So for someone who isnāt interested in watching the video, gimme a tldr lol?
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Remember how much Z gushed about the 789 and THX amp tech in general? Completely the opposite direction on the Andovers. He ranted about some aspects of their build, and described the sound as veiled, congested, boring, and some other negative adjectives. Which fine. He doesnāt have to like them.
Along the way though he shit on other, well-established reviewers and essentially said Andover as a company was engaging in dishonest business practices, trying to get people to pay $500 for what he thinks should be an <$200 headphone. Again, itās totally fine for him to not like these Andover headphones. I have no problem with that whatsoever. Dismissing othersā opinions on them while also attacking the integrity of the people at Andover without any additional evidence supporting his accusation was essentially just trolling.
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Yeah thatās not cool, thanks for the summary
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Zeos is a big builds guy. He goes on about the builds of headphones a lot. And it could have been the build of it that bugged him. But hes also a big economy guy too. and the fact that they where selling for 500$ really seemed to aggravate him. He felt they should compete better with other headphones for that price. I guess the Gold Planar headphones are really good for 180$ and he was comparing them. Felt the Andover should be 200$
But he thought they were veiled, unclear and he felt the best word for them was uninspired.
I dont think he disrespected other reviewers so much. But Zeos has a lot of experience also. If he doesnt like them iām on his side. I think he has good judgement. Remember he loved the Nuemannās and if anything is veiled its those. so i think its more than just that its veiled. Iām glad for this video cause i was thinking seriously about buying them.
While I donāt think the pm-50s are bad persay I will agree on several things he said. It does sound congested, the headband is fairly uncomfortable, the pads suck and really should be an over ear for that padding, it can sound muffled right out of the box, its in a price bracket that has a hell of a lot of competition that are very great headphones. I still think it will be worth around the $350 margin but not $500 not by a long shot. I would sit down with my hifimans, sendys, or aeons in that price bracket before I sat down with these. If they were cheaper they would be a pretty strong contender though and perhaps they could fix some of that sound with a change in pads.
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I donāt agree with the congested statement. Maybe it depends on what you primarily listen to. The fit for me is excellent, comparable with the eikons, but on ear instead of around. Headband for me feels nonexistent. I can see where it could put people off though.
I do think itās worth $400. In my view theyāre a moderate improvement to the Sundaras in timbre, accuracy, and build. They are a slight step back in pure crystalline clarity and spacious soundstage. $500 is pushing it.
I do hope the new earpads improve them for others.
I would hands down grab the PMs over my hifimans any day of the week. As it turns out I feel the PMs are more worth keeping than both my Hifimans (as I sold them to make way for my Focal). I donāt think Aeons are in that price bracket.
I think these headphones are divisive. They venture outside of the norm in more ways than one. And people who dislike that really shouldnāt go out on a limb for them. Their evident flaws (and strongpoints) have been repeated in the reviews that are available. But Zeos expected an analytical pair of cans, thatās not what these guys are.
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Original aeon flows and aeon open x are both in the same price bracket right now as the pm-50. Hifiman Ananda can be bought for $500 range around $550 on an open box and sundara can be bought for $250 and is very similar to the pm-50s for half the price. I think the biggest problem with these is just the price point. Theres to much competition at that point for this headphone to fall short on. I do believe they are a good headphone. Just not at the price point as I feel imo there is better options.
Have never found one? Itās been on my active search list for a while. Lowest I found is $600.
From what Iāve read, the only ones worth going in on are the aeon 2 series, which is outside of the price bracket? These I donāt have the capacity to comment on though.
Sundaras are a mass produced set of cans. A startup competing with a giantās price is infeasible. I also happen to prefer the sound sig of the PMs. I believe that $350 vs $400 is a tossup over what you want in a headphone.
They arenāt super similar cans, I was only able to compare with the Sundaras as thatās all I had at my disposable in the same class. They are different in a lot of ways, but end up with a lot of similar performance characteristics. Two headphones trying to do two completely different things with planar drivers.
I really donāt see a problem with the $400 price point. I do agree that I see issues with $500. I would not buy at $500 in all likelihood.
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Can find used in mint conditioning cheap like that as well. maybe cheaper if your lucky.
Havenāt tried aeon 2ās but I didnāt like the flows however aeon open x is one that stays in my collection which I have seen sold by others for around $375 for a used and its $500 new.
Hence I say the problem is price point. You can also go grab a pair of Argon mk3s for cheaper which are really great headphones. They priced these in a really bad spot imo especially for a new product from a company I never even heard of but apparently this is their first headphone. It is a good headphone, just not worth that price tag IMO when you compare it to the competition.
You do you man. I believe theyāre worth it. I do not agree with you that theyāre priced poorly. To me it seems a pretty solid price for what youāre getting. I keep a/b/c-ing them every hour or two with the sundaras and eikons and they seem great. I do not understand the disdain for these things. I guess my ears are just fucked compared to everyone elseās.
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Nah dude, donāt take it the wrong way yeah? Sound is subjective. If you like them by all means use them. I never said they were bad they just have some issues in my opinion. I am more curious to see how the new pads they confirmed will impact the headphone.
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Yea, no harm done. Zeos just triggered the shit out of me, so Iām on edge. Cause it went from like, āokay, I dislike these cansā to āfuck you your ears are bad and these cans are bad and you should feel bad for liking themā. Normally I really like 50% of what he has to say. That review realllllly pissed me off for some reason. Especially since the other reviewers Iāve read seem to have very little issue with these and are pretty in line with what I hear.
Yea. Sound is subjective. I do understand how fit and sound on these things are not up peopleās alley. Same here. New pads should be interesting.
Buried the product 6 feet under.
RIP
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Just saw the video, I was a bit shocked because I have never heard Zeos destroy a product like he did theseā¦ However there are other people out there doing reviews so anyone can make up their mind by watching more than only Zeosā¦
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and everyone hears sound in their own waysā¦
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Zeos really likes treble. Iām treble-sensitive. I really donāt have Zeosās ears. Glad I read this threadā¦ interesting headphones.
I hope this doesnāt happen, but I think heāll need to use the Patreon money for lawyers if Andover sues him (bribery allegations).
Edit: And by that I mean, Zeos basically said āyeah, send these to reviewers so they can write good reviews on websites where people who actually tried these canāt comment about the lies the reviewer saidā.
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Heās done this shit before when he was smaller yāall forget this is why many like z he is brutally honest Iām both positive and negative lights he plays both extremese while not very often often enough itās kinda a meme both m50x and the m70x kinda got this treatment. And some worse products probably. Just one of the first Iāve seen where itās just him attacking a new product from an upcoming company this hard
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Side effects of the COVID quarantine, maybe. A bit more pissed off than usual 
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Possibly. I am really enjoying watching the affects of the virus in the respect on the media, people, music and such not enjoying the sick the deaths of course but I am really enjoying watching this unintended case study of the human condition that is covid.
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I donāt think this will happen, getting a lawsuit going over this would be difficult and a waste in both time and money for both parties, I donāt really see what andover can really sue them for here and actually have a case go through
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