[Pastwa]

I have read post today, one said that well driven HEK2 can achieved 80% performance of Sennheiser HE1,

It doesn't surprise me at all. To be honest, the Sennheiser HE1 strength is the whole set up, not just the headphones.

For HD800 owners, I would strongly recommend to try them with a 'dedicated' amplifier like Bakoon HPA-21 or EthernalArts (see link below), this might save them a lot of time and money (by not spending it on an another and another....extremely expensive headphones) and bring finally in some musical satisfaction of the highest grade ;'))

http://www.eternalarts.de/en/node/374.html

ps. sorry for the OT.

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

Found this a moment ago (use google translate if you want to read)
https://www.audionet.com.tw/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=10571&extra=page=1&ordertype=1

Not going to lie, upload this to Pornhub...holy mother of christ, release it in silver...I don't need to explain why, just look at this!!!!

 

[Pharmaboy]

Found this a moment ago (use google translate if you want to read)
https://www.audionet.com.tw/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=10571&extra=page=1&ordertype=1

Not going to lie, upload this to Pornhub...holy mother of christ, release it in silver...I don't need to explain why, just look at this!!!!

I have seen, heard, and handled the silver version of the Empyrean. Yes, it's disturbingly attractive. Not just a beautiful sounding headphone, but a true art object.

I fantasize about an all-black or gunmetal grey version of the Empyrean. I also fantasize about winning the lottery and growing all my hair back.

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

I have seen, heard, and handled the silver version of the Empyrean. Yes, it's disturbingly attractive. Not just a beautiful sounding headphone, but a true art object.

I fantasize about an all-black or gunmetal grey version of the Empyrean. I also fantasize about winning the lottery and growing all my hair back.

Channeling Cow and Chicken's Red Guy: "sue me!"

They're "toying" with three different colors, please let me suggest:
1) Silver
2) Black
3) Champagne, with dark brown earpads and headband, like the old Stax SR-007 MK1 <3

Edited because champagne is a great idea, gunmetal grey and black already look similar, the bronze/black looks good but looks like a Gucci handbag.

 

[endlesswaves]

Agree this is a work of art. With this new tech in it, how can anyone resists it.

Now wondering to start buying lottery or to starve myself till May...

 

[franz12]

Ok. What can I do with $3500? I can buy a pair of decent speakers.

 

[jinxy245]

Ok. What can I do with $3500? I can buy a pair of decent speakers.

So what?

Enjoy your speakers!

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

@franz12 Note that, a speaker with the transparency of a good single driver headphone is very difficult to find, and impossible unless you have the room and money for Apogees, Soundlabs or the new Vivid Giya Spirit (but with an active crossover and 8 channels of amplification), to name a few.
A speaker with a wood cabinet, a bass reflex port, drivers made of disparate materials and with a passive crossover inside is going to sound like a mess compared to something like a good headphone in terms of coherency, transparency, naturalness and detail retrieval. Of course, soundstage size will be better, because it is a speaker (apple to oranges)...resuming, prepare at least 50k for speakers (and +100K for a custom room, headphones are not affected by room acoustics) for something that competes in coherency, naturalness and detail retrieval with a great headphone, but in speaker format.

For 3500usd you can buy many things, depends on your priorities...

 

[Pastwa]

@franz12 Note that, a speaker with the transparency of a good single driver headphone is very difficult to find, and impossible unless you have the room and money for Apogees, Soundlabs or the new Vivid Giya Spirit (but with an active crossover and 8 channels of amplification), to name a few.

On the other hand, people usually end up with only 1 pair of good speakers as opposed to many users with 5-10 pairs of best headphones ;'))

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

On the other hand, people usually end up with only 1 pair of good speakers as opposed to many users with 5-10 pairs of best headphones ;'))

Notice that I said "good headphone", imagine if someone buys 5 different headphones, and those headphones are: Sennheiser HD700, Ultrasone Edition 10, AKG K812, Beyerdynamic T1 and Grado PS-1000.

Then, our imaginary audiophile friend listens to a pair of JBL studio monitors in a dungeon, and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything"

Is our imaginary audiophile friend's statement 100% correct? No, he's just misinformed and has terrible luck while blind buying.
A really good headphone system, like, for example, a Stax SR-007 MK1 and BHSE, is very hard to equal or surpass with speakers, you have to shop for things like Vivid, Soundlabs, YG Acoustics, etc and have a near perfect, custom room for the exact speaker you'll buy for a system that is better in every sound parameter.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Notice that I said "good headphone", imagine if someone buys 5 different headphones, and those headphones are: Sennheiser HD700, Ultrasone Edition 10, AKG K812, Beyerdynamic T1 and Grado PS-1000.

Then, our imaginary audiophile friend listens to a pair of JBL studio monitors in a dungeon, and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything"

Is our imaginary audiophile friend's statement 100% correct? No, he's just misinformed and has terrible luck while blind buying.
A really good headphone system, like, for example, a Stax SR-007 MK1 and BHSE, is very hard to equal or surpass with speakers, you have to shop for things like Vivid, Soundlabs, YG Acoustics, etc and have a near perfect, custom room for the exact speaker you'll buy for a system that is better in every sound parameter.

