THE WATERCOOLER HEADPHONE EDITION – Headphones, Amps, DACs, and desktop/home audio related – a freewheeling discussion of gear, impressions, music, and musings.

[BassicScience]

Well at least you’ve made Cameron happy. The bass does fill out when you’ve put enough hours on them so maybe you just need to give them more time.

He's listening to a show demo unit, which presumably has a lot of hours on it.

No headphone is universally loved. It might be interesting to get more details on its perceived shortcomings, as well as some specific test tracks.

 

[nfandi]

I think this happens very often - too high expectations, caused by the hype and the fact, that we all think, that big money brings big sound improvement.
Above some level, it is not the case anymore.

Except that me and a whole bunch of very experienced Head-Fi’ers happen to think they’re one of the finest transducers ever made and are worth every penny, cent, and whatever other currency you wish to pay with. You’re welcome to your own views and way of thinking but don’t judge something until you’ve heard it in the right environment.

 

[nfandi]

He's listening to a show demo unit, which presumably has a lot of hours on it.

No headphone is universally loved. It might be interesting to get more details on its perceived shortcomings, as well as some specific test tracks.

Ah, thanks; I was thinking Cigga has them at home. Cigga has SR-1b and CA-1a so I’m somewhat surprised by his reaction, but there’s nothing like hearing them at home for a few days.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Ah, thanks; I was thinking Cigga has them at home. Cigga has SR-1b and CA-1a so I’m somewhat surprised by his reaction, but there’s nothing like hearing them at home for a few days.

Yeah, I’ll reserve judgment until I get them at home. He had them off the Envy with what looked like stock tubes. It coulda been that. Can Jam demoes don’t give the whole truth at all. I need to hear them at my house.

 

[jlbrach]

lets stipulate that at this level...Immanis, 1266,unveiled etc there is no best and no right or wrong and the improvements are subtle in large part depending on listener preferences...types of music,associated equipment and the individuals hearing ability etc..those expecting to reinvent the wheel every time a new product is released are bound to be disappointed...personally I love the immanis but I respect anyone who says they prefer the alternatives..

 

[BassicScience]

Yeah, I’ll reserve judgment until I get them at home. He had them off the Envy with what looked like stock tubes. It coulda been that. Can Jam demoes don’t give the whole truth at all. I need to hear them at my house.

I listened to that same setup briefly at CanJam SoCal, and thought it did reasonable justice to the headphone, but I completely agree about the necessity of a home audition before passing final judgment.

 

[nfandi]

Yeah, I’ll reserve judgment until I get them at home. He had them off the Envy with what looked like stock tubes. It coulda been that. Can Jam demoes don’t give the whole truth at all. I need to hear them at my house.

I have the Envy AE with Elrogs and it’s a great combination with Immanis. Immanis pairs very well with the VM-1a so you should be fine once you receive your own set. I’m hoping they do it for you once you have them on your home system. Be sure to let us know please.

 

[goldwerger]

Danny (@SageM) at Requisite Audio (Raal 1995 etc) is the man to contact if you’re interested in the SAEQ amps.

I visited Danny from RAAL and asked about the SAEQ Armageddon. Apparently, he didn’t like how this amp sounded and doesn’t carry it. Danny said he measured it and found it had a lot of high order uneven harmonics. He passed the feedback to the developer and looks like he biased its transistor voltage too low but didn’t want to fix it. Instead, the amp itself is being discontinued and a new model is expected next year.

 

[goldwerger]

I saw @Hiker816 today listening to his RAAL Immanis on the Audma Maestro HPA1, and he said it was fantastic so I had to give it a listen.

It is. Maybe my favorite amp pairing for the Immanis to date (based on my rather limited show condition demos). I’m now hyping that amp, but it’s heartfelt. It’s really captivating me.

This combination made the Immanis more lush and analog like. Just pure fun.

I was curious about isolating the Amp section of the Audma and compared the same tracks running both off its internal DAC and off my Sony 1Zm2 DAP (via XLR interconnects). I shared this experience with Hiker816 and we both agreed the Sony source sounded a touch better. That means the magic here is happening (as expected) with the amp section. Now, to clarify, the internal DAC of this unit sounds good, and listening to it as an AIO with the Susvara yesterday was awesome. But I think there is a path to elevate it, even further, with an external DAC, which is great to know.

If I were shopping for a SS amp right now in the high single digit price zip code, I’d put this one square in my crosshairs.

 

[theveterans]

Yeah, I’ll reserve judgment until I get them at home. He had them off the Envy with what looked like stock tubes. It coulda been that. Can Jam demoes don’t give the whole truth at all. I need to hear them at my house.

I really don't think Envy and Immanis have good synergy at all (a bit distant and hollow to me). I've posted some sentiments to that combo a couple of times already from the past. IMHO, I've had a much better experience with WA23 and Cavalli Liquid Glass than the Envy. SAEQ Armageddon is also IMHO a better pairing with the Immanis (more engaging / less hollow) but doesn't have the tube sound injected to the presentation

 

[Conan1974]

Except that me and a whole bunch of very experienced Head-Fi’ers happen to think they’re one of the finest transducers ever made and are worth every penny, cent, and whatever other currency you wish to pay with. You’re welcome to your own views and way of thinking but don’t judge something until you’ve heard it in the right environment.

I did not listened to them, this Is why I do not judge the Raal headphones quality.
But this is my view on that matter.

 

[jlbrach]

I listened to that same setup briefly at CanJam SoCal, and thought it did reasonable justice to the headphone, but I completely agree about the necessity of a home audition before passing final judgment.

Ciggy listens to music I dont listen to and I can completely understand why he is loyal to the 1266 given his listening habits...I do not pass judgment when I listen to anything at canjam due to the noise and all the other difficulties...when I first listened to the sr1a at canjam I was unimpressed but when I got it home I fell in love with it...the Immanis is a great all arounder to me great with dylan or sinatra or led zep but oh my it is extraordinary with acoustic jazz

 

[Frankie D]

I visited Danny from RAAL and asked about the SAEQ Armageddon. Apparently, he didn’t like how this amp sounded and doesn’t carry it. Danny said he measured it and found it had a lot of high order uneven harmonics. He passed the feedback to the developer and looks like he biased its transistor voltage too low but didn’t want to fix it. Instead, the amp itself is being discontinued and a new model is expected next year.

The SAEQ Armageddon is another overly hyped amp? Seems so based on the above information.

 

[AudioDuck]

No headphone is universally loved.

This, however, is a universal TRUTH.

 

[nfandi]

The SAEQ Armageddon is another overly hyped amp? Seems so based on the above information.

Have you heard it?