[DougD]

To start I will use a Ragnarok 2 since I have it on hand and I'm using it to supercharge my Susvaras. When I finally am able to get the Audeze CRBNs, I'll see how the Ragnarok sounds through the iESL into the CRBNs. I haven't gotten into the tube world, but there are endless solid state amps I can try if the Rag/iESL/CRBN combo is not to my liking. Lot's of possibilities!

Ragnarok --> iESL --> CRBN was my plan too.

Pretty much a dream, because I don't have any of those parts yet, but a man's gotta dream.

 

[deafenears]

Pretty much a dream, because I don't have any of those parts yet, but a man's gotta dream.

Pretty much going to be nothing but a dream if it's true that the iESL is discontinued. @iFi audio, any comments?

 

[iFi audio]

Pretty much going to be nothing but a dream if it's true that the iESL is discontinued. @iFi audio, any comments?

We're running out of stock on these, but our local retailers should still have some.

 

[Miiksu]

We're running out of stock on these, but our local retailers should still have some.

How many units did you make?

 

[iFi audio]

How many units did you make?

We don't specify that information.

 

[Miiksu]

We don't specify that information.

Ok. I understand. No harm done. I'm one of the happiest owners. I'll check your future products in the future when I need to upgrade.

 

[iFi audio]

Ok. I understand. No harm done. I'm one of the happiest owners. I'll check your future products in the future when I need to upgrade.

Sure, all good and thanks!

 

[DougD]

We're running out of stock on these, but our local retailers should still have some.

How many units did you make?

PLEASE SERIOUSLY CONSIDER ... offering the iESL on DROP periodically.

From your point of view, that would let you efficiently source parts and build a known, pre-sold, quantity. You could specify a minimum quantity, to make sure the manufacturing run is big enough to be worthwhile for you. Wouldn't compete with your retail channel if the product is now discontinued as a regular item.

From the consumer's point of view, we'd still have the option of getting an iESL down the road, for use with the apparently growing variety of competitive e-stat headphones in the market.

I'll add that DROP seems to do pretty well selling the KOSS ESP-950 e-stat headphone. The h/p is reportedly remarkable for the price, but the included amp is marginal. So the iESL would be an easy upgrade path, for folks who have a suitable 2-channel amp. So there's some extra potential synergies there.

 

[iFi audio]

PLEASE SERIOUSLY CONSIDER ... offering the iESL on DROP periodically.

Suffice it to say, we did some projects with DROP already, but it's difficult to say whether we would do something that involves iESL.

 

[DougD]

Suffice it to say, we did some projects with DROP already, but it's difficult to say whether we would do something that involves iESL.

Understand. I hope iFi Audio does decide to go the DROP route on the iESL at some point in the future as a special/occasional product, but it's a business decision with a lot of factors to consider, to be made some time in the future.

 

[iFi audio]

but it's a business decision with a lot of factors to consider

It sure is, but if we'll do something with DROP again in the future, this community will be the first to know about it

 

[BassicScience]

I wanted to say thanks to @BTD1 for the heads up about the iESL being discontinued. After hearing the Hifiman Shangri-la Junior at the recent CanJam, I was impressed enough to place an order for one a couple weeks ago, and it's currently being held up in US Customs. Since this will be my first e-stat, I needed to arrange amplification, and the iESL seemed to be a fantastic option. Since I already own a couple of powerful Class D amps (which I love driving my Susvara), I was loathe to spend kilobucks on a separate e-stat amp right out of the gate. The iESL is compact, versatile, and reasonably priced, so I ordered one before iFi even confirmed that it was discontinued, and was very fortunate to grab one of the last available units. It arrived a few days ago, and I have been listening to the Susvara through it until my Shang Jr. arrives (hopefully soon).

The iESL is a well-engineered piece of gear. It feels solid and the controls have a nice tactility. Connectors and binding posts are excellent quality as well. My only minor nits would be:

1. I could do without the orange "floodlighting" emanating from the top of the unit. It would also be nice to have a dimmer (and/or off switch) for the backlit iFi logo.
2. The lettering by the control knobs is hard to read in daylight, impossible in dim light.
3. The downside to the compactness of the unit is that the speaker connections are not well-spaced. I'm going to look into locking banana connectors in lieu of spades to mitigate this issue.

