[thatonenoob]

   
After thinking about it more I decided to hold on to my HD800 for now since there's really nothing out there that can beat its soundstage and I wouldn't want to do anything drastic since I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase with my Z1R so I might be jumping the gun too soon lol.

Good call.  It's a good complement to the Z1R.

 

[cloud_c]

  Hey Cloud_c, I'm also in Ottawa. If you haven't had a chance to hear the Z1R and would like to, you are welcome to come over anytime. I'm home pretty much all the time due to being with my daughter, but I have a small music room so you are always welcome. Send me a PM if you want to meet up sometime. I'm near Bank and Walkley Road so pretty easy to get to by vehicle or public transit. Cheers.

 
Thanks for the offer, I'll do that.
If all goes well I'll have a pair by Feb 20, but I'd love to hang out and give them an early listen.

 

[Earbones]

My god how furious i would be if the Z1R sounded just like my Z7, I would stick my head straight through the wall in disappointment. Not because i don't like the Z7, But paying that much more for the same can with a more premium design would infuriate me beyond belief. lol 

No worries on that, I can assure you. Own(ed) both. Sold my Z7 recently. Not even in the same ballpark. A wider divide than, say, the HD650 and HD800.

I don't mean to say the differences in sound signature are as starkly contrasted as the Sennheisers- both the Z1R and Z7 are somewhat dark, smooth cans, in my opinion. But the clarity, soundstage, upper details and upper mids of the Z1R are way beyond what the Z7 can produce. The two cans are similar to the lower mids (although the Z1R's bass is more detailed), but from there upwards, the Z1R is a whole other level of can...

My experience, at any rate. YMMV.

 

[Kukua]

Can someone kindly share a link for the sony z1r cable upgrade.....Ta!

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

No worries on that, I can assure you. Own(ed) both. Sold my Z7 recently. Not even in the same ballpark. A wider divide than, say, the HD650 and HD800.

I don't mean to say the differences in sound signature are as starkly contrasted as the Sennheisers- both the Z1R and Z7 are somewhat dark, smooth cans, in my opinion. But the clarity, soundstage, upper details and upper mids of the Z1R are way beyond what the Z7 can produce. The two cans are similar to the lower mids (although the Z1R's bass is more detailed), but from there upwards, the Z1R is a whole other level of can...

My experience, at any rate. YMMV.

Thank goodness. I would of been hot like a boiling teakettle that someone forgot to turn the heat off. 

 

[beowulf]

   
After thinking about it more I decided to hold on to my HD800 for now since there's really nothing out there that can beat its soundstage and I wouldn't want to do anything drastic since I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase with my Z1R so I might be jumping the gun too soon lol.

 

  Good call.  It's a good complement to the Z1R.

 
Definitely agree. They complement each other great. 800 is super satisfying in soundstage and sense of space, perhaps overall grain and brightness too, and the Z1R excels on the mids and bass while still having great resolution and detail despite the warmer signature, plus the Z1R are more comfortable.
 
They're both great in different ways. Also, the 800 is killed by ambient noise, while the Z1R can handle that better without losing quality, but has a less holographic feeling (Although still excellent for a closed can)
 
They're both worth keeping, but are different tools for different moments. I want an HD800+Z1R perfect open/closed hybrid. That's the true grail, the real utopia (pun intended). Hmm... but don't we all...

 

[Level5]

  Thank goodness. I would of been hot like a boiling teakettle that someone forgot to turn the heat off. 

 
If you lower the volume to a bare minimum, it pretty much sounds like an Z7 

 

[thatonenoob]

   
 
Definitely agree. They complement each other great. 800 is super satisfying in soundstage and sense of space, perhaps overall grain and brightness too, and the Z1R excels on the mids and bass while still having great resolution and detail despite the warmer signature, plus the Z1R are more comfortable.
 
They're both great in different ways. Also, the 800 is killed by ambient noise, while the Z1R can handle that better without losing quality, but has a less holographic feeling (Although still excellent for a closed can)
 
They're both worth keeping, but are different tools for different moments. I want an HD800+Z1R perfect open/closed hybrid. That's the true grail, the real utopia (pun intended). Hmm... but don't we all...

