[DefQon]

Nothing wrong being an orthohead. 

 

[Joe Skubinski]

We've tried all possible transducer designs over many years. Our initial design was a Heil folded ribbon (I've done trade shows with and appreciate the work of a man who worked with Heil).

The Abyss AB-1266 is not an orthodynamic design, it's a single pole planar magnetic. The term "orthohead" need not apply.

 

[scolaiw]

Quote:

We've tried all possible transducer designs over many years. Our initial design was a Heil folded ribbon (I've done trade shows with and appreciate the work of a man who worked with Heil).

The Abyss AB-1266 is not an orthodynamic design, it's a single pole planar magnetic. The term "orthohead" need not apply.

Will you look at that! Joe 'president of JPS Labs' Skubinski himself responded. 

Joe, how do you guys justify the price? Do you believe with proper amplification the sound quality will be better than a Stax SR-009 or a Sennheiser HE-90? Are there merits of the Abyss that we have perhaps overlooked?

 

[M-13]

^
+1
 
Yeah Joe, a more detailed explanation of all the new tech inside and why it's so costly to produce them might give us a better appreciation for the Abyss. I hate to think most of the cost is amortization for R&D and new equipment you purchased. I would like to know more about the Abyss if you care to explain how it's different from other planar magnetic designs in current production.

 

[alienfox]

addicted to audio?

 

[n3rdling]

I wanna know what the name came from (especially the AB-1266 part).  Interesting there's already an Abyss smiley here

 

[scolaiw]

Quote:

I wanna know what the name came from (especially the AB-1266 part).  Interesting there's already an Abyss smiley here

Hahaha, better than the way Sony names their products. 

And it appears that that smiley isn't on server but something Joe attached. Speaking of which, I've always wondered why there's no HD 600/650 smiley given that together, they perhaps encompass more head-fi audiophiles than any other headphones.

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

So you have heard them? You like them more than the stats, that says something. Come on someone, give these things an extended listen.

 
Quote:

Dbel is an orthohead so keep that in mind as well.

 
Quote:

Does that mean we should give his views on the Abyss more or less creedence?

It seems to me that Cavali has some sort of relationship with Abyss. There are photos of LAu and the Abyss on Cavali website. I don't know whether that is because Cavalii loves the sound of these headphones that much or that there is a business agreement driven by other considerations -- i.e. marketing one of the most expensive SS amps with the most expensive headphone (outside of e-stats) for the sake of image. I want to underscore that I do not know the reason and I believe that Cavali folks have tons of integrity. But when a company markets with another company I keep that in mind when I see one talking about another's product. It is not that I do not trust it, but I do want more folks posting seriously thought out impressions to add weight to the positive impressions above. Besides if dbel likes orthos (i.e. Audeze's) then I could see how he'd not rank the009 very high -- totally diff sound sig. I wonder what Tylor at Innerfidelity thinks about them. He love LCD3s. The piece by him I saw online was conspicuously empty of any impressions.

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

The Abyss AB-1266 is not an orthodynamic design, it's a single pole planar magnetic. The term "orthohead" need not apply.

Orthodynamic/isodynamic or not it is just a thrown marketing term since the Yamaha/ vintage Fostex days with there old headphones and mean the same thing regardless of the design of having a voice coil in the middle of the charged diaphragm or not. Yes the correct technical term for which all these fall under is planar magnetic technology. Since most users here are more familiar by the term "Orthodynamic" rather than planar magnetic, this was the reason I used the term to describe dbel's infatuation with planar magnetic headphones.

 

[dBel84]

@ Cante Ista : I appreciate your apprehension and although I do not work for Cavalli , I think it is clear that he is a dear friend and that I am involved with CA more than the average headfier. He runs a one man show and as such can get overloaded and it is more so at these times that I lend a hand, much like I would do for any other friend. I strive to retain a sense of neutrality , but I really like the gear Alex designs. I have built practically every amp he designed in the DIY forums, and tested many that never made it to the forums for various reasons - usually because he figured out a "better" way to do something and thus released the improved versions for DIY. This obviously changed when he started his commercial company but we have remained friends and I occasionally test concepts. This is my own doing as I enjoy this part of the hobby more than most things - tinkering. I do not own a headphone that has not been modified in some way, nearly all headphones are tested against a certain spec and this is offered to the public at large. When you know how to tailor something to suite yourself, it is difficult to leave it alone. That said, the only dynamic headphone I have kept is the K501, I really like it and it does so many things well. It does not have the agility of the planarmagnetics ( of which I own my fair share ) and thus I am intrinsically drawn to planar designs. I do not dislike stats either, I think they do many things well but in large, I have not felt that I was missing anything by not buying into the stat hype.  I probably don't take myself seriously enough. I should probably allow Alex to address the affiliations he has with Stax, Audeze, Sennheiser, HiFiMan and JPS amongst others. These are the products he has at shows and are often photographed with his electronics. The Abyss does benefit from serious amplification, (for the "orthoheads" it is less sensitive than the infamous wharfedale isodynamic ) , the Liquid Gold is serious amplification. He could have used the HE6 but there is a new toy on the block. To my knowledge, ( no lets say it outrightly ) there is no financial agreement between CA or any other vendor.  
 
