Our show coverage continues today sponsored by our friends at Noble Audio and coverage starting with DanClark Audio.
Andy Regan President of Dan Clark Audio was smiling and enjoying the Aeon 2 priced at $899. The new sensational design is offered in both open and closed versions both of which have been reviewed and won Product of the Year awards on Headphone.Guru. Andy was listening with the HeadAmp GSX Mini designed by Justin Wilson and available priced at $1799
Andy still listening to Aeon 2 while a member was enjoying the Ether 2 priced at $1999 one of the lightest and one of the best in transparency in planar designs headphones offered today. The Schiit Ragnarok 2 starts at $1499 and offers exceptional transparency with a wide variety of headphones, while the Schiit Yggdrasil at $2449 remains the state of the art for Multibit DACs.
Beyerdynamic was showing its award-winning wireless designs including the Amiron Wireless Copper headphones.
The Amiron is a Bluetooth circumaural design that has a 30-hour battery life, sounds fantastic, and is made in Germany. The Wireless Copper design is comfortable while the Qualcomm Bluetooth design is reliable and well thought out. This is one of the best wireless designs offered today and is a great light comfortable headphone to use when you want to experience your music anywhere without a cable. Priced at $699.
Beyerdynamic’s Aventho is a closed-back design that offers the same wireless technology at a more affordable price, $299, and gives the user a closed design that can make your long listening sessions more affordable while offering high quality and the Beyerdynamic sound which is perfect for using on a long plane ride or in the comfort of your office or home. Aventho manufactured with high-quality parts was designed from the bottom up and is a great value.
Peter James was showing HeadAmp products and shared the room with Dan Clark Audio. The room was exciting with legendary products from big companies.
Spirit Torino’s Radiante Torino 1706 ($2450) is a special edition of the Radiante closed-back headphone. Voiced with a rich and musical sound and lighter weight featuring Dekoni Alcantara Earpads this is musically accurate and offers an exceptional sound that will let you listen endlessly for long hours and when paired with the GSX Mini the sound is exciting and will keep you focused and in love with the sound.
This room was showcasing Dan Clark’s electrostatic design the VOCE $3299 paired with the Blue Hawaii SE electrostatic amplifier designed by HeadAmp starting at $6000, making this one of the best electrostatic systems in the world, add a world-class DAC and for a little over $10K, this system will compete with systems costing 3 times more and is an end game solution for many listeners.
DUNU was introducing the LUNA IEM. This new design from DUNU is using all beryllium in the design which will be in production soon. Priced at $1699 it is the new reference for DUNU.
Cardas was showing the new Clear Power Cable a state of the art power cable from Cardas, it provides broadband filtering on all three legs through a hybrid process that incorporates a tuned toroidal filter and multipath canceling conductors in a flexible low resistance package. Starting at $820 this is your final cable to extract the most from your electronics.
Cardas also was showing the Manley Absolute Headphone Amplifier ($4,500 USD). Not only is it beautiful to look at (available in three finishes) but it is also an outstanding sounding triode tube preamp/headphone amplifier. Fitted with Baxandall Bass and Treble equalizers the Absolute Headphone Amplifier has two of the most unique features on the market, the ability to switch between Push-Pull and Single-Ended output, and variable Feedback letting the listener choose between absolute musicality and dynamic range. In Push-Pull, you have four times the power output and a lower noise floor at the cost of some of the micro-detail, and similarly, with full Feedback, you have greater stability and lower total harmonic distortion at the expense of total power output and dynamic range. These are choices the manufacturer makes on the user’s behalf, but with the Manley, you get to make your own decisions based on which headphone you are currently using.
Cardas headphone cables are among the finest in the world starting at $180 pair for the Cross, $220 for Parsec and $600 for the reference Clear. You can find the perfect Cardas solution to get the most inner detail from your headphones and cables to fit in your budget. Made from the best copper available today you need to audition this amazing cable brand.
Schiit Audio was showing their SYS volume control and input switch (passive preamp), at $49 useful and an extreme value.
