Thanks for the reply. It is precisely this that I was curious about. My question should have been: given one has a good enough amp, does the Woo Wee permit one to have the same audio experience as a dedicated e-stat amp? From your reply, it would seem to be the case. Anyone else?
MrSpeakers Electrostatic Prototype Listening Impressions
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Thanks for the reply. It is precisely this that I was curious about. My question should have been: given one has a good enough amp, does the Woo Wee permit one to have the same audio experience as a dedicated e-stat amp? From your reply, it would seem to be the case. Anyone else?
Is there anything about the tech of the Ether E that is superior to the 009 or is it just a different sound signature?
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Can't say anything about the tech, but the sound sig seemed warmer, punchier and more dynamic relative to the SR-009.
aamefford
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I got to talk to Dan, and look at some of the internal parts. The tolerance he is building to, and holding his vendors to are on the order of aerospace and high rpm Turbomachinery (I've worked in both industries fwiw). This level of tolerance should provide a high level of consistency unit to unit. It should also provide the ability to make small changes to affect sound signature. I guess this doesn't really answer the op, but it is on topic with the original question.
There is tech that makes it different. As I understand it, Dan has some new patents from his Ether line (both planar and estat). Whether you think that makes is "better" is subjective, right? I mean, at the end of the day, if I like the sound of the Ether E better (I do), I'll say yes, the tech makes it better. YMMV.
I heard an even more updated (since I heard it last week) version of the Ether E yesterday on the BHSE and Yggy. That was a really amazing setup. The BHSE is very warm, more than I generally prefer, but the sound overall was amazingly realistic. I have no idea how much of the sonic improvement was due to the amp/DAC vs the headphones, but yeah, this thing is going to be amazeballs.
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The BHSE is very warm? What kind of stat amps (or other) are you listening to usually to say this kind of thing 
. You would not like the ether out of ll2 in that case, at least not the with the iteration of the ether from 1 month ago at fujiya festival.
BTW Dan, did the Ether change a lot since that show? Main issue at that point was the gain and you had a few things in mind.
About the patented stuff in the new estat, is that substantiated or just assuming? Stax themselves aren't patenting anything, only recent major thing I saw was sennheiser with the build in voltage gain in the earcups.
In term of tech, the battle seems to be in the very tight tolerances for manufacturing (even then, some headfiers like wachara do pretty good use common materials) so I read these comment on patents with not a single bit of tech info with a large pinch of salt
.
In regards to headphone voicing / imaging etc, the same kind of work as any other headphone applies (the screens, the pads, their depth/orientation/leakage etc... ). But what was interesting from the conversation with Dan in Tokyo is that he also spent a lot of time testing many parameters of the transducer itself (stators construction / perforations, diaphragm thickness and bias, DS gap etc...).
Cheers,
Arnaud
PS: about the wee, there was a link posted in the stax thread earlier, an horror video about it driving the sr009. The wee can and will burn a hole through your phones if you feed it sufficient voltage, think about it when pairing with an amp. Actually many non stat amps are capable of the same feat when driven hard enough so it's not just applicable to the wee but since we let people chose the amplifier upstream...
. You would not like the ether out of ll2 in that case, at least not the with the iteration of the ether from 1 month ago at fujiya festival.BTW Dan, did the Ether change a lot since that show? Main issue at that point was the gain and you had a few things in mind.
About the patented stuff in the new estat, is that substantiated or just assuming? Stax themselves aren't patenting anything, only recent major thing I saw was sennheiser with the build in voltage gain in the earcups.
In term of tech, the battle seems to be in the very tight tolerances for manufacturing (even then, some headfiers like wachara do pretty good use common materials) so I read these comment on patents with not a single bit of tech info with a large pinch of salt
.In regards to headphone voicing / imaging etc, the same kind of work as any other headphone applies (the screens, the pads, their depth/orientation/leakage etc... ). But what was interesting from the conversation with Dan in Tokyo is that he also spent a lot of time testing many parameters of the transducer itself (stators construction / perforations, diaphragm thickness and bias, DS gap etc...).
Cheers,
Arnaud
PS: about the wee, there was a link posted in the stax thread earlier, an horror video about it driving the sr009. The wee can and will burn a hole through your phones if you feed it sufficient voltage, think about it when pairing with an amp. Actually many non stat amps are capable of the same feat when driven hard enough so it's not just applicable to the wee but since we let people chose the amplifier upstream...
Greggo
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Latest news I could find on these things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jnJsD3U0Ts
After a few years in mid-fi purgatory I am determined to bust out and have only my Audioquest Nighthawk still standing... and then add one or two headphones, the right amp and DAC and cables and done! But man is it hard to figure out what my path is going to be here.
If Dan has really pulled this off the way folks seem to describe, this could be my end game. Will be hard to ignore the new Focal Utopia however, especially since it still works with a conventional amp. But 4k, and a bit heavy, so here I am desperate for more info on the Ether E.
I think folks have mentioned that the E is a tad lighter than the regular Ether open back, so that is a great start, maybe around 350 grams ???