..dB

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

@ Cante Ista : I appreciate your apprehension and although I do not work for Cavalli , I think it is clear that he is a dear friend and that I am involved with CA more than the average headfier. He runs a one man show and as such can get overloaded and it is more so at these times that I lend a hand, much like I would do for any other friend. I strive to retain a sense of neutrality , but I really like the gear Alex designs. I have built practically every amp he designed in the DIY forums, and tested many that never made it to the forums for various reasons - usually because he figured out a "better" way to do something and thus released the improved versions for DIY. This obviously changed when he started his commercial company but we have remained friends and I occasionally test concepts. This is my own doing as I enjoy this part of the hobby more than most things - tinkering. I do not own a headphone that has not been modified in some way, nearly all headphones are tested against a certain spec and this is offered to the public at large. When you know how to tailor something to suite yourself, it is difficult to leave it alone. That said, the only dynamic headphone I have kept is the K501, I really like it and it does so many things well. It does not have the agility of the planarmagnetics ( of which I own my fair share ) and thus I am intrinsically drawn to planar designs. I do not dislike stats either, I think they do many things well but in large, I have not felt that I was missing anything by not buying into the stat hype.  I probably don't take myself seriously enough. I should probably allow Alex to address the affiliations he has with Stax, Audeze, Sennheiser, HiFiMan and JPS amongst others. These are the products he has at shows and are often photographed with his electronics. The Abyss does benefit from serious amplification, (for the "orthoheads" it is less sensitive than the infamous wharfedale isodynamic ) , the Liquid Gold is serious amplification. He could have used the HE6 but there is a new toy on the block. To my knowledge, ( no lets say it outrightly ) there is no financial agreement between CA or any other vendor.  
 
..dB

Cool. I really appreciate your thoughtful response and clarifying some things for me and probably others as well. Your sub-line (under your name) confused me obviously and I do apologize. 

 

[dBel84]

no apology needed. There are many layers to a forum (and a hobby) which has existed across several forums for many years, this title harks back to Headwize days and was bestowed as an affirmation that I tend to have more affiliation with Alex than most. In truth, many of the vendors have friendly relationships with many different members on the forum as most grew out of the forums themselves. 
..dB

 

[Hutnicks]

Quote:

Orthodynamic/isodynamic or not it is just a thrown marketing term since the Yamaha/ vintage Fostex days with there old headphones and mean the same thing regardless of the design of having a voice coil in the middle of the charged diaphragm or not. Yes the correct technical term for which all these fall under is planar magnetic technology. Since most users here are more familiar by the term "Orthodynamic" rather than planar magnetic, this was the reason I used the term to describe dbel's infatuation with planar magnetic headphones.

That and PlanarMagnetic Head just does not sound cool

 

[Happy Camper]

Planarhead and propellerhead are too close, though being a BMW fan, I've a few propellerhead hats.

As we get some more experience with this headphone, a better view comes into focus. I'm not so concerned about pricing as the vendor will get defensive on justification. That's cool. The product will find it's place in the market eventually. I want to know more about the product and it's sound signature. I love my HE-6 and if there is something out there that can best it and can be driven with a speaker amp, I have a strong curiosity about it. I feel speaker amps have a broader offering and more flexibility with the hobby than a headphone amp.

Joe, we are defensive in our little corner because of the past scams and otherwise upstanding companies that went silent and took 10s to 100s of thousands of dollars. Your product seems cloaked in secrecy but as more audition it, we'll be more engaged in it's abilities, though it will be out of the price range of many of us.

 

[Joe Skubinski]

I wanna know what the name came from (especially the AB-1266 part).  Interesting there's already an Abyss smiley here :blink:

The AB part is short for Abyss, and 12 is the year 2012 when we finally arrived at the driver design. We continued to optimize it until we felt it was the absolute best we could achieve. 66 is the active driver diameter in mm.