The $399 Schiit Asgard 3 with the multibit DAC module will put 3.5 watts into 32 ohms making this ideal for hard to drive headphones. Exceptional value and built in the USA. Schitt continues to offer amazing products at affordable prices
The Asgard which was the founding amplifier that introduced the world to Schiit is now in its third incarnation with nice options. The Asgard 3 starting at $199 is a pure class A design which can be fitted with either of two various DAC options selected by the user.
The Joutunheim R is the world’s first ribbon drive amplifier DAC combo designed specifically to drive the RAAL Requisite SR1 $3500 ribbon headphone. The amplifier delivers over 1000 watts of power into the RAAL ribbon that drives the RAAL Requisite SR1 easily creating a vivid and lucid soundstage. The sound was transparent, liquid and dynamic. The synergy of the amplifier and SR1 ribbon headphones was excellent. The price is suggested to be $799 for the Jotunheimen R and $3499 for the SR1a but look for package pricing,
The EarMen TR-Amp is a solid-state amplifier that delivers exceptional transparency and sounded excellent with clarity and musicality that nailed instrument tonality while delivering jaw-dropping dynamics in a small package. The all in one unit includes the ESS 9018 DAC chip. The TR-Amp has an outstanding headphone amplifier and does DSD 256, PCM, and MQA. The sound is exceptional and offers the listener and outstanding listening experience for $199 US. Exceptional and I predict it will be a huge success and tremendous value.
The Donald DAC is a portable DAC that uses the Cirrus Logic chipset. The DAC priced at $99 US is a statement from EarMen of what is possible in affordable products. The DAC does DSD256/128/64 and is capable of PCM up to 32/384 kHz. It includes RCA output and is offered at an incredible price with exceptional sound quality. Two outstanding products from the mind of Miki Trosic.
The Auris Euterpe includes a world-class ESS Sabre DAC. The wood base can also hold your headphones on top when not in use. The Sabre DAC chip used is the highly regarded ESS 9018 which can convert DSD64, DSD128, and PCM at 32 bit/384kHz. ESS DACs are known for their inner detail retrieval, transparency, and musicality.
The separate included power supply has a switch in the rear to turn it on and off. The Euterpe also has a preamp which can be used in a HiFi system to drive amplifiers and work as the centerpiece to make your system come alive. Priced at $1699.
HiFiMan was showing their entire line of products. The TWS600 IEMs were introduced and priced at $199. The Headphone.Guru Wireless IEM of the Year is an exceptional design by Dr. Fang Bian and the sound is dynamic and exceptional with terrific musicality.
The Ananda priced at $699 for wired and $999 for wireless uses their NEO Supernano diaphragm which is 80 percent thinner making it a fast and more musical design. The 103 dB efficiency makes it easy to drive using any portable player amplifier. Comfortable for long listening sessions with its lightweight contemporary design the sound is pure HiFiMan with a musicality that punches way above its price point.
The top of the line Susvara offers some of the best transparency of any headphone currently in production. The demanding design works best with top tier sources and amplification and creates one of the best experiences in soundstage, transparency, and detail. Listeners who want the most from personal listening will appreciate the Susvara. Priced at $6000 US.
John Frank CEO of Chord was showing the reference products from Chord Audio UK.
Showcase products from Chord including the DAVE, Hugo 2 and Hugo TT 2. The DAVE is one of the best sounding DAC’s in the works with a good headphone amplifier built-in.
The Fidelice Precision DAC/Amp is a world-class headphone amplifier designed and built by Rupert Neve, using the same configurations as used in their studio consoles, with a built-in DAC utilizing the AKM chip which in many minds is the best sounding chip out there with their own slant and tweaking. The sensational new design is beautiful to look at and offers a clear window of light while listening to your best headphones. The sound is outstanding and gets the most from recordings. Priced at $4995
Priced at $499 the Fidelice Headphone Amplifier has much of what is in the reference line at a much lower cost. The amplifier has outstanding musicality. Dynamic and bold sounding it delivers music through your favorite headphones with conviction and clarity. Designed by Rubert Neve a Pro-Audio Company who knows how to get the most from recorded music.
Conclusion coming soon
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