MrSpeakers AEON Flow Open - Impressions Thread
Feb 6, 2019 at 8:41 PM Post #2,161 of 2,583
I have the Aeon Flow Open and the top of the leather headband has become sticky/tacky. Does anyone know why that happened and what I can do to restore it to the original, smooth condition?
 
Feb 7, 2019 at 1:47 PM Post #2,162 of 2,583
I have the Aeon Flow Open and the top of the leather headband has become sticky/tacky. Does anyone know why that happened and what I can do to restore it to the original, smooth condition?

Never heard of that before. If there's something visual, send us a photo if not, call and ask for Kyle, he's our leather expert.
 
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Feb 7, 2019 at 6:36 PM Post #2,163 of 2,583
AEON Open just won an Editors' Choice award from The Absolute Sound, as did ETHER 2 and VOCE. :dt880smile:

TAS Editors' Choice E2.png
 
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Feb 7, 2019 at 8:35 PM Post #2,164 of 2,583
Never heard of that before. If there's something visual, send us a photo if not, call and ask for Kyle, he's our leather expert.

This is the first time I've seen a leather product do that too. (I have leather wallets, chairs, and car seats.) Visually it seems to be fine, but the surface is so sticky that a lot of dust/lint sticks to it.
I heard back from someone at MrSpeakers (I sent an email couple of weeks ago). They're sending me a new headband and I will send mine back so they can figure out what is happening.
 
Feb 7, 2019 at 9:09 PM Post #2,165 of 2,583
That's really cool seeing so many awards for the AFO's I sure enjoy mine..
 
Feb 8, 2019 at 5:16 PM Post #2,166 of 2,583
Trying out my new AFOs and after a couple hours I'm impressed (with a Woo WA7). Almost as dynamic as my Teaks, but more open, smooth and balanced, and much more dynamic than my Nighthawks (but that's not saying much... much as I love the 'hawks). The only minor things I've noticed is a slight roll off in sub-bass (which I expected) and a touch of sibilance every now and then, although I'm not using any of the filters right now so I might try the black or one-notch white to tame it.

Couple questions -- what are folks preference for the filters (how many are using none?) and is there any burn in with these (beyond brain burn in)? I recall Dan saying the Closed version needed some time to settle.
 
Feb 8, 2019 at 7:16 PM Post #2,167 of 2,583
what are folks preference for the filters (how many are using none?)
For about 10 months listened to them with the black foam pads since they do very little to alter the sound signature and I wanted to have something to protect the drivers from dust and hair.
A few weeks ago I removed the black pads and put in the single notch whites. The sound changes, but I'm not very good at describing what has changed. It feels like instrument layering has improved, because with the black pads or no pads the instruments didn't seem to have this distinct level or tier of distance they were playing on. It's like the single notch white pads inserted a bit of space between the instruments so they don't attack your ears all at the same time. The bass also feels like it gets a bit less bloom but a bit more kick.
 
Feb 8, 2019 at 7:39 PM Post #2,168 of 2,583
For about 10 months listened to them with the black foam pads since they do very little to alter the sound signature and I wanted to have something to protect the drivers from dust and hair.
A few weeks ago I removed the black pads and put in the single notch whites. The sound changes, but I'm not very good at describing what has changed. It feels like instrument layering has improved, because with the black pads or no pads the instruments didn't seem to have this distinct level or tier of distance they were playing on. It's like the single notch white pads inserted a bit of space between the instruments so they don't attack your ears all at the same time. The bass also feels like it gets a bit less bloom but a bit more kick.

White pads increase "dark space" between the notes, it's due to the increase in damping of the driver. It gives better inter-transient silence, making the space between the notes (and instruments) more apparent, and this to my ear is also more lifelike.

This is my preferred tuning, especially for listening at low volumes. As the volume increases I switch to black felt or foam, or for jazz or classical nothing.
 
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Feb 9, 2019 at 1:45 AM Post #2,169 of 2,583
White pads increase "dark space" between the notes, it's due to the increase in damping of the driver. It gives better inter-transient silence, making the space between the notes (and instruments) more apparent, and this to my ear is also more lifelike.

This is my preferred tuning, especially for listening at low volumes. As the volume increases I switch to black felt or foam, or for jazz or classical nothing.

Ah. That dark space makes sense.
I think it is good to make people understand what is its intent.
Majority don't know how to appreciate good paintings, but they start to understand an expert gives his insights on them. I think that also applies here. We including myself need good explanations about why this is good or bad..
 