I just heard the "subjectivity overload" alarm go off...

Everyone hears headphones & speakers differently. And everyone has different tastes & preferences, sonically and in other ways.

To some, these 5 headphones are very good, indeed. Are such people misinformed? Not necessarily. It may just be that they have different tastes.

No matter how much you know (& you do know a lot), at the end of the day your subjective preferences are at least as important as your knowledge.

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

I just heard the "subjectivity overload" alarm go off...

Everyone hears headphones & speakers differently. And everyone has different tastes & preferences, sonically and in other ways.

To some, these 5 headphones are very good, indeed. Are such people misinformed? Not necessarily. It may just be that they have different tastes.

No matter how much you know (& you do know a lot), at the end of the day your subjective preferences are at least as important as your knowledge.

Oh yes, I'm super biased (who isn't?) and wrote that comment based on my subjective sound preferences and personal experience.
I should have included something like "in my opinion" or "in my experience" or "for me" in my previous post.

 

[Beagle]

Notice that I said "good headphone", imagine if someone buys 5 different headphones, and those headphones are: Sennheiser HD700, Ultrasone Edition 10, AKG K812, Beyerdynamic T1 and Grado PS-1000.

Then, our imaginary audiophile friend listens to a pair of JBL studio monitors in a dungeon, and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything"

Then imagine anybody listening to those B&W 700 Series speakers in a good room in a good system and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything".

I sure can.

Headphones cannot provide a natural listen experience compared to loudspeakers. Sure, they can provide more immediate detail, but for overall natural listening pleasure over the long term. Keep in mind, I'm assuming that good recordings are a given. People who are used to MP3 out of a computer would have little use for quality loudspeakers.

I originally got a set of headphones as a "backup" for my speakers, for late night or early morning listening.

 

[jinxy245]

Then imagine anybody listening to those B&W 700 Series speakers in a good room in a good system and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything".

I sure can.

Headphones cannot provide a natural listen experience compared to loudspeakers. Sure, they can provide more immediate detail, but for overall natural listening pleasure over the long term. Keep in mind, I'm assuming that good recordings are a given. People who are used to MP3 out of a computer would have little use for quality loudspeakers.

I originally got a set of headphones as a "backup" for my speakers, for late night or early morning listening.

They are different tools for different listening experiences. You can't really equate them, since they are designed to do things differently. There are as similar as, say a $50,000 car & a 50,000 motorcycle. One is not 'better' than the other (IMO obviously).

You can also buy much cheaper speakers that will get you 90% of the way to those B&Ws (the Andrew Jones designs among others) and make the same argument.

If people want to spend for TOTL items, lets see how they compare to other TOTL items.

I believe the Empyrean was meant to be a statement piece not unlike what you might see at an auto show. The tech found there trickles down to production models.

Either way I applaud what I heard at CanJam NYC, they compare well or better to anything I've heard in it's price range.

As a statement piece, it seems to me to be an achievement.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Then imagine anybody listening to those B&W 700 Series speakers in a good room in a good system and says: "omg, all headphones sux, they sound horrible, speakers are better at everything".

I sure can.

Headphones cannot provide a natural listen experience compared to loudspeakers. Sure, they can provide more immediate detail, but for overall natural listening pleasure over the long term. Keep in mind, I'm assuming that good recordings are a given. People who are used to MP3 out of a computer would have little use for quality loudspeakers.

I originally got a set of headphones as a "backup" for my speakers, for late night or early morning listening.

Headphones & speakers couldn't be any more different. The ways they interface with the listener are radically dissimilar...

Had an interesting experience a couple days ago, along these lines. By way of background:

• I do occasional headphone listening (own 4 HPs, have 2 borrowed at the moment) on any of 5 different amps (4 SS; 1 OTL/tube)
• & I do daily listening (~12 hrs/day) at low volume to a quality amp + passive studio monitors (Wyred4Sound ST-500 amp + ATC SCM12 Pro's).

Though I listen to these ATC monitors all the time, it's usually just background while I work. But the other night something got hold of me, so I cranked them up and started some serious listening. My initial thought was, "My god, these things sound amazing!" Sound was everywhere. Beyond just enjoying the music, I marveled at how totally different the ATCs sound vs headphones (any headphone, inexpensive or endgame).

When you listen to speakers, you're also hearing the room w/its built-in acoustics (good, bad, or indifferent); and the world around you, distant sounds, planes overhead, etc...nothing is shut out. The sonic space is large & physical, somewhat like it is IRL/live music listening.

With headphones, you're in a magic little snow-globe world of ears+headphones. It sounds wonderful, too--a different kind of wonderful...perhaps more intimate & immediate.

I don't see any way to qualitatively compare speaker audio vs headphone audio.