So how does it sound with the Susvara? I've been driving the iESL with my NAD M22 V2 on its lowest gain setting (19 dB). The 4-pin adapter that was hanging off the amp is now attached to the speaker outputs of the iESL, which allows me to easily compare the sound directly out of the NAD vs. through the transformer in the iESL. After playing around with the impedance options on the iESL, I settled on 24 ohms as my favorite both for its tonal profile and that its output level is roughly the same as bypassing the iESL. After a few nights of listening, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the transparency of the iESL. Clearly, the engineering that went into the transformer is paying dividends sonically. I'm not entirely sure I could pass a blind test between the Susvara directly from my NAD amp vs. with the iESL in the chain. I think listening through the iESL yields a slight increase in bass punch along with a very slight decrease in treble energy. The imaging may be just a tad more precise directly from the amp, giving the subjective impression that one is slightly farther from the stage. Which I prefer depends on the music being played and perhaps my mood. Again, these are not dramatic differences, which is good in my view. It's great to have the option to so conveniently use or bypass the iESL for non-estats. Also, for more sensitive headphones than the Susvara (basically everything), one can simply increase the impedance of the iESL and use a speaker amp to drive them.

I will update this thread when I receive the Shangri-la Junior regarding how it sounds out of the iESL. Based on listening to the Susvara, I'm rather optimistic that the Shang Jr. will also play well with the iESL. Unfortunately, the only amp comparison I will be able to offer in the short term is to the dedicated Hifiman amp for the Shang Jr., and that only from my memory of the CanJam system. In the next few months, I'll probably be able to compare the iESL to a BHSE and potentially other dedicated e-stat amps, and will certainly plan to report on those experiences here.

It really is a shame that the iESL has been discontinued! I hope iFi reconsiders or develops a successor, as there is definitely a strong niche for quality e-stat energizers, particularly with the recent emergence of several new TOTL e-stat headphones.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I wanted to say thanks to @BTD1 for the heads up about the iESL being discontinued. After hearing the Hifiman Shangri-la Junior at the recent CanJam, I was impressed enough to place an order for one a couple weeks ago, and it's currently being held up in US Customs. Since this will be my first e-stat, I needed to arrange amplification, and the iESL seemed to be a fantastic option. Since I already own a couple of powerful Class D amps (which I love driving my Susvara), I was loathe to spend kilobucks on a separate e-stat amp right out of the gate. The iESL is compact, versatile, and reasonably priced, so I ordered one before iFi even confirmed that it was discontinued, and was very fortunate to grab one of the last available units. It arrived a few days ago, and I have been listening to the Susvara through it until my Shang Jr. arrives (hopefully soon).

The iESL is a well-engineered piece of gear. It feels solid and the controls have a nice tactility. Connectors and binding posts are excellent quality as well. My only minor nits would be:

1. I could do without the orange "floodlighting" emanating from the top of the unit. It would also be nice to have a dimmer (and/or off switch) for the backlit iFi logo.
2. The lettering by the control knobs is hard to read in daylight, impossible in dim light.
3. The downside to the compactness of the unit is that the speaker connections are not well-spaced. I'm going to look into locking banana connectors in lieu of spades to mitigate this issue.

So how does it sound with the Susvara? I've been driving the iESL with my NAD M22 V2 on its lowest gain setting (19 dB). The 4-pin adapter that was hanging off the amp is now attached to the speaker outputs of the iESL, which allows me to easily compare the sound directly out of the NAD vs. through the transformer in the iESL. After playing around with the impedance options on the iESL, I settled on 24 ohms as my favorite both for its tonal profile and that its output level is roughly the same as bypassing the iESL. After a few nights of listening, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the transparency of the iESL. Clearly, the engineering that went into the transformer is paying dividends sonically. I'm not entirely sure I could pass a blind test between the Susvara directly from my NAD amp vs. with the iESL in the chain. I think listening through the iESL yields a slight increase in bass punch along with a very slight decrease in treble energy. The imaging may be just a tad more precise directly from the amp, giving the subjective impression that one is slightly farther from the stage. Which I prefer depends on the music being played and perhaps my mood. Again, these are not dramatic differences, which is good in my view. It's great to have the option to so conveniently use or bypass the iESL for non-estats. Also, for more sensitive headphones than the Susvara (basically everything), one can simply increase the impedance of the iESL and use a speaker amp to drive them.

