Hifiman Shangri-La, new Electrostatic

[Sherwood]

Looks like Fang's work.  Frankly, I'm surprised he even bothers selling stuff in the U.S.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Sherwood

[n3rdling]

[morphsci]

On January 9, 2016 at 5:50 AM, EdipisReks said:

Probably someone who I can drive to is the way to go *cough* Chicago crew * cough*.  Thanks though!

We could probably work something out but you would have to be satisfied driving the Omegas with a BHSE. (Indianapolis is about halfway between Charleston and Cincinnati BTW.)

Edited January 12, 2016 by morphsci

[purk]

14 hours ago, Sherwood said:

Looks like Fang's work.  Frankly, I'm surprised he even bothers selling stuff in the U.S.

Agreed.  I wonder if his high-price stats will feature the famous Hifiman Wood Veneer just like the HE1000.

[spritzer]

Either that or the QualityWood(TM) found in the Jade.  Not a chance we have something like the HE90 or even the Audeze. 

[tyrion]

On 1/9/2016 at 2:32 AM, naamanf said:

 

I liked my HE 1.2 or whatever they were called way moar that the 007. Admittedly they were built like shit.

Same here.  I currently have a HE-500 and HE-6 and they both sound quite nice out of the Schitt Ragnarok.  No build issues in either that I can see.  I'm sure there have been but not that I have personally experienced.  Haven't tried the newer models but believe Oz is a distributor and has a pair of the HE-1000 so should be able to give them a try soon.

[Sherwood]

Fang just sent me a set of HE-1000s to try out.  The most powerful amp I have here is the ECP L-2, which according to Nate's measurements puts out about 125mw into the HE-1000s 35 ohm nominal resistance.  At 90db sensitive, I should be seeing ~110 peaks, if my math has not deteriorated to the point of unusability.

That's not quite the output power I'd prefer into these, but it should be sufficient.  To the amp's credit, it is a truly sublime and hearty 125mw.

If that's not enough, I'll wire it up to the F5s speaker taps, just to frustrate Marc.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Sherwood

[purk]

7 hours ago, Sherwood said:

Fang just sent me a set of HE-1000s to try out.  The most powerful amp I have here is the ECP L-2, which according to Nate's measurements puts out about 125mw into the HE-1000s 35 ohm nominal resistance.  At 90db sensitive, I should be seeing ~110 peaks, if my math has not deteriorated to the point of unusability.

That's not quite the output power I'd prefer into these, but it should be sufficient.  To the amp's credit, it is a truly sublime and hearty 125mw.

If that's not enough, I'll wire it up to the F5s speaker taps, just to frustrate Marc.

The L2 can't really drive the HE-1000 well.  The best I've heard the HE-1000 is out of my Susy Dynahi as well as the big Headroom Balanced Home Max Out.  The HE-1000 build quality isn't that great with many reports on a channel in & out issue.

[Sherwood]

Shame.  Nevertheless, that's what I've got.  I'm not about to buy a different amp to play loaner headphones, even though this is Head Case.  I'll see about imbalance or channels cutting out.  Hopefully it won't be an issue.

I heard a beta pair at his shop in Tianjin before, so I'll be interested to see how these measure up.

[purk]

Its a really good headphones but it is lacking in term of depth of soundstage compared to the other TOTL phones.  It has a very smooth and forgiving sound and likely will be overly smooth now out of the ECP L2. You really need the GS-X MKII and Dynahi type amp to firm up the bass and plenty of power behind it to bring out better dynamics.  I like it a good bit better compared to the Audeze LCD-3 when I tried them side by side.  Bad fit & finished however...not for the asking price anyway.  The golden standard for fit and finish for me is the long and forgotten Audio-Technica ATH-L3000.

Edited January 11, 2016 by purk

[Audiojunkie]

^ Too bad the L3000s sounded so darn bad.

[purk]

Personally I think it still sound very good but there are many better phones now.  Some people still love them.  I sold mine awhile back and still miss it from time to time.

[TMoney]

15 hours ago, purk said:

The L2 can't really drive the HE-1000 well.  The best I've heard the HE-1000 is out of my Susy Dynahi as well as the big Headroom Balanced Home Max Out. 

 

1 hour ago, Sherwood said:

Shame.  Nevertheless, that's what I've got.  I'm not about to buy a different amp to play loaner headphones, even though this is Head Case.  

 

IIRC when Tyll did his "Big Sound Project" most of the participants struggled mightily identifying amps during blind testing with the HE-1000. It is possible they are more amp-agnostic than some might think.

