[506638]

How much is the big phi in Switzerland?

Mine is free in France. I can't even hold it on my head. I must be the first one to face this problem otherwise Abyss would have found and issue. May be rubber bands.

 

[jlbrach]

other than the few people who had bought the Phi and were surprised by a new model perhaps a few days or weeks thereafter i am not sure what the rest of people are complaining about?...all technology continues to improve and nobody would want a manufacturer to have a better product and not release it. I do feel for those who buy a product and find a new one released concurrently and do think those few should be dealt with fairly and i am confident they will be...the rest really have nothing to moan about ....HIfiman put out the HE-1000 and followed it with the v2 and then the SE version...I could list others exactly the same, the discussion is silly

 

[506638]

other than the few people who had bought the Phi and were surprised by a new model perhaps a few days or weeks thereafter i am not sure what the rest of people are complaining about?...all technology continues to improve and nobody would want a manufacturer to have a better product and not release it. I do feel for those who buy a product and find a new one released concurrently and do think those few should be dealt with fairly and i am confident they will be...the rest really have nothing to moan about ....HIfiman put out the HE-1000 and followed it with the v2 and then the SE version...I could list others exactly the same, the discussion is silly

As I've always mentioned, the HE-1000 wasn't widely acclaimed. Even the beta-testers here were mixed. The HE-1000SE was not an improvement to the HE-1000 V2 but had a very different signature. Both of them are still on the market. The HE-1000SE in more a competitor to the Focal Utopia.

It stands out from the sound aesthetic rather "euphonic" and "enveloping" of the two preceding HE1000.
It's more 'technical' actually.

The HE1000 SE and the HE1000 V2 are not designed to the same listeners but to cover all tastes..

You can list others exactly the same, please do it because this is always the HE-1000 case that is used.

"and do think those few should be dealt with fairly and i am confident they will be..." based on what ?

 

[jlbrach]

completely disagree the HE-1000 was very well reviewed and i owned it and loved it and i upgraded to the v2 which was even better....i have not heard the SE....the fact remains no matter what you think of the 1000 and the upgrades that they were indeed upgrades....

 

[mt-hifidelity]

Hifiman can provide an upgrade path because it is based on cheap Chinese labor.
For Abyss, I think it is almost impossible because its manufacturing is based on US labor, which costs whole lot more. Also, Abyss is a small company. Small companies need a healthy profit margin to sustain their business.

In conversations with the Abyss team they mentioned that putting together a new TC headphone is much less cumbersome and time-consuming than upgrading older models Therefore they couldn't make the pricing work for a TC upgrade path. They also talked about how there can now be upgraded 'franken-abysses' out there, with many permutations that create support and resale challenges since the chassis for each could be slightly different, pads, etc etc. The warranty situation gets tricky too.

I don't blame them for not automatically creating an upgrade path. Most high-end audio products don't offer this which is why the ones that do are notable.

 

[mt-hifidelity]

Can't find on you post the explanation why an upgrade is not possible.

"considerably more expensive to manufacture"
Anyway, the manufacturing cost of the 1266 TC is below $1K, that leaves a tremendous profit for you and your sellers. In hindsight, you could put on the market a new model within 6 months now that you are mastering the abilities of your new brother high speed CNC's should fastened your ability to design new models. New one could be the TC AH (TC fitting All Heads, as other TOTL headphones do).And there would be a hudge soung improvment due to the fact that they would fit almost exactly the shape of each head. Then the next one would be TC LP (TC Laser Pads) : each would have individually made Pads that would fit exactly their ears made in 30 minutes via 3D laser the TC MS (TC with Memory Shape pads. Or you new cans might be closed ones. Or a BOTL one because you can't stay on one market segment.

"In hindsight we should have raised the price, of course that possibility is always on the table."
I bet you've spent much more time on this insight than Eric to master your new Brother CNC's (bought six months before you said that the CC would be the last model line : from that, I guess a new TOTL line is already in the pipes). That possibility is always on the table ? How many would you bet you won't do it ? Just do it and you're down and out. The $4K+ market is not a very huge one and there are more and more competitors.

I highly doubt the true cost is below $1000. I work in the software business where many consumers believe the costs are low, when in reality supporting customers and continuously improving the product is incredibly high. The costs are not just materials or even the labor that goes into it. EVERYTHING is gettng more expensive, from the cost of the buildings (or rent) where the team works, the cost of support staff, research testing and development, travel, mktg, etc etc. You know what's still cheap? Throwing bombs and saying 'oh he's not a good businessman.'
Anyway....let's get back to the sound people.

 

[deuter]

I liked the Abyss mostly with this amp..

Thanks for the valuable input, any more recommendations from the rest of the Abyss 1266 users.

 

[Zhanming057]

Thanks for the valuable input, any more recommendations from the rest of the Abyss 1266 users.

Frankly, at that price range I would just run it off a speaker amp and not worry about headphone amps at all.

- My personal choice (and this is what I use to drive all of my cans) is the Nagra Classic INT. If you think that the Headtrip or the Formula S is a good Solid State amp, this thing is on a whole other level. It's so ridiculously overengineered that I can run my IEMs on the taps which are capable of going up to 100w, and there's no perceptible noise floor.
- The First Watt J2 is an excellent amp with great synergy on both the 1266 phi and the Susvara and a fantastic deal, if you can find one used. Very clean amp that works well with both tube pre's (for flavor) and passive pre's (for maximum clarity).
- A Pass INT40 gets you most of the control and dynamics of the Nagra. It's not 100% as good as the Nagra and a bit warmer but I would be very happy to run my Abyss Phi's on one.
- Viva Egoista 845/ Solistino. These are the same amp, the only difference is that the Egoista has a front XLR jack and about 40% more expensive. I love 845 tubes with the 1266 phi, the cans need the midrange density that 845 tubes happily provide. The top 2a3/300b options (Stellaris, WA33e) are also extremely good, but I can't shake the feeling that 300b is a better tube for the Focal Utopia.

