purk

Sad but a possible name for them. I can't see why the two would merging. Cavalli is highly overpriced while some Schitt(s) can be quite a good value.

Have a wonderful birthday Tom! We sure miss you down here in Atlanta.

i didn't not forget and not all Chinese companies are bad and greedy here. I am just afraid that Stax will soon follow Hifiman's business model and start overcharging the consumer given Hifiman is getting away with it. I don't think the new Stax flagship headphones will be priced under 6k.

Stax saw what Hifiman is doing to a highend headphones market, thus, they decide to do the same. I really hope their new flagship will not be over 10K.

only $8,000.

Thinking about doing it to. Is the $150 a flat cost plus one way shipping?

I had the Yggy & M51 side by side and it was an easy victory for Yggy in my system.

Nope, a friend of mine is a headphones tester for Dan...so I always get to hear his prototype. Same shape....more of a semi-open headphones.

Have a great birthday!

Happy birthday!

I heard both Aeon closed and prototype open today. The closed is really a nice sounding headphones beside its rather limited sense of soundstage. The open is still in a work in progress but is very promising.

I think the HD800S is but not the classic.

Tyll really need to hear the HD800 out of the Doug's ECP L3. He probably put it back on a HOF and then some.

I think we both value other things such as sense of space and imaging just as much as tonal balanced. Still for the price it is a good buy.

They are not bad and well priced. I heard the closed version before and the weakness is rather boxy soundstage but over all a good sounding closed headphone. For the price, it is a good buy. I believe he is working on the open version of these.

Have a great Birthday Justin! How about another wild night in ATL?

Although I'm not a big fan of the Z1R, I still think the soundstage and image placement are what great about them especially for closed headphone. I was a tad surprised that Tyll didn't mention that in his review.

Nah, it starts at 38.

My mistake. What I find pretty impressive about the Utopia is its ability to sound wonderful out of portable DAP. I don't think the LCD-4 or the HD800 can do that.

The Utopia is no longer on the Wall of Fame....the LCD-4 now is.

Open up the earcup and u will see how crappy the wires are. I can't stand a stock SA5000 either, but my recabled pair has considerably less bright with a better bass to boot. Extracting details has never been the sa5000 problems. The SA5000 was around $690 new a few years back while the the Z1R doesnt sound quite as good as my recabled pair for three times the price hence the reason why I think less of the Z1R.

It really is.

For the Qualia it is all about the fit. Mine has a small headband so it does fit me perfectly. The sonic difference can be night and day between good and bad fit Qualia. I do enjoy the Z1R as well but I don't think it is as balanced sounding as a recabled CD3000 & SA5000 in a direct comparison. If you like a lot of bass and punchy sound signature with good sense of soundstage, the Z1R can easily be your favorite headphones. Never said that we all hear the same or prefer the same sound signatures. Plus, the Z1R works well with portable source.

They are enjoyable that's for sure but they are hardly a "reference" type headphones. Plus, they are less balanced sounding and bassy heavy compared to headphones in the same price bracket.

Very much agree with you Tyll on the Z1R review. I much prefer the recabled SA5000 and CD3000 actually.