Here is one new unit on sale in Austria at
€700
(EURO)
:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/786262/beyerdynamic-astell-kern-akt8ie-iem
This IEM has not many real world impressions because:
1. At $999, most of us would be only considering/upgrading to multi balanced armature.
2. To most of us, it's hard to believe that a single dynamic driver can deliver goods great enough to be $999
3. The AK-tag only clearly hints at its general overpricing policy despite the IEMs being great enough.
4. The AK strong-arm tactics - it insisted beyerdynamic not to sell the IEM through its distribution. It is available ONLY through AK retail shops and authorised dealers. beyerdynamic is just a midwife. Even the warranty seems to be AK's. Not beyer's.
5. In general, most of AK's already little ad spend goes towards advertising its DAPs. This IEM is more like an accessory. AKT5p headphone has decent enough exposure because it has been in market for a few years and word of mouth helped AK community and others to notice it. This new IEM might get enough recognition in due time, if users do realise that a single dynamic driver could be as good, if not better than, some multi BA but I doubt it because anybody who is willing to spend $999 would rather put his dynamic driver past behind and move onto multi BA IEMs or even CIEMs that are not exactly a bad idea in itself.
So, an audition of a broken-in unit might help. Or, buy, use for a few days and return, if unhappy. Last I heard, in addition to many good things about it, it really scales up well with amplification.
Let's continue this discussion via PM. This is Onkyo thread. Sorry.