[[H]ardwareNick]

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Hahaha, yes indeed. I didn't want it to sound like an advertisement for A2A (so I was careful not to mention where I tried them out) because the purposes of this was for the Abyss, but props to the guys over at A2A. They're pretty awesome.

 
Meh, facts be facts (you were there and there is nowhere else in Australia you could have tried the Abyss) and all power to A2A for being probably the only retailer of its kind if Australia where you have lots of proper headphone gear to audition and buy at non rip-off prices. Btw, in case I didn't already mention it - thanks for the nice review posted OP.
 
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Yes, they are planning on selling them. You should head in after your exams to have a listen.

 
Yeah, iirc from my last chat with George, they were bringing in 3 of the Cavalli Audio amps as well as the GS-X Mk2 over the next few months.
 
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If a direct competitor to the LCD-3s, why all the 800 references? From a price comparison, the 9s would be the natural comparison but since the 800 seems to have it bested, why bother?

 
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That's true. I want whatever the guys at JPS were smoking when they decided to come with up with the current price tag.

 
Using the very valid logic of these two quotes combined, I struggle to see where JPS is trying to land this headphone. Needless to say the next time I'm in, I'd love to try the Abyss for myself and compare it to the HD800 and LCD3 as I'm very familiar with both of their sound signatures.

 

[etherlite]

I was lucky to be able to try the Abyss before I leave Australia for good in A2A (first customer to try them ), special thanks to George and Rendra, best customer service as well. Sorry for the delay on the impression, I'm still sorting my stuffs.
 
My setup that day was AK120 - Arcam D33 - WA22 - Abyss. Tried replacing the DAC & amp with schiit gungnir-mjolnir combo but it doesn't sound as nice. I with I could listen with my Lampizator lv4 and Liquid Fire, but I already packed them in my suitcases
 
Impression-wise, I agree with scolaiw, the soundstage is amazing and the bass is really kicking your ass, was listening to Scorpions - Tainted Love and I was shocked by the drum in the intro!!
 
The only negative point is that I wish JPS labs could give more mid to the abyss, I'm using LCD 2 rev1 and I love mid.
 
The question is: Is this headphone worth the 5000$ price tag? I don't know. To be honest, I was listening to the abyss with minimum burning-in (just opened the previous night) and a setup that was deemed not enough to bring the abyss' true potential
 
Pictures taken by myself, sorry I just used Xperia Z so it won't be as nice as A2A's pics
 

 

 

[scolaiw]

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Interesting review.
btw the Blue Hawaii is an electrostatic amp and should not be used with the Abyss.

Whoops, I meant the HeadAmp GS-X. In my head I automatically call all HeadAmps Blue Hawaiis just cos I like the name. Hahaha.
 
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Meh, facts be facts (you were there and there is nowhere else in Australia you could have tried the Abyss) and all power to A2A for being probably the only retailer of its kind if Australia where you have lots of proper headphone gear to audition and buy at non rip-off prices. Btw, in case I didn't already mention it - thanks for the nice review posted OP.

Well I suppose I could have not been in Australia when I auditioned them...? Haha but yeah, as you say, facts are facts.

Anyway, cheers!

 

[wink]

Quote:scoliaw

Whoops, I meant the HeadAmp GS-X. In my head I automatically call all HeadAmps Blue Hawaiis just cos I like the name. Hahaha.

Easily done - could be a Freudian slip.
 
Lock the wallet away unless you want to go there (Stax heaven).

 

[alvin sawdust]

If it is as good as you say it is and they priced it in the lcd3 price bracket, they would sell bucket loads. food for thought .

 

[DefQon]

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If it is as good as you say it is and they priced it in the lcd3 price bracket, they would sell bucket loads. food for thought .

 
Indeed.

 

[preproman]

Why are they so greedy?

 

[wink]

Exclusivity.

 

[scolaiw]

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Why are they so greedy?

Exclusivity.

You guys have it the wrong way round. Greed is not the question, but the answer.

Why are they trying to market the Abyss as an "exclusive" item? Greed. 

 

[DefQon]

They'd get more sale and attention if they priced them around $1.5-2k.

 

[Cante Ista]

Agreed! seems like they are getting a lot of negative press here at Head Fi, largely due to price. Personally, a company pricing their item largely to present the image of exclusivity really rubs me the wrong way. I kind of feel bad for people who bought them. Likely, they either got ripped off or  score high on vanity. I wonder if there is anyone out there who listened to them with other TOTL HPs  for caparison and then bought them. 

 

[wink]

They'd sell far more at $200, but they would go broke quicker than you could say bankrupt.

 

[scolaiw]

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They'd sell far more at $200, but they would go broke quicker than you could say bankrupt.

 
Hardly, JPS Labs is doing well selling their cables at ridiculously marked up prices and people are still buying them. 

I reckon they've just extended their cable marketing strategy to their first pair of headphones and hoping that it will pull through for them. 

 

[stang]

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Introduction

Today, I managed to hear the new Abyss planar magnetic headphones and boy was I excited.

The salesperson assured me that they were the first distributor worldwide to get the Abyss which is nice. 

Given the asking price of more than $5000 (that's Stax SR-009 level) and as a direct competitor to the LCD 3s, I couldn't tell if I was more excited by the potential for brilliant SQ or just the novelty of such a pair of cans.

I was sitting at that exact spot today 

 Gave the LCD-2, LCD-3 and Abyss a listen. I was only listening through a Mjolnir which was probably a good thing as the Abyss didn't blow me away. If they did, I don't know what I would do as I can barely stretch for the LCD-2's price tag. They sure felt a lot lighter than the LCD-2 or LCD-3 but that was to be expected due to its design and construction. I was surprised at how much bass they put out considering how these are worn as well. 

 

[grokit]

They seem like $2,000 headphones. Add $1,000 for "exclusivity and vanity", so okay $3K... but $5K?
 
Maybe they're just not worth making really hard to make.