Thank you. I'm very happy with my purchase. The new Vali was everything I had hoped for. My goal was to find a possible upgrade to what I enjoyed in the Thieaudio Phantom, but with a different vocal presentation. Either there would be a new champion, or it would prove my Phantoms were the best. A fun contest.
The Vali are my new champion. I have only been in the hobby for a short time, so I'm not great at describing sound, but they have the detail of the HE-560's but without the thin sound and lacking treble. They have the great percussion of the Thieaudio Phantom, but with more impact and more specific. They also have the premium, full sound and great vocals like the Focal Elex, but not boring.
I was looking for a specific sound signature and my research and faith are rewarded here. For me, the new Vali sound is not lacking in any way, so my passion to seek the sound I was looking for is over. I do like the timbre of the Phantom a little bit more, but to choose the Phantom over the Vali would be to sacrifice detail, bigger sound stage, superior imaging, vocals & percussion/bass.
This proves to me that although I'm new to the hobby, I can trust my research and I already knew William Murdoch's recommendations are really good and very accurate and my trust in his reviews grows as well.
For anyone taking the time to read this, also want to say dealing with Kennerton has been a pleasure. Very intelligent and patient customer service.
Hi all,
Here the new youtube video made by William Murdock this time for the New Vali 2019.
From what I understand, the new Vali is not much lighter than the old Vali (520 g versus 540 g?) but would be (much) more comfortable to wear thanks to its larger pads dimensions (leaving more room for the ears) and its lower clamping, not to mention its self-adaptability to all forms of heads, without sharp adjustment of the arch, as with the old Vali. (Note: the flexibility of this new headband allows a certain degree of horizontal rotation of the pads, in spite of the lack of apparent axis in this direction).
The soundstage of the new Vali would be a little wider (with a sound a little more open?) than the old Vali; oddly enough, the new Vali would be a little less level in bass than the old Vali (while the curves seen from measurements of the FR would show the opposite), with bass also a little less striking than those of the former Vali; the midds would be very close to the old Vali, creamy, beautiful; highs are a little attenuated (roll-off) as with the old Vali, without making the headphone dark; in any case it is not bright. The new Vali is pretty detailed, but not too much ...
A more complete review of the new Vali will be done in the coming weeks, by the same author.
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