I will update this thread when I receive the Shangri-la Junior regarding how it sounds out of the iESL. Based on listening to the Susvara, I'm rather optimistic that the Shang Jr. will also play well with the iESL. Unfortunately, the only amp comparison I will be able to offer in the short term is to the dedicated Hifiman amp for the Shang Jr., and that only from my memory of the CanJam system. In the next few months, I'll probably be able to compare the iESL to a BHSE and potentially other dedicated e-stat amps, and will certainly plan to report on those experiences here.

It really is a shame that the iESL has been discontinued! I hope iFi reconsiders or develops a successor, as there is definitely a strong niche for quality e-stat energizers, particularly with the recent emergence of several new TOTL e-stat headphones.

Hoping for a Black Label Version. Thx for sharing the impressions.

I wonder how it compares to the Mjölnir SRD-7 for estats

 

[BTD1]

I wanted to say thanks to @BTD1 for the heads up about the iESL being discontinued. After hearing the Hifiman Shangri-la Junior at the recent CanJam, I was impressed enough to place an order for one a couple weeks ago, and it's currently being held up in US Customs. Since this will be my first e-stat, I needed to arrange amplification, and the iESL seemed to be a fantastic option. Since I already own a couple of powerful Class D amps (which I love driving my Susvara), I was loathe to spend kilobucks on a separate e-stat amp right out of the gate. The iESL is compact, versatile, and reasonably priced, so I ordered one before iFi even confirmed that it was discontinued, and was very fortunate to grab one of the last available units. It arrived a few days ago, and I have been listening to the Susvara through it until my Shang Jr. arrives (hopefully soon).

The iESL is a well-engineered piece of gear. It feels solid and the controls have a nice tactility. Connectors and binding posts are excellent quality as well. My only minor nits would be:

1. I could do without the orange "floodlighting" emanating from the top of the unit. It would also be nice to have a dimmer (and/or off switch) for the backlit iFi logo.
2. The lettering by the control knobs is hard to read in daylight, impossible in dim light.
3. The downside to the compactness of the unit is that the speaker connections are not well-spaced. I'm going to look into locking banana connectors in lieu of spades to mitigate this issue.

So how does it sound with the Susvara? I've been driving the iESL with my NAD M22 V2 on its lowest gain setting (19 dB). The 4-pin adapter that was hanging off the amp is now attached to the speaker outputs of the iESL, which allows me to easily compare the sound directly out of the NAD vs. through the transformer in the iESL. After playing around with the impedance options on the iESL, I settled on 24 ohms as my favorite both for its tonal profile and that its output level is roughly the same as bypassing the iESL. After a few nights of listening, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the transparency of the iESL. Clearly, the engineering that went into the transformer is paying dividends sonically. I'm not entirely sure I could pass a blind test between the Susvara directly from my NAD amp vs. with the iESL in the chain. I think listening through the iESL yields a slight increase in bass punch along with a very slight decrease in treble energy. The imaging may be just a tad more precise directly from the amp, giving the subjective impression that one is slightly farther from the stage. Which I prefer depends on the music being played and perhaps my mood. Again, these are not dramatic differences, which is good in my view. It's great to have the option to so conveniently use or bypass the iESL for non-estats. Also, for more sensitive headphones than the Susvara (basically everything), one can simply increase the impedance of the iESL and use a speaker amp to drive them.

I will update this thread when I receive the Shangri-la Junior regarding how it sounds out of the iESL. Based on listening to the Susvara, I'm rather optimistic that the Shang Jr. will also play well with the iESL. Unfortunately, the only amp comparison I will be able to offer in the short term is to the dedicated Hifiman amp for the Shang Jr., and that only from my memory of the CanJam system. In the next few months, I'll probably be able to compare the iESL to a BHSE and potentially other dedicated e-stat amps, and will certainly plan to report on those experiences here.