In the video, Dan mentions a price point "less than multiple Ethers" so I am guessing somewhere in the 2,499 - 2,999 US dollars ballpark
Not thrilled that he is running them off a BHSE, as I think those are around $5,600 or more? Order time or availability???
If I add a PM-3 and HD800S to keep my Nighthawk company and cover different moods/situations/locations for headphone listening, then maybe I just have to stop right there and call it done. I could invest in a killer DAC and amp and then maybe add a Focal Utopia as my final personal flagship. No amp worries, though the price and weight are turn offs for me. But if I get an Ether E at a good price of somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,800 I still have to figure out an amp situation that does them justice, at least enough to be a clear step up from an HD800S being driven by a Cavalli Liquid Carbon (my target setup in the next few months...). Anyone have any ideas or advice to help me through my miserable planning? And anyone else get some listening time with these Ether Electrostats?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jnJsD3U0Ts
After a few years in mid-fi purgatory I am determined to bust out and have only my Audioquest Nighthawk still standing... and then add one or two headphones, the right amp and DAC and cables and done! But man is it hard to figure out what my path is going to be here.
If Dan has really pulled this off the way folks seem to describe, this could be my end game. Will be hard to ignore the new Focal Utopia however, especially since it still works with a conventional amp. But 4k, and a bit heavy, so here I am desperate for more info on the Ether E.
I think folks have mentioned that the E is a tad lighter than the regular Ether open back, so that is a great start, maybe around 350 grams ???
In the video, Dan mentions a price point "less than multiple Ethers" so I am guessing somewhere in the 2,499 - 2,999 US dollars ballpark
Not thrilled that he is running them off a BHSE, as I think those are around $5,600 or more? Order time or availability???
If I add a PM-3 and HD800S to keep my Nighthawk company and cover different moods/situations/locations for headphone listening, then maybe I just have to stop right there and call it done. I could invest in a killer DAC and amp and then maybe add a Focal Utopia as my final personal flagship. No amp worries, though the price and weight are turn offs for me. But if I get an Ether E at a good price of somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,800 I still have to figure out an amp situation that does them justice, at least enough to be a clear step up from an HD800S being driven by a Cavalli Liquid Carbon (my target setup in the next few months...). Anyone have any ideas or advice to help me through my miserable planning? And anyone else get some listening time with these Ether Electrostats?
You know what I said when I first heard the Utopia? "These are Ether E good!" Both headphones are top notch and both are on my "if I had way too much money to spend" list. I doubt you could go wrong with either. I think they're tuned just a little differently also.
That said, Ether E is still some ways out, which is why there's very little information on them beyond sonic impressions from shows. It's hard to say what the final price will be, what the amp requirements will be, when they'll be available, etc etc. The only thing I can say for sure is they sound good off the BHSE, Woo WES and Cavalli Liquid Lightning (both versions).
That said, Ether E is still some ways out, which is why there's very little information on them beyond sonic impressions from shows. It's hard to say what the final price will be, what the amp requirements will be, when they'll be available, etc etc. The only thing I can say for sure is they sound good off the BHSE, Woo WES and Cavalli Liquid Lightning (both versions).
Right now the weight is under 330 grams. Also, we're working with several vendors who've pledged to help bring high end affordable amps to market. We're definitely interested in seeing high end electro stats become reasonable for anyone considering a high end headphone.
Greggo
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Thanks for jumping back in here Dan, much appreciated and very encouraging news. I am really looking forward to your production release and also seeing how the industry and consumers all respond. I have only heard an electrostat once, for about 15 minutes, but I was instantly hooked. I am going to press forward with my standard plans for the rest of this year with my liquid carbon on order and a couple of dynamic headphones in my sights, but the next big upgrade will definitely be electrostats and there is a really good chance they will be from Mr. Speakers. Big fan of your company and I have come close a couple of times to pulling the trigger on a regular Ether open, but I think the "E" is going to get the deal done. Please keep it under 3k
I got to try the latest iteration at the recent NY meet up (and bought an Ether C too). Thanks Dan!
It is not overly heavy. It is very comfortable, like the dynamic Ethers. I did not listen long enough to really come to a conclusion about the Ether E vs my Stax 009, but the Ether E is certainly in the same general league as the 007 and 009.
When my BHSE gets here, I'm planning on taking advantage of the two headphone outs for shared listening. I'm thinking I'll either get an Ether E or a Stax L700 (which I have not heard yet).
That is a great goal and your attitude toward the community is one of the reasons I take great pleasure in supporting your company. Your excellent headphones make that pretty easy, of course.
10K electrostatic headphones can KMA.
24grant24
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I hope we get a something cheaper after the ether e is launched. hasn't been anything to change the value equation in the mid-fi area for a while.
Out of curiosity, what price range are you referring to? When I think mid-fi, I think $200-1000 range, and there have been a lot of great entries in that range recently...
greenkiwi
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I think that @24grant24 is likely referring to estat amps. There don't seem to be a very many (to begin with). And most are $$$$
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