Feb 11, 2019 at 1:11 PM Post #2,171 of 2,583
It's hard to beat Cavalli bass. Another stellar option for an affordable amp with great bass is the Gilmore Lite mk2.
 
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Feb 19, 2019 at 9:38 PM Post #2,173 of 2,583
After reading through everyone's impressions here decided to pull the trigger on a pair of AFO today. Never had the chance to hear them so I'm pretty excited to see how they sound, should get tomorrow or Friday. Going to be using with my Mojo for now and tossing up between a Lyr 3 and the Gilmore Lite when I listen to the AFO and see what I want with them
 
Feb 19, 2019 at 11:58 PM Post #2,174 of 2,583
After reading through everyone's impressions here decided to pull the trigger on a pair of AFO today. Never had the chance to hear them so I'm pretty excited to see how they sound, should get tomorrow or Friday. Going to be using with my Mojo for now and tossing up between a Lyr 3 and the Gilmore Lite when I listen to the AFO and see what I want with them

I had used the Gilmore Lite 2 and the Chord Qutest to audition ten or more headphones, including the AFO. They had many more expensive amps available, but I had already bought the Gilmore, which is half of the GS-X circuit, and with few frills, for a lot less money. I had found the AFO to be the second warmest sounding cans out of all I had tested, while the Gilmore is analytical, and detailed, and not warm. That amp might be the better match for you. The tube part the Lyr 3 (where I don't understand the circuit as a whole, including why they can use one tube instead of two), may give you a warmer sound, with higher distortion and less detail. I don't trust the distortion numbers Schitt gives for that unit. By simple economics, in terms of its $624 list price including a headphone amp, a DAC and a phono preamp, they must be cutting corners somewhere in that unit (like in the power supply). There's supposed to be unique filament and plate power supplies for the tube specifically, which all things being equal, would raise the cost of the unit, where mid-fi transistor gear would already be cutting some corners by using a shared transformer, rectifier, and capacitors for different sections, with only unique voltage regulators.

Not sure how the Mojo would stack up to either of those, but again, you may want to use a DAC that's not overly warm, and gives lots of detail. It's possible that the Chord Hugo 2 would have my personal amp and DAC combination beat, and it should, for the price.

One thing I do like about the Mr. Speakers line is the ability to use engineered solutions to modify the sound, rather than spending money on dubious aftermarket solutions, and having to deal with listening reports online from people you don't know, not knowing if what's described is real or imagined.

Good luck.
 
Feb 20, 2019 at 12:58 AM Post #2,175 of 2,583
I had used the Gilmore Lite 2 and the Chord Qutest to audition ten or more headphones, including the AFO. They had many more expensive amps available, but I had already bought the Gilmore, which is half of the GS-X circuit, and with few frills, for a lot less money. I had found the AFO to be the second warmest sounding cans out of all I had tested, while the Gilmore is analytical, and detailed, and not warm. That amp might be the better match for you. The tube part the Lyr 3 (where I don't understand the circuit as a whole, including why they can use one tube instead of two), may give you a warmer sound, with higher distortion and less detail. I don't trust the distortion numbers Schitt gives for that unit. By simple economics, in terms of its $624 list price including a headphone amp, a DAC and a phono preamp, they must be cutting corners somewhere in that unit (like in the power supply). There's supposed to be unique filament and plate power supplies for the tube specifically, which all things being equal, would raise the cost of the unit, where mid-fi transistor gear would already be cutting some corners by using a shared transformer, rectifier, and capacitors for different sections, with only unique voltage regulators.

Not sure how the Mojo would stack up to either of those, but again, you may want to use a DAC that's not overly warm, and gives lots of detail. It's possible that the Chord Hugo 2 would have my personal amp and DAC combination beat, and it should, for the price.

One thing I do like about the Mr. Speakers line is the ability to use engineered solutions to modify the sound, rather than spending money on dubious aftermarket solutions, and having to deal with listening reports online from people you don't know, not knowing if what's described is real or imagined.

Good luck.


Thank you very much for your detailed response, it's very helpful. The Gilmore lite is definitely very appealing and I've heard many good things about it. The Lyr 3 has been mentioned in this thread a few times as a good match which is why I was looking at it too, and being able to play around with different tubes seems like a fun, albeit expensive idea too. Can't speak for the internals of it though as I don't really understand too much of that side of things.

Thinking the Mojo should be ok to start with, it's not my end goal but I already have it so figured I'd use it and put some hours into the Aeon and get a feel for the sound signature of it myself and what direction I'd like to go next regarding Amp etc without buying blind.

Are you using the Qutest with your Gilmore Lite? Guessing you find it a nice pairing if you do?
 

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