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Hifiman Shangri-La, new Electrostatic


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12 minutes ago, spritzer said:

Nothing they make is worth the asking price now based on the sound and the build quality, let alone something like this. 

To be fair, the HE-1000 and HE-X both do sound quite good.

I fully agree with you that neither is worth the current ask.

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Pictures of the amp over there, 4 X 300b and a very large internal heatsink.

who knows what the fuck is in there, transformers, current sources, given the lack of quality on the previous hifiman solid state amp, an overpriced piece of crap for sure.

for the longest time I thought that a all dht fully direct coupled amp with an $18k parts cost was so out of line that no one would ever build it. Now we have 2 companies trying to sell $40k+ amp and headphone systems.

stupidass

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Agreed that HFM is charging too much for the sound and build quality of their products.  I liked the HE1000 while I had it but it's probably twice as expensive as it should be selling for.  The build quality for a $3k product was a joke...fake wood, fake chrome, fake leather, etc.  HFM has serious issues with quality control regarding variability from unit to unit - I've heard huge differences between different pairs of HE1000s.  These companies (mainly HFM/Audeze) will keep getting away with this price gouging as long as there are fools around to stuff their pockets for sub par products.

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5 hours ago, n3rdling said:

These companies (mainly HFM/Audeze) will keep getting away with this price gouging as long as there are fools around to stuff their pockets for sub par products.

So, forever?

;)

Intentionally or not, Senn has created a massive amount of pricing headroom at the high end with the new Orpheus. Your stereotype rich audiophool with $250,000+ in his speaker system isn't ever going to buy a product that costs a few hundred bucks, because it "must" be mass-market crap. Get your system north of $10,000, add fine Corinthian leather and a sprinkle of nano materials and it might be worthy of notice.

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Let's just look away that 300B's are in no way compatible for electrostatic use.  This has audiophool written all over it... 

Me thinks Mjölnir Audio is up to the task of making a 80k$ amp/headphone combo.  :lol:  I wonder if I can cryo freeze some ice and use it as a part of the chassis....  ;D

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1 hour ago, spritzer said:

Let's just look away that 300B's are in no way compatible for electrostatic use.  This has audiophool written all over it... 

Me thinks Mjölnir Audio is up to the task of making a 80k$ amp/headphone combo.  :lol:  I wonder if I can cryo freeze some ice and use it as a part of the chassis....  ;D

Since you only charge for parts, that is something i would really like to see. At 80k, you might need to CNC a case for titanium to meet that budget.;D

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Stuff like this is all about the markup so one would have to layer it on thick!  :)  I have plans to make a set of headphones one day but who knows if it will ever happen... 

As for the topic at hand, I can't see anything here that would warrant such a price.  I have fond memories of the Jade and there they showed zero clue what makes this stuff tick.  When they were gone there was naturally the usual "OMG these were great" bullshit but they are still awful. 

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Not trying to be contrary, but I owned a pair of HE Audio Jade that sounded very nice, and everyone who tried them liked them.  

The Jade didn't have the depth of stage and imaging that the SR-007 Mk1 had, but they also didn't have the shouty mids and bass hump of my Mk2.  Their bass didn't extend as deep as the Mk1, but I really enjoyed having a smooth and sparkly treble that matched the midrange levels (where the mids seemed more recessed on the Mk1 and more forward on the Mk2).  The Jade weren't perfect, but I didn't think my O2 Mk1 and Mk2 were perfect either.  

I still prefer my HE-60 the most - they're so alive, energetic, and transparent sounding that they made my Mk1 sound bland in side by side comparison. Then again, I'm one of those that also likes the HE-6 and HE-1000 or HD-800.  I haven't heard their new electrostatic, and I'm not defending them so much as I'm saying we should give them a fair chance before writing them off.

I am in agreement that prices in general are getting ridiculous lately, and while I was eager to jump on the bandwagon in 2009 for a new HD800 at their crazy price then, I'm not so eager to pounce on a > $2K headphone anymore.

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