Agreed, I don't get the comments about ringing etc. To me, that is endemic of poor power handling from whatever amp is driving them, not so here
They annoy me though, as they outclass my av setup (although to be fair, I didn't spend that much on it), which means I spend more time watching movies, and even YouTube with these than I really should.
Hi Duncan
Sorry to say, but your conclusion is wrong in both aspects: ringing after signal stop is never caused by the driving amp. After signal stop the amp is electrically inactive, disconnected, so to speak. In fact the ringing has a clear connection with the 6 kHz spike in the Inner Fidelity
graph. Look at the 300 Hz square wave and count the number of ripples per half-wave: there are ten of about the same kind, which doubles to twenty for one wave cycle, multiplied by the 300 Hz makes 6000 Hz. That's undisputably a quite distinct resonance, most likely with a mechanical cause.
Now to the Utopia: There are just under seven ripples per half-wave on the 300 Hz square-wave
graph, which doubles to about thirteen for a full cycle, multiplied by 300 Hz makes 4000 Hz – corresponding to the hump in the amplitude response. But note that this hump and the intensity of the ringing have nowhere near the «quality» in terms of resonant behavior as those in the Pioneer's response.
Another critical aspect in the SE Master 1's measuring data is the extremely high harmonic distortion at low frequencies. The really low distortion figures above 300 Hz are an astonishing contrast. Now the low-frequency distortion won't be audible as such, but it certainly will add warmth and maybe even «texture» to bass notes. I haven't heard the headphone so far, but I can imagine that it will breathe life into some anemic studio bass guitars, making it sound closer to stage equipment. In turn it's likely not an ideal coloration with large classical orchestras, where it may compomize transparency.
In any event there's nothing wrong with liking the SE Master 1 as it is. To each his and her own. Some people like tube sound – I even belong to them myself, although I've found a better alternative. There's no need to defend a product for defending the own sonic preferences. It's even downright counterproductive to dismiss measuring data, which tell one important aspect of the truth after all – even though it's not the whole – for somebody who wants to learn more about audio.
During the move I kept my Shure 1840 out or daily listening. Its no slouch but going from Z1R and SE-M1 to it was a 'audible' downgrade. Keen to hear the M1 tonight. I also managed to get Sony TA-ZH1ES amp (just came in today at office) so tonight should be very interesting
