[Jazzkammer]

If we refuse to pay through our noses for every small improvement, manufacturers will get the message quickly or else they will be dead and replaced. Takes time but it always happens, look at GM, BlackBerry and Nokia for a great example and how they were replaced despite being number one.
No business is bigger than its customers, stop buying and watch prices go down, afterall prices are set on what customers will pay not altruism on the sellers behalf. If it's genuinely ground breaking, sure I'll pay more but a new revision with a 10% improvement and a 50% price hike is a big nope.
We spoilt the sellers in high end audio and still paying the price for it.

unfortunately that is not true. ultrasone's Ed 10 are notoriously overpriced, representing terrible value, and the dismal sales prove that (only 2010 of them were ever manufactured 3+ years agoand retailers still have plenty left in stock. yet as far as I know, we have yet to see a price drop for the Ed 10s.

 

[purrin]

Quote:

If we refuse to pay through our noses for every small improvement, manufacturers will get the message quickly or else they will be dead and replaced. Takes time but it always happens, look at GM, BlackBerry and Nokia for a great example and how they were replaced despite being number one.

 
Yup. Happens all the time in "high-end" audio. Companies come and go. Or names come back / companies resurrected with different management. It's a pretty rapid churn. Quite amusing if you keep track.
 
BTW, I wanted to clarify a few misconceptions with Tyll's measurements:
 

• The "bass rolloff" is not perceivable. A close inspection of Tyll's FR graph indicates the graph goes way down to 10Hz. Actual roll-off starts at 30Hz. There's very little content below 30Hz for 99% of music (just listen to music while looking at a spectrum analyzer or perform a spectral analysis in Adobe Audition, etc.) And the the roll-off isn't severe: ~5db down at 20Hz. (In other words, it's not like everything below 30Hz suddenly becomes missing.) Even then, bass measurements are highly affected by seal. It's sort of one of those pain-in-the-ass things folks who do measurements have to deal with and always worry about.
• There is a perceivable dip around 5k. However it's not as severe as would be indicated by the FR (remember, the FR is only but one measurement.) I suspect the dip at 5k is partially the result of a measurement artifact, a wave cancellation related to the inner diameter of the pad. Also, in CSD waterfall plots, the 5k dip disappears after the first few initial time slices.
• The AB-1266 30Hz square waves are not very square. This is largely the result of the large measurement dip in the FR at 5kHz. 30Hz square waves can mathematically be derived from FR (but not the other way around).
• If one feels that it's hip for 30Hz square waves to be square, then by all means, get the LCD2/3. Personally, I don't listen to 30Hz square waves. 30Hz square waves sound really bucking nasty.

 

[Duckman]

I found it strange that the Conductor was given the thumbs up by Joe as a good match for the Abyss. It seemed to be the least favoured amp down at Addicted to Audio.

 

[VisceriousZERO]

Quote:

I found it strange that the Conductor was given the thumbs up by Joe as a good match for the Abyss. It seemed to be the least favoured amp down at Addicted to Audio.

 
Maybe it depends on the pairing?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Squarewaves wise, the Abyss looks almost exactly like Hifiman HE400 actually. Take a look.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/JPSLabsAbyssAB1266.pdf
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/HiFiMANHE400.pdf

Actually there's a lot more similarities there beyond the square wave plots (30 and 300Hz). The frequency responses are fairly similar, the distortion seems a bit better on the Abyss, but the impulse response is quite a bit better on the HE400s. Price difference = $5100. 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

 
Maybe it depends on the pairing?

 
Source is important too.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

 
Source is important too.

One may go so far to say it's critical.

 

[citadel]

I just ordered a pair of the Abyss ab-1266.
 
What attracted me to them was that I didnt have to invest in an electrostatic amp (I also have limited desk space as it is),
while getting something on par or as close to possible to the sr-009 (with better bass and soundstage).
 
Hope it will pair well with the audio-gd nfb 27 I have.

 

[purrin]

I'm running the AB-1266 with the LAu which is fricking awesome, but I've also found the lowly $750 Mjolnir very capable. The power demands of the AB-1266 are not insignificant. They seem to be somewhere between the HE-500 and HE-6. Output Z of the NFB-27 is 1 ohm. Rated power into 50 ohms is 6 watts. You should be fine if the specs are correct.

 

[M-13]

Quote:

I'm running the AB-1266 with the LAu which is fricking awesome, but I've also found the lowly $750 Mjolnir very capable. The power demands of the AB-1266 are not insignificant. They seem to be somewhere between the HE-500 and HE-6. Output Z of the NFB-27 is 1 ohm. Rated power into 50 ohms is 6 watts. You should be fine if the specs are correct.

Can't say I'm not jealous... I'm drooling on the floor as I type this.

 
looking forward to your usual measurements/analysis. On this site or another.

 

[purrin]

There up if you check. My results were the pretty much the same as Tyll's.

 

[M-13]

Quote:

There up if you check. My results were the pretty much the same as Tyll's.

Just read the thread.
 
Abyss has balls! LOL

 
The only thing missing from the Abyss threads is Googleli. Where are you Googleli? Still creaming with the LCD-3? Probably driving your McLaren P1 in circles on your 350ft yacht while the super model sitting in the passenger seat serves you caviar. We need you back here and lord over us with your money again. I miss the good o' days on the LCD-2 thread. Perhaps if the Abyss had a bit more cream to it he would return.

 

[purrin]

For how much we got into each other's faces, I do miss Googeli. He had fighting spirit, at a time when the yard narcs let us get away with much more. It's a more gentler kinder HF these days.

 

[citadel]

I just got my Abyss ab-1266.
 
In comparison to the HD800, I would say that it is a better headphone. 
 
It has much better bass, at least as much detail (maybe a little bit more so far), wider (and maybe deeper) soundstage, and a more enjoyable sound signature.
The Sennheiser had equal or slightly better instrument placement (really hard to tell) and comfort.
 
This very brief analysis is without performing any burn in. The amp used was an audio-gd nfb-27.
 
The materials used on this headphone are top notch. Solid and cleanly built. Feels very robust. 

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

I just got my Abyss ab-1266.
 
The amp used was an audio-gd nfb-27.