Did you not enjoy the Elysian Pilgrim? Most Canjam impressions of it I've read have been fairly positive though I think some people have issue with its' upper midrange.Agreed, but you're also using the $800 Effect Audio Code 24 with it.
I tried Quattro out with Code 24 and it was an amazing pairing. Looks and sounds like they were made for each other.
The EA table was right next to the Elysian table, so I tried the Code 24/Quattro combo immediately after I auditioned the prototype "Pilgrim" (yuck) and $3,000 Annihilator 2023. Surprisingly, Code24/Quattro was somewhat competitive vs. Annihilator to me. Obviously Anni beats it in most areas but it's not like Quattro was vastly inferior either. A real eye/ear opener for me.
A nice couple at the EA table were asking me about Penon and Quattro. I showed it to them and they were very interested in finding out more about it. Don't know why Penon refuses to attend CanJam. I think they'd benefit greatly from going and showing off their products there.
Wish Code 24 was more affordable. I want it really bad but just can't justify spending $800 on a cable.
They're both quite different. The EST50s are v-shaped whereas the Quattros emphasis the midrange more. Both are quite bassy but the Quattros feature more midbass whereas the EST50s tend to emphasis sub slightly.@Bosk since you also got the EST50, how do the two compare? Would you say they are in the same league (when it comes to price/performance) and its just a different flavor?
The EST50s are significantly brighter with EST treble, with a slightly wider but shallower soundstage, a midrange that can occasionally sound a tad hollow and definitely doesn't possess the Quattros' superb tonality which is their great strength. The Quattros' two bass drivers are also faster than the DD in the EST50, and will keep up with faster music better. They also feel more coherent. The Quattro stock cable gives me the impressions of being significantly higher quality and I find their shells are slightly more comfortable as well, though both are similarly sized. The Quattros are very smooth, more refined and much darker in the treble than the EST50s.
The EST50s remain a solid choice at their price if you're after a v-shaped set of IEMs, perhaps if you've never owned a pair with EST drivers and want to see what the fuss is about. For my personal taste I'd choose the Quattros hands down without a second thought, nothing else I've heard is quite like them especially at their price. They absolutely nail the kind of sound they're going for, the only question is whether that's the kind of sound you want.