[firesign]

KSE arrived! Many Thanks to @Meejay for the incredible fast and accomodating buying experience

Just a very quick first impressions post, the comparison to AMT16 will come in a few days:

At first I used Shures silicone sleeves, but even though I got a deep fit, the KSE sounded off. I noticed that when I pressed them slightly more in and upward, the bass came out and the highs sounded uncompressed. So I switched to Shure Foam tips, which are really good btw!

Oh man, I am going to spend a lot of time with these. So far they worked with pretty much everything I threw at them! Yes, they are on the brighter side of the tuning spectrum, but they don't feel limp to me in the bass, just very very fast. No dynamic driver sub-bass decay for sure. But there is still plenty bass for most of my needs.

This will be a very interesting comparison with the AMT16, even though the KSE is also brighter, they feel more universally able than the AMT16. But that's just a little sneak-peak, I will need plenty of more time to actually compare these and be able to write down concise thoughts

KSE is made to be used with the Shure foams. With silicone tips is a real disaster, but with the foams is really hard to beat.
I hate foam tips with all the IEMs I have tried, but with the KSE they are needed.

I would like to find a used KSE for a good price…

 

[twister6]

Anyone here had a chance to hear the new nostalgia audio tesseracts? My brain tells me I need a final ba/est or all ba set to round out everything. Between ronin, tesseract and maybe mentor

Since you are in NY, why not take a trip to NJ to audition and to compare all 3 at MT? Was just talking to somebody who's driving himself crazy reading every review and going to visit Andrew for auditioning. Unless you want to wait for the next CanJam NYC

 

[CharlyBrown]

I love the plates on your GM... wasn't sure if it was just the high contrast lighting in the FF thread, but I think they are the nicest plates I've seen yet on the Unis, congrats!

Thank you! I didn't even know they are all different

In natural lighting they match the cable pretty well.

 

[toaster]

Earlier this week some old friends came back in. I spent a lot of time with Traillii, sold it last year but missed it. Glad to have it back. I owned the Jewel last year, but only for 2 weeks. I look forward to spending more time with them.

i've also been thinking of revisiting the bird...

 

[Frankie D]

i've also been thinking of revisiting the bird...

Bird reuniting with old friends!

 

[aaf evo]

i've also been thinking of revisiting the bird...

Traillii is BACK.

 

[phiemon]

i've also been thinking of revisiting the bird...

The Bird may be almost three years old, but for me personally brings in the shade quite a few current(ish) TOTLs. It's so grandiose, special, an "in-your-face" and at the same time "out-of-the-head" experience that no one has managed to replicate yet. Paired with Chiron 8w + SP3000. And with First Times Traillii has for me the most natural, life-like timbre ever heard. The vocals have never been so beautiful to hear. A must have in the collection!

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Interesting! Couple of questions I have:

Did your KSE cable break at some point?
Do you think the KSE driver is an electrostatic surrogate? Why?
Which other full range AMT IEMs did you try?

I really really like the AMT16 So I can comfortably say they are good IEMs (to me). Goldplanar explicitly talks about electrostatic drivers as one sound reference for their AMT IEM, that's why I thought of them being similar in some way

Thanks for your responses!

The cable was not broken. In any case, two of the two variants sold had no problems with the cable - except for its terrible ergonomics, but this is predictable. It had a bad effect on the possibility of portable use. I had the opportunity to buy a KSE1500 with the cable already replaced (it was the third one in a row), but there was a problem with the noise of WiFi, etc, picked up by the cable. The master who dealt with it said that this problem was eliminated in subsequent copies, but too much time has passed and now I have relatively lost interest in these headphones.

I do not consider KSE1200/1500 to be a surrogate for electrostatic drivers. I have seen their drivers to be sure that they are real electrostatic headphones. As well as Stax and some other rare companies.
I consider any non-electrostatic drivers to be surrogates of electrostats when their authors say something like we have achieved the sound of electrostatic drivers without these drivers. And preferably with prices several times lower. If that were true, electrostatic drivers would be extinct. But they still exist not only in the budget segment, but also in the top segment. After many similar words.
This means that I consider AMT in Goldplanar to be a surrogate for electrostatic drivers. Does this make them bad headphones? No, this is just my opinion, which does not claim to be anything.

