German Expat in Vietnam
Headphoneus Supremus
Folks, I think the Oriolus Isabellae is totally underestimated because of the low price. I have a very good friend in Germany. We have known each other for almost 35 years. We used to build a lot of speakers together. Inexpensive but also very high quality with Scan Speak Revelator Chasis and high end crossovers with transformer core coils, copper foil coils and so on. A crossover quickly cost over a thousand euros. That only marginally. I recommended the DX 300. He happy like everyone here. Then he told me that he had bought the Vision Ears EXT. I told him about Isa and the Satin Audio Athena. I got him the Isas plus Athena. I get Isas here for $450, just a note. He compared the two editions for 2-3 months.
The result was that in this combination he liked the mid-range, vocals, wind instruments and bass guitars as well as the double bass even a bit better than the EXT. He was a bit ahead in the bass range and in the treble. The difference wasn't as big as expected. His verdict was that he would never have bought the EXT if he could have tried both first. But he also agreed that the Athena is so close. With the original cable, EXT would be the clear winner. So Isa tries it out. I don't think you will be disappointed but the money for the SA Athena cable will be saved.
The result was that in this combination he liked the mid-range, vocals, wind instruments and bass guitars as well as the double bass even a bit better than the EXT. He was a bit ahead in the bass range and in the treble. The difference wasn't as big as expected. His verdict was that he would never have bought the EXT if he could have tried both first. But he also agreed that the Athena is so close. With the original cable, EXT would be the clear winner. So Isa tries it out. I don't think you will be disappointed but the money for the SA Athena cable will be saved.