 

[tholt]

Frankly, at that price range I would just run it off a speaker amp and not worry about headphone amps at all.

I've been reading about this here and there. How does one safely and properly connect headphones to speaker binding posts? Is the benefit simply a more powerful amp than a headphone amp? Thanks

 

[rumina]

i use the pathos inpol remix (2 x 10w)

you can find this amp used for a great price, tube rolling helps adjusting the sound, i use some siemens cca. i like this chain better then my blue hawaii se /sr-009/sr-007 rig, the headamp has now some holidays @ my attic.

if you whant a new amp it would be the pathos inpol ear (same as inpol remix with some front xlr connection).

nelson pass amps work also fine, had the j2 some time, very neutral, speedy, tube pre is a good idea

for diy the sony vfet from nelson is also great for the abyss , magic mids, fast. i you like tube amps but also the controle of ss amps this is the way to go.

the f5 is more fun oriented, with the abyss it's like a earthquake

all nelson pass amps i heared need some 20 min to warm up (as the blue hawaii se) a thing that let me often choose another amp.

the dynahi is a good diy choice from kevin gilmore, if you like a neutral sound signature with a lot controll this amp is great (this amp and the pathos are the two in use with the abyss ab-1266 pi or abyss diana phi). you can adjust the sound a bit changing the first stage transitors.

one amp i'm interrested in is the riviera audio aic-10, never heared one. more then once i read that the amp is similar to the pathos but even a tad better.

overall try to find a amp with around 2 x 10 watt or a tad up. the 2 x 5 watt from my ksa5 is ok volume whise but you loose a bit authority vs the amps that have a bit more power.

 

[mulder01]

I've been reading about this here and there. How does one safely and properly connect headphones to speaker binding posts? Is the benefit simply a more powerful amp than a headphone amp? Thanks

I think a few companies make 4x banana plugs to 4 pin xlr adapters. I think you just have to not disconnect them with the power on?
Surprised JPS don't make them actually.
Probably would if you asked though?...

 

[Zhanming057]

I've been reading about this here and there. How does one safely and properly connect headphones to speaker binding posts? Is the benefit simply a more powerful amp than a headphone amp? Thanks

The 2 channel used market is a lot bigger and the established players put a lot more R&D into their products. It's both a factor of more people being 2 channel enthusiasts and the fact that companies have been around for longer, and their old products remain highly competitive. At the very high end 2 channel companies use better components (Nagra, Accuphase, Brinkmann, to name a few examples) because you just can't put the same parts cost in a headphone amp and sell enough units to make money.

For something like the Abyss you don't need an attenuator - a simple XLR to spade/banana adapter will work. The headphones can take 15w+ without damage and it's only when you get to the seriously big amps that you run even a small risk of blowing the drivers.

 

[deuter]

The 2 channel used market is a lot bigger and the established players put a lot more R&D into their products. It's both a factor of more people being 2 channel enthusiasts and the fact that companies have been around for longer, and their old products remain highly competitive. At the very high end 2 channel companies use better components (Nagra, Accuphase, Brinkmann, to name a few examples) because you just can't put the same parts cost in a headphone amp and sell enough units to make money.

For something like the Abyss you don't need an attenuator - a simple XLR to spade/banana adapter will work. The headphones can take 15w+ without damage and it's only when you get to the seriously big amps that you run even a small risk of blowing the drivers.

What Inhave read though is the amp output is configured for those low impedance speakers and something like 40-50 ohm load might seem too high and therefore negatively impact the sound.

 

[506638]

completely disagree the HE-1000 was very well reviewed and i owned it and loved it and i upgraded to the v2 which was even better....i have not heard the SE....the fact remains no matter what you think of the 1000 and the upgrades that they were indeed upgrades....

The HE1000 V2 was pitched as containing several tweaks to the original HE1000 that encompassed a mixture of customer feedback and technological improvements to bring about a headphone that Hifiman believed improved on the original formula without breaking away from it altogether.

As Fang put it :
"I believed we could further improve HE1000 V1. So, we listened to feedback and kept working on all year. We are quite happy with how it turned out. Most challenging was to solve the problem that V1 sometimes would sound lean on certain amps."

You should have read all reviews here after the beta test. Even the curves were BAD. The HE-1000 V2 was an upgrade (but the HE1000 stayed on the market for 1 1/2 year, this is 3 times the 1266 CC), similar to the the HE-1000 but without all it's flaws. You have not heard the SE but you consider it as an upgrade. Anyway, I don't remember exactly when the HE1000-V2 was put on the market but it must be 2 1/2 years ago. And when the V2 was issued, there was a limited time upgrade program : you could send back your HE-1000 and have him modified to V2 for... $650. You forgot to mention that.

You stated that you "could list others exactly the same". Just do it.

BTW @Joe Skubinski , as you haven't answered my message, I guess I have done something wrong, I'm not used to MP's. So my serial number is 502 9749.

 

[506638]

Thanks for the valuable input, any more recommendations from the rest of the Abyss 1266 users.

Yes, I'd be interested in a trick for "little heads". Most of my friends faced the same problem (there are different morphologies in various places in the world and that's a basic part of design) and, as for me, it is the first time they can't wear an headphone (we've tried over 10 different ones).

Japanese were clever 40 years ago (even more for reel to reel) : the issued a black K7 supposed to be more in accordance with the occidental tastes : the TDK OC.