I had the opportunity to try many variants of full-range AMT in IEM from a local master. There were really a lot of variants (more than 10) with different drivers, diaphragm thicknesses, folds, magnetic systems, and actual sound tuning. All of them were interesting in their own way, but none of them were actually electrostatic sound, if we use this term. I don't think I've heard everything that AMT is capable of, and nothing else can surprise me, and I can tell about is like AMT CEO.
When I received Ra with AMT driver at high frequencies, this model was able to impress me. And it didn't sound like any other full-range AMT I'd heard before. However, I am still skeptical that AMT can replicate the sound of electrostatic headphones.

At least because I don't think it's the right way to det it. There is no BA, dynamic, or electrostatic sound as such that is a reference that needs to be repeated and oriented towards. I believe that there are general quality criteria that are not something unattainable for any kind of transducer. For some, due to their specifics, some things are easier, for others - others. For example, electrostatic drivers are fast, but they often have problems with weight and bass response. DD are not as fast but good at playing at bass. However, this doesn't mean that all drivers of one types sound the same, and top-of-the-line solutions usually work well across the entire range. So in essence, they solve the same problem in different ways. And I think this is the right approach. If this hobby is aimed at achieving high-quality sound, and not at achieving the highest quality implementation of a certain type of driver.

 

[Frankie D]

Traillii has for me the most natural, life-like timbre ever heard. The vocals have never been so beautiful to hear.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

KSE arrived! Many Thanks to @Meejay for the incredible fast and accomodating buying experience

Just a very quick first impressions post, the comparison to AMT16 will come in a few days:

At first I used Shures silicone sleeves, but even though I got a deep fit, the KSE sounded off. I noticed that when I pressed them slightly more in and upward, the bass came out and the highs sounded uncompressed. So I switched to Shure Foam tips, which are really good btw!

Oh man, I am going to spend a lot of time with these. So far they worked with pretty much everything I threw at them! Yes, they are on the brighter side of the tuning spectrum, but they don't feel limp to me in the bass, just very very fast. No dynamic driver sub-bass decay for sure. But there is still plenty bass for most of my needs.

This will be a very interesting comparison with the AMT16, even though the KSE is also brighter, they feel more universally able than the AMT16. But that's just a little sneak-peak, I will need plenty of more time to actually compare these and be able to write down concise thoughts

I would recommend that you experiment with tips. It changes a lot of things.
Of the available ones, Final tips type E. They come with a good portion of all IEMs as stock tips and are rarely good, but they fit this narrow sound nozzle.
Further options are more complicated. Westone Star tips. They were my favorite when I used Shure, Westone, Etymotic, etc.
Also Azla Crystal with adapters. It can help to keep the necessary amount of bass.
Hope this helps.

 

[maegnificant]

The cable was not broken. In any case, two of the two variants sold had no problems with the cable - except for its terrible ergonomics, but this is predictable. It had a bad effect on the possibility of portable use. I had the opportunity to buy a KSE1500 with the cable already replaced (it was the third one in a row), but there was a problem with the noise of WiFi, etc, picked up by the cable. The master who dealt with it said that this problem was eliminated in subsequent copies, but too much time has passed and now I have relatively lost interest in these headphones.

I do not consider KSE1200/1500 to be a surrogate for electrostatic drivers. I have seen their drivers to be sure that they are real electrostatic headphones. As well as Stax and some other rare companies.
I consider any non-electrostatic drivers to be surrogates of electrostats when their authors say something like we have achieved the sound of electrostatic drivers without these drivers. And preferably with prices several times lower. If that were true, electrostatic drivers would be extinct. But they still exist not only in the budget segment, but also in the top segment. After many similar words.
This means that I consider AMT in Goldplanar to be a surrogate for electrostatic drivers. Does this make them bad headphones? No, this is just my opinion, which does not claim to be anything.