It really is a shame that the iESL has been discontinued! I hope iFi reconsiders or develops a successor, as there is definitely a strong niche for quality e-stat energizers, particularly with the recent emergence of several new TOTL e-stat headphones.

I am happy to pass along any useful information I come across pertaining to this audio hobby we all are caught up in. I have the Susvara as well and I am glad to see you post which impedance level works best for you. I haven't done much experimenting with the selections, but I am going to try 24 ohm impedance as you suggest to see how that sounds out of the speaker jacks of my Ragnarok 2. I am anxious to get hold of some Audeze CRBNs to play around with them through the IESL and Rag 2.

 

[Miiksu]

I wanted to say thanks to @BTD1 for the heads up about the iESL being discontinued. After hearing the Hifiman Shangri-la Junior at the recent CanJam, I was impressed enough to place an order for one a couple weeks ago, and it's currently being held up in US Customs. Since this will be my first e-stat, I needed to arrange amplification, and the iESL seemed to be a fantastic option. Since I already own a couple of powerful Class D amps (which I love driving my Susvara), I was loathe to spend kilobucks on a separate e-stat amp right out of the gate. The iESL is compact, versatile, and reasonably priced, so I ordered one before iFi even confirmed that it was discontinued, and was very fortunate to grab one of the last available units. It arrived a few days ago, and I have been listening to the Susvara through it until my Shang Jr. arrives (hopefully soon).

The iESL is a well-engineered piece of gear. It feels solid and the controls have a nice tactility. Connectors and binding posts are excellent quality as well. My only minor nits would be:

1. I could do without the orange "floodlighting" emanating from the top of the unit. It would also be nice to have a dimmer (and/or off switch) for the backlit iFi logo.
2. The lettering by the control knobs is hard to read in daylight, impossible in dim light.
3. The downside to the compactness of the unit is that the speaker connections are not well-spaced. I'm going to look into locking banana connectors in lieu of spades to mitigate this issue.

So how does it sound with the Susvara? I've been driving the iESL with my NAD M22 V2 on its lowest gain setting (19 dB). The 4-pin adapter that was hanging off the amp is now attached to the speaker outputs of the iESL, which allows me to easily compare the sound directly out of the NAD vs. through the transformer in the iESL. After playing around with the impedance options on the iESL, I settled on 24 ohms as my favorite both for its tonal profile and that its output level is roughly the same as bypassing the iESL. After a few nights of listening, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the transparency of the iESL. Clearly, the engineering that went into the transformer is paying dividends sonically. I'm not entirely sure I could pass a blind test between the Susvara directly from my NAD amp vs. with the iESL in the chain. I think listening through the iESL yields a slight increase in bass punch along with a very slight decrease in treble energy. The imaging may be just a tad more precise directly from the amp, giving the subjective impression that one is slightly farther from the stage. Which I prefer depends on the music being played and perhaps my mood. Again, these are not dramatic differences, which is good in my view. It's great to have the option to so conveniently use or bypass the iESL for non-estats. Also, for more sensitive headphones than the Susvara (basically everything), one can simply increase the impedance of the iESL and use a speaker amp to drive them.

I will update this thread when I receive the Shangri-la Junior regarding how it sounds out of the iESL. Based on listening to the Susvara, I'm rather optimistic that the Shang Jr. will also play well with the iESL. Unfortunately, the only amp comparison I will be able to offer in the short term is to the dedicated Hifiman amp for the Shang Jr., and that only from my memory of the CanJam system. In the next few months, I'll probably be able to compare the iESL to a BHSE and potentially other dedicated e-stat amps, and will certainly plan to report on those experiences here.

It really is a shame that the iESL has been discontinued! I hope iFi reconsiders or develops a successor, as there is definitely a strong niche for quality e-stat energizers, particularly with the recent emergence of several new TOTL e-stat headphones.

I have a feeling that you need to try a different amplifier. Try a high quality tube amp with better tubes if you have money for that. Also equalizing helps if not suited to your ears. I have modified my estat and equalized them to my liking. Sound is like earth is in space and you are looking at it from the space station. Hope that was not too confusing