Dethonray honey was not being used in this set up but it brings warmth and body to my iems with a smooth analog texture Always good synergy with most iems I plug into it .. keeper for sure
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The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
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Right now it’s Raphael which I tend to swap between my Aura and Xe6 One of my cables that I feel brings more forward texture to mid range and vocals and can smooth out little treble peaks here and there.. I love this cable especially for the price. Big rec
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Any A&K SE300 owners here? - curious to hear thoughts… pros and cons. Having sold my N7 recently, I’m looking for something to complement LPGT Ti and R2R or something with warmth is appealing - M9 Plus also on the radar. Anyone tried both? I’m probably leaning a bit more towards M9 Plus as I think it has more power, plus I really liked the OG.
As far as I can tell, the two are really fundamentally different: the SE300 is midfi (?), neutral/bright and the M9+ is TOTL, warm, with lots of power. I would always prefer the M9+. I see no reason to go for the SE300, unless you want to save money. Also, the M9+ is future proof due to the power and sounds really great, it's comparable to the SP3000 and for some aspects it's even better.
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Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Reviews I’ve read today about SE300 suggest a smooth signature with the R2R - I’m not familiar with A&K, never really been on my radar so thought I’d consult with the Watercooler! A good point in that not like for like with M9 Plus being the top tier from Shanling. M9 Plus definitely looking the most promising at the moment!
I used to be interested in the SE300 as well and I read everywhere that it should be more neutral and brighter than the N7 and SP3000. I wanted something warmer than the SP3000 and the N7 was my candidate.
In my opinion, you really aren't doing anything wrong with the M9+ if you like a smooth(er) signature.
Enjoy my friendI was sharing these photos with some of the Coolers earlier this morning, I received this yesterday evening thanks to @Uncle Wilson of Jaben SG. I understand that Jaben SG will make an announcement about the APX later today on their FB and IG pages. Big shout out to Claire for braving the driving rain to get it across to me.
But I thought I would share photos with my fellow Coolers here. While I gather my thoughts. As I was telling @metaljem77 and others, I have not been so overwhelmed for some time since my first listen to the HFM Susvara with Dr Fang Bian, after a nice dinner, when he visited Singapore more than a decade ago,
In the meantime, enjoy the photos.
Kiats
Headphoneus Supremus
Will do. Been sharing with some good friends. Will gather my thoughts and pen them down.Stunningly beautiful unboxing presentation. Awaiting more sound impressions but as it costs more than my 1st car, I will likely have to enjoy vicariously.
Alexzander
500+ Head-Fier
Hello, @Scuba Devils !
I was also looking into buying SE300 or M9+, so had a chance to compare them with my DX320 MAX.
SE300 has a natural yet detailed treble and beautiful organic mids which I liked more than the ones on SP3000, but unfortunately it lacked bass authority for me which was a showstopper. It felt too light going down from mid bass in terms of note weight, so I wasn’t able to it it with some Hard Rock, Metall or Rock composition.
M9+ is a much more mature offering which didn’t lack anything anywhere. It has good separation, timbre, authority and technicalities, sounding with warmth and a tad of smoothness.
Only downside is that transient are just a little less sharp than on SP3K or DX320 MAX.
I would definitely buy M9+ myself, but the pricing on Shanlings in general is not particularly good where I’m now.
CharlyBrown
1000+ Head-Fier
I really liked the SE300 for being light, more than enough power for IEMs and I thought it sounded great plus stayed cool while using it. But I’m one of the people who doesn’t care too much about „amp-sound“. Sometimes I hear differences, but they are very faint. So for me, It’s ‚transducer first‘ mentality now and the rest of the chain is just nice to have.
The dealbreaker of the SE300 for me was poor system performance. I found it to be laggy, very much so with streaming apps. I’m pretty sensitive to that and so I returned it. But if that’s not a problem for you, SE300 is a great device.
As @CharlyBrown said, the SE300 is an all-round great device.. if it wasn’t for its mid-2010’s UI speed. It’s not terribly slow, but it’s almost laughable for a DAP at its price (and of AK’s stature) in 2023. I don’t even stream, and its local navigation was laggy enough. It’s a non-starter for that alone to me.
Kiats
Headphoneus Supremus
Will do. Been sharing with some good friends. Will gather my thoughts and pen them down.
