Meze EMPYREAN - the First Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone

[betula]

This is not necessary the case. It is just a top amp is needed. People praise Empys with Eufioria (i personally never tried). I listen to Meze with Ayon ha3 and it amazing, punchy sound with tube imagining.

Btw, how would You compare Empys to Susvara? This comparison seems very interesting.

Bare in mind I only had a day of listening experience with the Susvara and I owned the Empyrean for a few years. I tried the Empyrean out of several different DACs/amps while I only heard the Susvara out of the TT2 and TT1.

Based on this limited experience I would say the Susvara is the better sounding headphone and I would probably trade my Empyrean for a Susvara. That said, the price difference in real life is crazy and I don't think it reflects the level of quality difference.

Sure the Susvara is more balanced and more neutral without sounding boring. To me it sounded like 'the perfect headphone'. The Susvara does everything I want from a headphone and doesn't fall short on anything. More technical than the Empyrean and almost equally musical. The Susvara is the untouchable perfection for £5000. The Empyrean's technical performance is quite behind the Susvara. Not as refined, not as detailed. But the Empyrean's warm and engaging sound for less than half the price makes it a very competitive choice. If someone resonates to the level of Empy's musical engagement I can actually see people picking the Empyrean over the Susvara for certain tracks or albums.

EDIT: The Susvara is better overall. But in some cases the Empyrean is more enjoyable.

 

[saudio7]

Perhaps it is synergy more than price, but to my experience £500+ amps generally provided a better result than sub £500 amps. For sure, price is irrelevant. This is only my experience. That Cayin looks nice, but planars in general don't like tubes, do they?
The best Empyrean pairing I heard to date was with current strong SS amps.

As it was mentioned before there are good examples of tube amps I can add one more Octave V16. It is all about synergy.

 

[betula]

As it was mentioned before there are good examples of tube amps I can add one more Octave V16. It is all about synergy.

Synergy and price... The Octave V16 must be astonishing but it retails for £7495.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I

Synergy and price... The Octave V16 must be astonishing but it retails for £7495.

I can second the recommendation tho.
An absolutely impressive amp

 

[betula]

I

I can second the recommendation tho.
An absolutely impressive amp

I believe you guys. Unfortunately it is way out of my budget.

 

[saudio7]

Synergy and price... The Octave V16 must be astonishing but it retails for £7495.

Yes it is.

 

[betula]

Yes it is.

Well, unless one of you invite me to your home for an audition I won't know.

 

[bpiotrow13]

I believe you guys. Unfortunately it is way out of my budget.

Euforia and Ayon are a bit cheaper

 

[betula]

Euforia and Ayon are a bit cheaper

Sure. But I don't easily throw around thousands for only trying a new sound. I really enjoy my Soloist 3XP at the moment. That said, if I have a chance I would love to try something from Feliks Audio.

 

[bpiotrow13]

Sure. But I don't easily throw around thousands for only trying a new sound. I really enjoy my Soloist 3XP at the moment. That said, if I have a chance I would love to try something from Feliks Audio.

Absolutely. Listen first buy later, although many (including me) do otherwise

 

[Hoegaardener70]

This is from a reviewer I usually appreciate. Ouch

 

[ThanatosVI]

This is from a reviewer I usually appreciate. Ouch

This has been posted a few pages back, so reactions/discussion about it is also already here.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

All journeys are different. That is why it is great to share experience.

The best I have heard the Empy from is the Soloist 3XP (power amp mode). Next closest is the Taurus MKII. (DACs were Qutest and ADI2FS).
I tried a few more affordable amps like the THX-789 but the results to me were disappointing.

Would it be worth replacing my ifi pro iCan with the soloist 3xp?

Besides that, sorry for the double post of the review, didn’t catch it was a few pages back.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Lol, I just found this review some pages back. This must be the first reviewer who called the Empy detailed but very bright, nearly piercing .

 

[Hoegaardener70]

This has been posted a few pages back, so reactions/discussion about it is also already here.

Couldn’t find it. Does anybody by any chance remember which page? I’d really like to read the feedback on the good guy, bad audio review. Thanks