purk

I don't have the Utopia but do have the Elear on loan. This is a crazy good headphones for rock & roll. Very dynamics, punchy, and powerful. Not the last word on soundstage, transparent, resolving ability. They do a lot right and very little wrong. In a stock form, the bass is a tad much for me but that got tighten a bit after a moon audio silver dragon upgrade. The Elear, to me, is quite a bargain at under grand. I tried them with number of amps including the ECP DSHA-2, Oppo HA-1 and it sounded best out of the SuSy Dynahi for sure.

Good for her. He sure did capitalized on those stupid portable amps. I remember seeing them available on Japanese site as early as 2007 or so. Now they are obsolete.

I see. I didn't realize that had happened. I didn't know he divorced his wife. That's more fun than any headphone related topic! Of course that Cavalli is now Headfi new darling.

I don't think headfi sided with SP but they definitely did with RSA.

Now it will have to happen on the 2nd level of their residence.

At least you didn't break anything. I attempted to do a toilet tank repaired for my sister but ending up destroying it instead. Time to buy her a new one.

According to Tyll, they are within 5% of one another. Between amps not Fart.

Please keep the impression coming Andy. I have been on the fence about the Utopia for a long time and really want one.

Sad to hear of Sushi. Condolence to you and your family. RIP

Happy birthday John! Hope you have a great one.

Probably. The Copenhagen V was quite a jump in performance from the DSHA2 when I heard it at the Canlanta Meet but it is nearly double the price. The current production model is quite a bit smaller compared to the L2. I will post picture of the two side by side for comparison. The prototype DSHA-2 uses the same chassis as the Black Diamond I think.

I may go for the the prototype unit and get a power supply upgrade. However, these two are not better than my DSHA-0 that I have. It is better in the depth of sound field department but the DSHA-0 is better in term of sense of power and the bass. So I *might* shoot for a Copenhagen V or something like that.

I brought Doug's ECP DSHA-2 production & prototype units to a recent mini-meet in Atlanta. Many people were totally super impressed by the sound. I also lend these two amps to couple of my headphile friends and they totally loved them too. IMO, the DSHA-2 does really well with lower & higher impedance phones including my HEK. The DSHA-2 is more or less at the SuSy Dynahi level but it is slightly ahead when paired with lower impedance phones, but the Dynahi is better at driving the HEK. Quite a performance coming from a desktop friendly amp really! Very well done by Doug. Super impressed with the DSHA-2. The 3-D sense of soundstage & imaging couple with dead neutral tonality make this an absolute buy for someone with 2.2k budget to spend on an headphone amp.

Tom and his wife are super cool. You guys should really visit his listening room. I sure miss having both of them down here that's for sure.

plus, good bye headphones jack.

Wow John! Your carbon looks amazing! Thanks for posting those pictures. Gotta love the RK50 in there. Gotta be the best build around!

I will post pics later. KGSSHV Carbon + SR007 = "bright" is already funny enough.

We had an Atlanta Fall mini-meet yesterday and I brought the KGSSHV & SR007/009 to the meet along as Doug's DSHA-2. Folks really love the gears. One guy commented that my KGSSHV Carbon was bright (partly to blame b/c of the OPPO HA-1) so I told him that it isn't that too bright bright. Found out later that he was driving his SR007 with SRM-717. No wonder he found my combo "bright" given that the SRM-717 is known as just about the darkest sounding Stax amp out there. No drag racing, pics of celebs, and comedy...just pure listening pleasure with friends. Note, Brent was missing in action.

I just have way too many headphones man!

Hey Peter....sadly I also have the MDR-V7, CD-1700 (x2), E888, E484, E472,XBA-3P, and Z7 as well. I know...I need seriously help.

wish I have that option. I already miss that amp.

As an owner of the CD3000, Qualia, and R10...I'm very curious about the new Z1R. I hope my old gears still rule them all! Seriously though, it is welcoming to see that Sony is getting serious again.

Wayne, I just sold my SDS-XLR three months ago and it was definitely my best dynamic amp. I wouldn't know what to do if it ever break down. I do miss it dearly given the way it can drive my R10. However, Doug's ECP amps (my DSHA-0) come close to it with less hassle to deal with. His ECP Copehagen either tube or solidstate should be almost as good sound wise or equal to it. Sill get the BHSE or Carbon tho.

Then get the BHSE or KGSSHV Carbon and forget about the Utopia. Speaking of the dynamic amp, I would recommend the ECP amp as a replacement to your SDS-XLR.

I'm curious about this myself. Did you try this out of your DSHA amp or at the meet?