the 2 headphones together for a week and listening with two 300b amps.

Thanks

 

[deafenears]

Have just ordered a HE-1000se from A2A in Melbourne. Had the HE6, HE-500 and HE6SE before.
Decided against Susvara because I want to simplify everything and just use a TT2. Mildly excited…well, I expect a lot.

I would be happy if there were a HEKSE version with rounded/circular cups rather than the oval/teardrop. Just something about the oval-shaped cup just doesn't sit right on my head/face.

 

[silversurfer616]

I am confident it sits better on my head than the Abyss1266Phi. I need pads that make love to my ears…1266 couldn’t do it.

 

[hawk13]

For anyone who wishes Hifiman sold leather pads for the drop-shaped cups (HEK, Arya, etc.), hope is not lost. While this was not an easy process, it is quite simple. All you have to do is buy the pads you want (I bought mine on eBay from a guy who hand makes them in China), slip in the plastic clip ring (from old pads or Hifiman), and then trim/glue down the edges of the pad so that the pad edge doesn’t stand above the plastic tabs. My wife is the one who did it, and she did not take pictures during the process. But here is the final product:

 

[smodtactical]

Apologies for jumping in since I haven't owned —or ever even listened to— the HEKSE, but since I've listened to the Susvara against the Abyss AB-1266 and the Final D8000 (which I owned, albeit briefly) on a friend's reference system that included the Rockna Wavedream Signature gen.1 (MSB modules) and the Trafomatic Primavera, I can honestly say I do not expect any headphone to come closer to TOTL levels of poise, refinement and overall competency across the full spectrum than the Susvara. It truly is a remarkable achievement and since I auditioned them they've become branded in my heart and mind and still haunt my audiophile dreams!

So it's true that it costs a bunch especially if paired with equally TOTL gear, but once you pay the admission ticket* it could very well be the only case where the word "endgame" might actually mean there's nowhere to go after. IMHO, that alone is probably reason enough to qualify it as a good bargain —any other choice and you'll be loosing money over the itch of upgrading to something better! I say, if you got the money spend once and then you'll merely be looking for different flavours to satiate your appetite rather than still have this feeling of something missing from the recipe.

* Plus, at this level you probably need the better accompanying gear regardless of whether you 're paying for the Susvara or the HEKSE.

P.S. One good —and slightly cheaper— option over the Nimbus would be the Acoustic Masterpiece AM201-H, which is a push-pull integrated amplifier that has a headphone out feeding directly from the main circuit. As the output is driven by the headphones' own impedance, there's never going to be a shortage of power for a pair such as the Susvara. Tried and tested by a reviewer friend of mine, it's my dream scenario if only I had the money to put my back to it...

Was it the Abyss TC? In your comparison did you find the Susvara sounded a fair bit smaller and less resolving/detailed than TC?