x3. The longer I'm in this hobby, the more I realise that expert engineering, build quality, customer service etc. are almost as important to me as sound quality. In sports I always root for the underdog, and I prefer a clever independent film to most of the pathetic Hollywood drivel, but when it comes to audio, some of the so-called "boutique" stuff is just appalling on all fronts. Give me a big player anytime! There used to be a time when people thought that you paid a premium for the little Sony branding on their gear, but nowadays, taking everything into account, I feel that the price/performance ratio I get from the Sonys, Panasonics and Pioneers of this world is much, much better than what their boutique counterparts have to offer, and I don't feel like I'm being used as a Beta tester/guinea pig for some half-baked product someone has cooked up in their garage. As stated above, it's the whole package/experience that counts. So, hooray for mainstream!
There's a lot of merit in the innovation and challenge that many recent brands bring to the market. Sometimes totally different ways of tackling problems, compared to the heavyweight dinosaurs from the past, burdened with all sorts of overhead and lacking the agility of new players.
But on the other hand, people are underestimating what the old brands can do if they flex their engineering know-how. Sony can trounce most flavor-of-the-month hype-train boutique brands if they direct the right resources to the task. But do they care or put the resources towards it? We'll see. The Z1R is hitting a dangerous price band... either they have something good or people might start seeing Sony as another Bang & Olufsen.
Semi-offtopic but I spent this evening playing with the HD800S and the CD3000 side by side, each connected to a similar dac/amp and playing the same tracks. It's impressive how close they sound to my ears, strangely close. The 800S have better imaging and sound roomier and a bit warmer, with the CD3K having tighter bass but sometimes sounding a bit muddier with the worse separation, but the difference isn't huge at all. In fact, the extra spark on the highs can make the CD3K sound more detailed (some might find them slightly sibilant). I'd even dare calling the CD3K "closed HD800S" now, weird but that's exactly how I would classify these two.
Even the difference in soundstage and space in all axis, the overall holographic sound isn't huge. These huge bean bags on the CD3K make them sound almost as airy as fully open headphones. You can be listening to the 800S, quickly grab the CD3K and there is a clear difference in tone but the sense of space around you changes very little. It's still the same huge room. That leaves me very curious to see what they achieved on the Z1R with those "tit earcups" and the new wood pulp dampening. Wouldn't be surprised to hear HD800-sized sound, or even better.
Considering the ~25 years separating them, and the huge (original) price difference, I have a winner here and it's not made in Germany.
They're both so good that I'm forced to keep both tho, which sucks. Hope the Z1R will kick at least one of these permanently to the Sales forum.
Yup. Given the years/price difference, it is impressive what Sony delivered back then... I see no reason why they can't pull it off again if they bothered engineering something above the usual mass market gear.