Let me set the context of this morning’s listening session. I used the Sony 1ZM2 (no other reason than it was near me). My initial impression upon slipping on the APX was the trebles were well extended, yet smooth. The fact that the stem is longish does mean that the soundstage and vibration is closer to the ear drums. I think that is an excellent design feature. That is the very obvious impression I had on initial listnening. I was discussing with my group of Cooler friends and I was surprised to be told that there is in fact no BCD. That it is a planar for ultra low, DD for low, 8 BA fo r mids/highs and a planar for ultra high. I recall that the drivers were built to the specificiatons of @piotrus-g . So, not surprisingly, it is unlike anything I have heard before.
I should mention the visceral nature of the bass and sub bass. Whilst it is visceral, it is nonetheless nuanced and textured. I think the reason it is the way it is lies with the deep insertion with the design of the shell, in particular the stem and the angle at which it is done. The insertion is deep and yet still very comfortable. I was using the Electech Baroque ear tips and it was a match made in heaven. I can pay no greater compliment than to say that coming from a world where my go to option is FitEar customs that there was times during my listening session I did not realise that I was wearing an UIEM, as the APX faded away from my consciousness. This must be the first pair of UIEMs I have put on which frankly feels like I am wearing a pair of customs in terms of comfort and fit. And the ease with which I am getting the visceral yet nuanced bass is not something I have had other than with the DD based range from FitEar customs, in particular the titanium range.
I am certain it is how the APX has been designed to have that particular stem insertion depth, coupled with the angle of the stem. I salute the effort and R&D here.
The APX is not something that jumped out and immediately revealed everything at one go. As I listened, it seemed that it slowly grew on me as it slowly revealed what it can do with each successive song I was listening to.
I am not so good at technical terms in describing sound. What I will say is that the APX is on the warmer side of neutral. I like the sound density but yet excellent instrument separation. The sound stage is something I really like: it is cocoon like. The trebles are well extended with nary a hint of harshness. The trebles have obviously seen good work done on them. At the same time, there is this visceral bass which to its credit does not bleed into the mids or overpower the rest of the notes. The mids have a nice timbral quality to them.
As I hinted earlier, in terms of how the various parts of the sound spectrum is put together, it does indeed remind me of the first time I had heard the Susvara years ago when Dr Fang Bian brought a pair for me to try after dinner with his Singapore AD: layers upon layers of details and aural information. I really thought my head was going to explode that evening.
What I particularly liked about the APX is that it is not trying to impress. No special party trick to make anything stick out. It adopts a pretty holistic approach In its musical presentation.
This was one of the songs I was listening to this morning. It is a sad song. A duet sung by two female vocalists. You will understand the sadness when you understand the lyrics and the undercurrents of the duet between two women in an opera troupe and their aspirations for freedom. The APX really works this well and wrings the emotions out of the song and the vocals especially during the finale but yet keeps the individual vocals distinct and layered. I will say that it was an emotive experience. For me, I am not so taken by technicalities but by how any transducer plucks my heartstrings. By that token, I think the APX passes that test.
I am frankly surprised how so many drivers have been squeezed into a small shell as this. The implementation is top notch as well. Because of how well the shell has been designed, the fit is excellent for me. As a consequence, the isolation is very good: I feel insulated and cocooned with them in my ears. At first glance, I thought the shell was a little unusual looking but once I slipped it on, it worked well.
Apologies for the rambling.
What I will say is that I am impressed by the APX. The musical presentation is excellent, as is the design of the shell and its stem. Everything is well conceived and implemented. I can say no better than it fit me like a pair of custom and once the music started playing, it melted away and it no longer impinged on my consciousness. 
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This talk of Bellos Audio bubbling away for a number of months, so how does Bellos compare to Fir Audio? (in sound). Thanks in advance!
'Just realized I have a couple quotes I haven't replied to yet. 
I've been waiting years for a colorless source that could dethrone my venerable LPGT, and it looks it could.
I see a VE X or Fei Wan custom in my future, depending on whether or not the HiBy R8II tickles my fancy.
I've been waiting years for a colorless source that could dethrone my venerable LPGT, and it looks it could.Right now, for me, the only answer to that question is the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch. But, see above.
I've only heard one Bellos IEM, but what's evident is that FiR Audio's signatures (especially their latest Frontier and Electron IEMs) are a lot more colored, stylized and not-neutral. The closest to flat would probably be the Rn6, but even that's a maybe. The X4 is a more straightforward, linear, just-there-sounding IEM, and its technical feats - its superb stereo separation, headroom, background stability, etc. - are more in service of clarity in pro work, rather than creating exciting sensations like the Xe6 or Rn6's bass, for example.
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