[BassicScience]

Actually, this the one issue I did have previously that I mentioned in I think this thread or another. An intermittent very low level distortion, that has pretty much gone away. I believe @BassicScience detected it a few times as well when I loaned them to him. Every now and then it comes back shortly, but it's very rare, which is why it just slipped my mind.

I did detect an intermittent hissing sound in your SGL on one of the channels, but that was clearly noise, and not a signal distortion. It was also below 16 kHz, as I can't hear that high anymore. FWIW, I heard a similar sound from one of the channels of my SGL Junior shortly after I purchased it, but HifiMan exchanged it quickly for a new unit, and it hasn't been an issue since. Estats (and their amps) seem more prone to niggling issues than other driver types. Understandable given the high voltages involved.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I did detect an intermittent hissing sound in your SGL on one of the channels, but that was clearly noise, and not a signal distortion. It was also below 16 kHz, as I can't hear that high anymore. FWIW, I heard a similar sound from one of the channels of my SGL Junior shortly after I purchased it, but HifiMan exchanged it quickly for a new unit, and it hasn't been an issue since. Estats (and their amps) seem more prone to niggling issues than other driver types. Understandable given the high voltages involved.

Thanks for the distinction. And that's totally correct, it was low level noise, not distortion across any frequency range. And if it had continued, I definitely would've sent it in like you did yours. And also agree, many of the issues I've had with stats, I've simply not had with non-stats.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I finally could audition the Shangri La Sr on its own amplifier.
The staging airyness and detail were impressive, however it lacked bass compared to all other high end estat setups.

Namely:
- Sennheiser HE1
- Warwick Arperio
- X9000 on Feliks Estat prototype
(- Immanis on Envy AE)

The Shangri La Mini was dissapointing.
It feels cheap in hand and sounds tinny and thin. (It doesn't look bad though)

I don't know the price but even for 1k I'd rather get one of their planar offerings

 

[Exekuhtor]

Yeah, the general opinion is to not use the Shangri-La Senior energizer, especially for its price.
I think the Shangri-La Mini is just a repurposed Jade 2, in my opinion the Junior isn't even that competitive when the same company makes Susvara.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Yeah, the general opinion is to not use the Shangri-La Senior energizer, especially for its price.
I think the Shangri-La Mini is just a repurposed Jade 2, in my opinion the Junior isn't even that competitive when the same company makes Susvara.

Yeah the Mini might be a repurposed Jade 2. I also had an interesting Chat with the Hifiman rep about the frequent revisions and reasons behind that.

Regarding the Shangri La Jr. I agree it's no competition for the Susvara, but at the same time doesn't cost nearly as much.

7k for Susvara alone vs 8k for Shang Jr + Energizer. The headphones alone are like 4k