But alas, the utopia may be coming sooner than intended. 

 

[Naim.F.C]

The Z1R's have ended up making my other headphones somewhat redundant. I don't really bother switching headphones much anymore, instead, I'm currently listening to the Z1R's around 90% of the time. I'm thinking I might just sell two of my other main headphones and just keep the Z1R along with what will most probably be the T1.1's as my main secondary. No point keeping cans that are worth close to a grand each if I'm basically barely ever using them. Still, I'll push myself to use the HD800S more, so I can at least say I gave them a fair go. 
 
The Z1R's are definitely the most addictive and fun to listen to in my collection. Though I still think my exact T1.1 copy, with a tiny bit of sub bass EQ'd in, offers the more ideal, neutrally balanced sound signature (though I imagine the mids would be just a touch too recessed for some people). That's not to say they're more fun to listen to though. The Z1R's by in large still sound that little bit more musical and engaging compared even to the EQ'd T1.1's. As I've said before, the Z1R's give you a greater sense of live performance realism, as oppose to outright cleanliness or sterility.
 
Ultimately, I can't stress enough how for my personal subjective tastes, Sony really nailed the balance of the sound signature with these. Having said that, I still don't think they're worth as much as they are, diminishing returns and all that. You're paying a hell of a lot extra for what are essentially subjectively enticing, but fairly minor, sonic tweaks and differences. Thankfully the design, build, comfort and convenience of the headphones are all superlative, so you don't feel as hard done lol.

 

[buzzlulu]

Two things:

I placed my order Jan 25 from you know who when the deal popped up again. Original ship date Feb 17-Mar 24. Received an email Monday informing me the ship date has been moved up to Feb 7-14. Received a second email later that day informing me the shipment was being prepared.
My box arrived this afternoon - 7 days after placing the order.

Second: I have actually had a pair I have been playing with for the past week courtesy of a friend. These are EXTREMELY impressive.

I come back to headphones after a 13 year absence. I was on these forums back in 2003/2004 and ran with a Sennheiser 650 (boring) and a RS1 (fun) - into an "infamous" LaRocco PPA W/ diamond buffers. I then moved back to two channel.

I am now returning to headphones for some FUN. The Z1R's "tuning" reminds me of my TOTL Naim two channel system. Musical, engaging, toe tapping, fun - and loads of PRAT. Absolutely unbelievable.

The Elear's I have on demo will go back - these are just much more fun. While many here want neutral and accurate we in the flat earth Naim/Linn world want toe tapping fun and PRAT.

Most likely going to Can Jam this weekend for the first time. I would like to get a chance to hear the matching Sony amplifier and other amplifier alternatives to use with these Sony's. So far I have not seen many other amplifier suggestions on this thread. The only consistent one I saw was Violectric - a brand I am not familiar with. Any others I should be on the lookout for??

Portable duty will be with a Hugo.

PS I guess I should listen to a Utopia while at Can Jam!

 

[buzzlulu]

Hey Naim.F.C.

Any significance with the "Naim" in your handle?

 

[Naim.F.C]

Hey Naim.F.C.

Any significance with the "Naim" in your handle?

A few things lol. Firstly, it's my name . And secondly, whilst I wouldn't usually have my name as my handle, I used to ironically live right next door to a Naim Audio store a while back, and am fond of their products. I guess the dual importance felt apt for this particular forum lol.

 

[imac2much]

Has anyone tried the Z1R with the Woo WA7 2nd Gen by any chance? I have an oppo HA-1 as well but plan to sell it since it's bigger than I need (I want a compact chain since I travel a lot). Any opinions of this pairing?

 

[Smileyko]

I got the z1R one month ago here in Saigon. Well broken in. I play all night every night for a month. Now just tried the PHA3 with the z1R sounds great SE. Went on Amazon and just bought the Kimber cable for the two, balanced. Hope it goes well.

 

[Jozurr]

Has anyone tried the Z1R with the Woo WA7 2nd Gen by any chance? I have an oppo HA-1 as well but plan to sell it since it's bigger than I need (I want a compact chain since I travel a lot). Any opinions of this pairing?

 
You can run it very well out of a mojo!