Hifiman Shangri-La, new Electrostatic

[purk]

http://stereoexchange.com/latest-news/hifimans-new-shangri-la/

$9999

 

[johnwmclean]

1 hour ago, purk said:

$9999

  then

[HemiSam]

 

HS

[spritzer]

Wow they are delusional.  Let's not get into why 300B's will never work for electrostatic duty but this is Hifiman, known for 30% return rate due to defects.  Seriously, Sennheiser are overpriced but you know that every set is good and will last for decades.  This, not so much. 

[Wmcmanus]

When did Fang become a crack head?

[DefQon]

Stereoexchange reviewers who wrote the article obviously don't know shit about es headphones:

"Most electrostatic headphones are sold with companion amps, which is the only way that they can be used. But did you know? Shangri-La is unique from any other of its kind and will work with any other company’s amp."

[spritzer]

Let's try it on the new Senn amp...   

[luvdunhill]

When did Fang become a crack head?

When he said "I do"?

[dripf]

Everything wrong with this industry stems from hobbyists refusing to share a set of scientific knowledge.

If I had a year's jump on head-fi back in 2000 with my own forum, I could have installed my formulated groupthink thereby preventing these crazy prices and designs.

[DefQon]

One problem affecting these is some startup companies are starting to patent designs, schematics and technologies used over last half century by other companies. The new Enigma hybrid electret headphone is one example, they bought out the patent license for electret technology and trademarked it as there own "Self-bias technology".

The new Shure ESL IEM is also another which makes it seem they are the first to put an ESL tech into a portable earphone form-factor where Stax beat them 20 years ago. 

Edited February 13, 2016 by DefQon

[purk]

14 minutes ago, DefQon said:

One problem affecting these is some startup companies are starting to patent designs, schematics and technologies used over last half century by other companies. The new Enigma hybrid electret headphone is one example, they bought out the patent license for electret technology and trademarked it as there own "Self-bias technology".

The new Shure ESL IEM is also another which makes it seem they are the first to put an ESL tech into a portable earphone form-factor where Stax beat them 20 years ago. 

The problem is Shure and even Hifiman are now beating Stax in term of marketing, hype, and fanboy-ism.  It is pretty sad really.

[spritzer]

Yeah but they are not beating them in terms of sales.  That's what people always forget when lost in the HF hype BS.  It is fleeting and doesn't really generate any sales except for a short peek.  For Stax the 009's have been sold out from day one and they don't have a chance in hell of keeping the 007's in stock.  They are constantly back ordered all over the world. 

Let's look at something like Cavalli, the pinnacle of the HF hype bullshit.  If he was actually selling amps then he wouldn't need to trick some sucker every year to pour money into the company to try and keep it afloat.  Same with Eddie Current and a bunch of other "favorites". 

I know for a fact that a large portion of my amps go to people who have never been on Head-fi.  That could of course just be because the Stax discussion there is utter garbage and stupidity but I think it is because of the larger trend forming where HF just doesn't matter any more. 

[mtoc]

2 hours ago, spritzer said:

Same with Eddie Current

hey! EC amps are the best dynamic amp in the Northern Hemisphere, many people told many people.

[HemiSam]

 

HS

[DefQon]

Haha priceless!

Cavalli Audio is still around? They may just be another sinking ship like Ray Samuals audio.

[Bjorn]

$9999? Well that's bullshit. Remember the good ol' days when the HD 800 was expensive? 

Good times. 

[spritzer]

Well it does come with an amp which probably doesn't actually work.  Look up the 300B datasheets and their maximum plate voltage... 

I know Fang was touting these as some special 300B's but that's just utter BS.  Also if he were to alter the plate voltage rating they would pretty much have to design a new tube... 

[purk]

3 hours ago, spritzer said:

Well it does come with an amp which probably doesn't actually work.  Look up the 300B datasheets and their maximum plate voltage... 

I know Fang was touting these as some special 300B's but that's just utter BS.  Also if he were to alter the plate voltage rating they would pretty much have to design a new tube... 

This electrostatic headphone will sell for $9999 and will be available for shipment this upcoming Spring.

I think the headphone is 9.99k by itself.  Amp is extra?

[HeadphoneAddict]

20 hours ago, DefQon said:

One problem affecting these is some startup companies are starting to patent designs, schematics and technologies used over last half century by other companies. The new Enigma hybrid electret headphone is one example, they bought out the patent license for electret technology and trademarked it as there own "Self-bias technology".

The new Shure ESL IEM is also another which makes it seem they are the first to put an ESL tech into a portable earphone form-factor where Stax beat them 20 years ago. 

I wish Stax could have perfected their portable stats. My audiocats stage-2 modded SRM-001 Mk2 still sounds so close to being a Baby-007Mk1, in a portable package at a fraction of the cost (it's full of vcaps and auricaps and blackgates, so it uses an external re-chargeabe battery pack).  Stage-1 mods started off with upgraded opamps and some minor caps upgrades, and conversion to a pair of 3.7v Lithium batteries in parallel, instead of a pair of 1.5v AA in series. 

Stock, while a bit rolled off in the treble and bass, was still not bad with a wonderful midrange.  My issue is the Stax fit and comfort - I must use the headband as the earpieces wont stay in my ears without it, and the tips make my ear canals itch after a while.  If Shure fixed the fit and comfort issue, great, but they should not try to imply that they were the first.

[spritzer]

5 hours ago, purk said:

This electrostatic headphone will sell for $9999 and will be available for shipment this upcoming Spring.

I think the headphone is 9.99k by itself.  Amp is extra?

Could be but reading the whole thing it suggests that the amp is included.  Dunno feels that way to me. 

[mtoc]

1 hour ago, spritzer said:

Could be but reading the whole thing it suggests that the amp is included.  Dunno feels that way to me. 

ya know why it can be read as two meanings? this is a literature joke. Foucault-Derrida texture.

[DefQon]

It would in a way seem a bit fairer but imo price still not justified if the $9999 price tag is the package deal for both the headphones and the amp but if its just the headphone, Fang has really lost it. 

I really really do hope Audeze stick with orthos and not attempt at making ESL headphones at one stage to compete with HFM, if so I could see somebody dying in the near future.

Edited February 14, 2016 by DefQon

[kevin gilmore]

you know that its possible that the hifiman amp has output transformers in which case the 300b would actually work as push pull.

If so, what is that massive heat sink in the middle for.

Still completely stupidass.

[spritzer]

I hope it has output trafo's otherwise it doesn't make any sense.  Given that the tubes can only take 450V max (though at least one WE datasheet claims 400V max) and the rather poor grid to plate capacitance (15pf) this is probably the worst tube they could have picked for the job. 

I for one don't get the allure of DHT's in something like this but hey, the audiophools think they are the bee's knees... 

[wink]

16 hours ago, mtoc said:

ya know why it can be read as two meanings? this is a literature joke. Foucault-Derrida texture.

I'm Prout to say that the philosophies of Foucault and Derrida make me mad.

 

I'll just stay with the Thomists and Hegelians.  They make me Searley (Surly) Those Hegelians speak in another dialect.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/bridging-the-analytic-continental-divide/?_r=0