[skullguise]

I heard the HE-1000 at a NH meet in December.  I don't love many planars, the "delivery" of sound doesn't quite sound right to me in some ways.  Smooth and fast were how I'd describe it, though.  Some complained about lack of bass and dynamics, could be the amp used but I think it was more the music playing (distantly recorded jazz was what I heard).

I liked the phones for not having that sound delivery issue I react to, but still wouldn't pay $3000 for them....

And won't pay for Electrostatics as well, even if cheaper; Stax phones with DIY amps do all I want.

[purk]

1 hour ago, TMoney said:

 

 

IIRC when Tyll did his "Big Sound Project" most of the participants struggled mightily identifying amps during blind testing with the HE-1000. It is possible they are more amp-agnostic than some might think.

I actually think it is easier to discern than that....but then again I know the characteristic of my amps really well.  For example, I would never use the HE-1000 with "softer" and "smoother" sounding amps and would prefer the GS-X MKII or Dynahi type amp any time.  That's one of the reason why Peter likes the GS-X MKII with the HEK so much so as Tyll.

Given that we now can get the SR009 new for around $2700, the HEK is definitely overpriced.  However, it does sound good even with a Headroom Ultra Desktop ...so there is a selling point for you.  Of course, I take the SR009/SR007 over the HEK as well.  I was one of the beta tester, so I hardly paid anyway near the 3K price tag.  

[Sherwood]

Got the HEK in today, spent a few hours with them.  Not bad at all.  Somewhat unique presentation to my stalwart HD800s -- I feel I get a long more string noise, pedal squeak, valve thunk, etc.  Same amount of music, just more of all the little ancillary bits, which surprises me.  

 

My main setup has always operated on the "high end thunderdome" principle, whereby you can only keep your favorite, and all comparison only serves the purpose of figuring out what to get rid of.  I didn't buy these, and I have to eventually return them to Fang, so it's a treat to be able to listen comfortably in my own rig knowing that I don't have to decide whether I like them better than anything else.  They make my ears real hot, though.

[TMoney]

I agree that they are a very nice headphone. If there were priced at the $1,699 price point of the HD800S I'd have to give them more serious consideration. I suspect a decent number of people who own them got them for less than MSRP.

The current $3k MSRP is just way too high an ask when you can get 009s for nearly the same price.

[robm321]

^ Agreed.

[purk]

On 1/15/2016 at 8:09 PM, TMoney said:

I agree that they are a very nice headphone. If there were priced at the $1,699 price point of the HD800S I'd have to give them more serious consideration. I suspect a decent number of people who own them got them for less than MSRP.

The current $3k MSRP is just way too high an ask when you can get 009s for nearly the same price.

C'mon now.....but it got that superior "nano" tech on it!

[Laowei]

7 hours ago, purk said:

C'mon now.....but it got that superior "nano" tech on it!

If one were to use it with Kevin's Nanotube SiC Cyrclotron amp, would the Shangri-La become too nano infused and possibly implode to a singularity? 

[spritzer]

They might just do that sitting there. 

I do wonder if these utilize the particles found in the Jade.  Basically the diaphragm was covered in some gunk on purpose which made them far from silent when sitting idle.  Such epic stupidity is quite hard to fathom...   

[wink]

13 hours ago, purk said:

C'mon now.....but it got that superior "nano" tech on it!

How can they charge more for having less diaphragm material..?   

5 hours ago, Laowei said:

If one were to use it with Kevin's Nanotube SiC Cyrclotron amp, would the Shangri-La become too nano infused and possibly implode to a singularity? 

Modern cosmology is retreating from the concept of singularities such as black holes, as it invalidates the concept of the indestructibility of information.

The modern trend is away from nothing exploding and becoming the universe, and towards branes (membranes or dimensions) from different universes touching and causing an explosion of a new universe coming into existence.

Even the "high priest of evolution" Richard Dawkins is suggesting life originated somewhere very remote from here and floated here over aeons and found the conditions amenable to propagation.

This is the same concept of transpermia held by Hoyle and Wikramasinghe which was replaced by the Big bang.

 

[judo]

2 hours ago, wink said:

This is the same concept of transpermia held by Hoyle and Wikramasinghe which was replaced by the Big bang.

 

Origin of the Universe and origin of life are two things or not ?

[wink]

It was part of the steady state theory of the universe.

Fred Hoyle was also a critic and coiner of the title "Big Bang Theory.

Edited January 21, 2016 by wink
shppellingk

[judo]

You are right. Panspermia is a theory about how the life, living organisms or the building matter of the organisms transported in the interstellar space. The Big Bang is the theory the now expanding universe some time ago was a microscopic point and banged from there and is banging  on and on now