Fugaku was all the rave, some people dropped on it at CanJam. $17k in one go.
I did manage to try out Duality, it’s a fun amount of bass. I didn’t have a chance to try it with the bass switch off (which people liked more). Kind of reminded me of like a more refined Scarlet Mini. But, I also made the mistake of listening to it after the Storm.
There was a lot in that range that does bass pretty well, too, like the AME Mousa. That may have been some of the most thunderous bass I’ve heard. Expensive and heavy but dope.
So think it goes for $4500 - more than Duality - but it was one of the stand outs for me.
Empire Ears also freaking cooked with how good the Triton is as an all rounder.
And, dude, keep an eye out for the Jomo Nautilus. At $800, that is going to be a special set. V-shape done well with a lot of nice tech in it, really goes above its price point.
Sorry, don’t mean to throw all this info to you at once, just still been riding that post CanJam high and there was so much ear treasures there.
Thank you, sir! I think those are the main ones on the list that I think you’d love the most and I’d be curious for your take. I mean we also have Elysian Apostle, Grand Maestro Anniversary, etc.
But the AME Mousa, EE Triton, and Jomo Nautilus are special, IMO, and worth looking out for.
Fugatu is really great. But it’s too rich for my blood. Fantastic concept. I think the true he1 of earphones. Bobby from the water cooler thread is probably getting one.
This is the smart move. I own way too many sets under $100, because I am like oh that’s only $30 or $40.
I was not good this year. My three big purchases were the Doscinco, Explorer, and S08. In the under $100 bracket, I snagged the EA500 LM, Hades, Xuan Nv, KZ Vader, and TRN Conch, Artti R1, and Artti R2. Bu during the holiday I got the KZ Castor bass, Crin Zero2, ZiiGaat Cinno.
Yeah, having bought several sets from $5000 to $11,000 it’s kinda like what I imagine watches are v.s graphics cards.
One has benchmarks and the other makes you feel good. IEM skew towards feel good/ art investments without the certain increase in value over time that art has.
Still do it but not to chase a dragon
I do it because I can
I just talked to a person at e-earphone who knows me and suggested I wait since it doesn’t have the zoon zoon (Bass). I coulda saved a lot had I listened to him about 64 U18 and EE ODIN. He also heard the Amber Pearl and said it was a smoother Multiverse (he nailed that). He has no graph tool but has great ears. My Wife was …well her mood picked up when I said I am going to pass on that $15,000 set of earphones
. He and I were super geeked out on especially the Apostle. It’s a good time to live in this hobby.