I had the opportunity to try many variants of full-range AMT in IEM from a local master. There were really a lot of variants (more than 10) with different drivers, diaphragm thicknesses, folds, magnetic systems, and actual sound tuning. All of them were interesting in their own way, but none of them were actually electrostatic sound, if we use this term. I don't think I've heard everything that AMT is capable of, and nothing else can surprise me, and I can tell about is like AMT CEO.
When I received Ra with AMT driver at high frequencies, this model was able to impress me. And it didn't sound like any other full-range AMT I'd heard before. However, I am still skeptical that AMT can replicate the sound of electrostatic headphones.

At least because I don't think it's the right way to det it. There is no BA, dynamic, or electrostatic sound as such that is a reference that needs to be repeated and oriented towards. I believe that there are general quality criteria that are not something unattainable for any kind of transducer. For some, due to their specifics, some things are easier, for others - others. For example, electrostatic drivers are fast, but they often have problems with weight and bass response. DD are not as fast but good at playing at bass. However, this doesn't mean that all drivers of one types sound the same, and top-of-the-line solutions usually work well across the entire range. So in essence, they solve the same problem in different ways. And I think this is the right approach. If this hobby is aimed at achieving high-quality sound, and not at achieving the highest quality implementation of a certain type of driver.

I would recommend that you experiment with tips. It changes a lot of things.
Of the available ones, Final tips type E. They come with a good portion of all IEMs as stock tips and are rarely good, but they fit this narrow sound nozzle.
Further options are more complicated. Westone Star tips. They were my favorite when I used Shure, Westone, Etymotic, etc.
Also Azla Crystal with adapters. It can help to keep the necessary amount of bass.
Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for your responses! I have some Final E tips incoming anyway, so I'll try them for s(h)ure!

Interesting, that you are able to try out all these rare IEMs, you are very lucky! I myself think I have got some good variation going now with my collection and I will (should) stop for a while now and just enjoy the music.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Traillii has for me the most natural, life-like timbre ever heard. The vocals have never been so beautiful to hear. A must have in the collection!

If someone were to ask me why I love Bird so much, this would be my answer.
I love the bass, I love the treble, but it's nothing if you don't have that gorgeous middle. Vocals, guitars, brass and strings. I've been with Traillii for over a year, and I've never thought of replacing them with anything else. Although I was offered to sell or trade them. But no.
It seems that I'm with them until the big introductory top, which can be something like Traillii x 3...5 or more.

 

[Shawnb]

Great stuff! Also sharing the latest acquisitions. Earlier this week some old friends came back in. I spent a lot of time with Traillii, sold it last year but missed it. Glad to have it back. I owned the Jewel last year, but only for 2 weeks. I look forward to spending more time with them.



And today two brand new friends came in, just in time for the weekend. Can you guess what my favorite color is?



I look forward to spending time with these and getting (re)acquainted!

Looking forward to hearing your comparisons. Ever since selling the Bird I've been chasing that high. Was eyeing the Jewel and hoping that could be a suitable replacement

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Thanks a lot for your responses! I have some Final E tips incoming anyway, so I'll try them for s(h)ure!

Interesting, that you are able to try out all these rare IEMs, you are very lucky! I myself think I have got some good variation going now with my collection and I will (should) stop for a while now and just enjoy the music.

Stopping and enjoying the music is often the best option.
Frankly, we all need it. Sometimes we don't need new equipment, but just a good album with favorite old rig.

 

[yaps66]

Absolutely! So many good albums! First Circle is definitely one of top 5 listened PMG/PM albums for me. The hand clap pattern in First Circle captivated me when I first heard it. Masterpiece!

I ended up covering "American Garage" ("The Search" is my favorite)

and "The Road To You" today.

Here's my little memorabilia from '95.

Very cool!

i've also been thinking of revisiting the bird...

I was travelling this afternoon and on the short flight I managed to get reacquainted with the bird with M9+ and SP3kCu. I much prefer the synergy with M9+. It is more resolving and the bass is more pulpable!

Meanwhile...