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Super fied - Apart from customer services issues, could you please share your experience on the 18 Pro compared with 16 / 13 Pro? I currently own the UE18 Pro, what are the differences I should expect if I am getting my hands on the 13 /16 respectively, soundwise?
Hey googleli,
If you read my post a couple of pages back, I mentioned this
"I love the 18s. I said before as compared to the 13s, the listening experience is akin to that of being in a concert hall, the soundstage is massive on those babies while the 13s seem like you're listening to the music in a more intimate setting. The 18s are constructed very differently, having a custom tubing encasing the drivers to direct sound into your ears. That may explain why I'm often hearing details or layers of the mix "outside" of my head before the music gets piped into it. It's a weird feeling I tell you."
So in short, I found the 18s to offer a wider soundstage and to be a little more analytical than the JH customs. I thought the mids came out pretty well on the 18s as well,which also could explain why I didn't like it paired with the TTVJ slim.
It brought the mids a little too forward for my liking. Correction, I hated the pairing. I loved the 13s with the TTVJ slim. It was splendid! Everything was presented in a somewhat perfect balance.(Pity I wasn't going to spend anymore on portable amps as I am concentrating on my STAX and Dynamic rig)
If you were looking at another custom to get on the JH camp. I'd really be hard to pressed to tell you which. I
I'll also take the opportunity to address Fortis's question as well on which amp to use.I do have 3 amps at my disposal which I own and I think I pretty much found which goes with which.
The pico slim and paired very well with the 13s-Really loved how the veils of my music were removed and how the bass was a lot more improved on the 13s, lending a very nice "thump" to the bass spectrum, HOWEVER, I had a good listen with it on my 16s and I didn't like the fact that it made the bass of my 16s sound boomy and taking away the improved clarity it had brought to my customs. Wasn't a fan of it at all, to say the least.
The protector was to have been paired with my UE-18s-oved it like anything when I had it. The RSA sound signature sounds more "in your face" typically. Soundstage was also noted to be wider than that of my other 2 pico amps. When I refunded my 18s, I thought that was it and I wanted to sell the protector away.Fortunately I was wrong. When I paired it with my 16s, the overall sound signature of the 16s sounded much more "robust" and I really loved how aggressive it sounded. Everything just felt "in place" and the 16s were already sound very very dynamic, more so than that of my 13s. It was really fun checking out the different genres like deep house, jazz, contemporary and progressive rock amongst others to hear that extra oomph in my music. In short, it really sounded as if I was in the concert/studio.Very nice.
The pico amp/dac combo went well with my 13s which was my first foray into portable amps.The pico phat sound, IMHO, is a lot more laid back and warmer than that of the pico slim. I enjoyed it a lot with my 13s and I didn't really see the need to try it out extensively with my 16s as it was outgoing to a friend of mine. But I heard it for a short while and thought it sounded pretty alright with the 16s, nothing fantastic from the top of my head.
In short, my portable setup is pretty simple-
Pico slim/(ttvj slim, if ever someone was considering that), no I don't own it. with 13s
Protector with 16s (highly recommended by me)
With regards to the 3 customs, do I have any regrets owning any of them?No. However you might want to consider the 13s over that of the 16s if you are looking for a more versatile custom that will do well with just about any amp because of its relatively neutral frequency response. The 16s may be a little more tricky to match with amps as I found that it was excellent in the mids besides the added bass of course-lending to the more dynamic nature, something which you already have with the 18s (in terms of the mids)
Disclaimer:These are just my personal opinions and experiences based on the equipment that I actually own/owned. So don't shoot the messenger if you think the messenger is delivering crap yes?
