My understanding is that they should be finalized/shipping soon. Jeffrey has been working on all the builds so far.
1 Like
Mine is en route!!!
2 Likes
My Horizons have arrived today!
My impressions and mini-review
Looks/comfort/build:
I think these look cool. The black and purple remind me of a nether portal from Minecraft, and the square design reminds me of STAX. The purple metal plating is thinner than I was expecting it to be compared to the pictures on the website, but it does give you a clearer view of the gold driver inside so I don’t mind. The included cable is super flowy and not janky at all, but I already have a Hart audio cable that I ordered to use with it. They are decent for comfort on the head, I think comfort will improve over time as I break in the pads and clamp.
Sound:
I wasn’t blown away at first, instead my appreciation has been growing the more I listen to them. Similar to what Z said in his review, it feels like these headphones just give you the music. No extra bass or treble etc, just ideal and clear presentation. If I had to describe them in one word, I say: Pleasant.
Compared to my Modhouse Argon T60RPs (which is the only other nice headphone I have), I feel like the Horizons have cleaner bass and more separation across the board, it feels like the same details are there but it’s easier to pick them out individually. They are more open than my Argons, but it feels like they don’t leak too much sound surprisingly, they feel less open and leaky than HiFiman Aryas which I tried in the past but were too open for me. They are harder to drive than my Argons, I am pushing my Questyle 400i (on low gain) about 50% harder to get to the same volume.
Worth it?:
Are these the best planar headphones for 1K? I have no clue, I don’t have many headphones or go to headphone conventions. But I do consider them an upgrade over my Argons in basically every aspect but comfort (which I suspect will improve with break in) 
7 Likes
Mines still in USPS purgatory lol
Congrats on your new cans. SJY Audio headphones are normally harder to drive than most similarly priced headphones. I was hoping by the specifications of the Horizon that it was a little easier to drive now, but I guess it is relative to his other offerings. For comparison I have to crank the volume up to 50% in high gain & push-pull mode on my Mjolnir 3 when listening to some tracks on my Moonlight. I still might pick up the Horizon eventually, but I have a pair of ZMF Atriums on order, so it will be a little while. Lol
As a side note, I would suspect that Horizon would respond well to speaker amps due to it having a similar load to speakers. I power my Starry Night off a pair of Gjallarhorns, and It works wonders for them ( a single Gjallarhorn does the job though 
). You take a risk hooking up a headphone to a speaker amp. If you are afraid of causing damage to the headphones, then I would stay away from that solution. If/when I get my pair I will A/B Horizon on Mjolnir 3 and Gjallarhorn.
Anyway, enjoy your new Horizon, and happy listening!
3 Likes
SJY Audio talk made me fire up my Gjallarhorns, and have a listening session with my Starry Night while drinking my morning coffee. 
Edit: Turned on feedback on the Mjolnir 3 while preamping the Gjallarhorns. Holly Schiit, a noticeable change while powering Starry Night. I am going to give it a few days and switch back to see which I like more.
3 Likes
That Houston weather didn’t help
1 Like
Well that and the fact that USPS is having issues in general. My Corpse Cables got delayed as well a week or so ago and that was with the priority postage.
1 Like
Yea that’s why I’m using a Questyle amp, their current mode amplification is made specifically for low ohm, hard to drive headphones like these and other planars (except for the Modhouse Tungstens, those are high ohms so a different amp will prob work better). I’m able to run the Questyle on low gain so I have a lot of headroom and I don’t think I’ll need to mess with any speaker amps!
2 Likes
Be that as it may, Mjolnir 3 plays nice with most planars as well. Starry Night is just a pain in the ass to get to its max potential. Mjolnir 3 is 2w into 32 ohms, and I have a Burson Soloist 3XP on my desk /w supercharger that didn’t get those headphones all the way there either. Moonlight is slightly less difficult to drive at 23 ohms & 87db sensitivity (still wondering if that is 100% accurate specs though), but still requires some extra juice to sound their best. I see that he update the specs of Horizon on the site to 25 ohms and 89db. I wonder if anyone has tried them on Mjolnir 3 yet to see what volume and settings were used to see how it compares vs your amp in this use case. The tracks used would also play a part regarding volume and gain needed.
1 Like
Got mine delivered in Thailand thru UPS. Playing them thru a SMSL DO400, high gain. I don’t have any other high end HEADPHONES (do Audeze Maxwell count? Prolly not…) but I’ve dabbled with home and car audio my whole life, and recently some chi-fi iems… So I will not attempt or indulge any a-phile review of the Horizons.
All I can say is they are clean and highly resolving. My go-to tracks are:
-
Hotel California 1994 MTV Live - first time I heard the trills around 1:52
-
Waterfalls (TLC) - these makes the song sound ancient and simplistic
-
Take Five (Dave Brubeck) - great channel separation, very clean and accurate, much wider soundstage than my IEMs
-
Killing Me Softly (Fugees) - this song where Lauryn Hill wails, is a little underwhelming, even at -5.0dB
I don’t know if these are “Diana’s at 1/4 the price” but I’m happy with them being my entry level set of higher end headphones.
4 Likes
Are there any readily available options for replacement pads for the Horizons?
1 Like
Currently there are one version of the pads for Horizon but I will add a few varieties down the road.
5 Likes
Perhaps something a touch wider with a taper?
1 Like
Probably, maybe different material options like suede and velour.
4 Likes
Come on USPS hurry up with delivery 
2 Likes
Well, you answered my question regarding whether or not they pair well with speaker amps. Lol
1 Like
Lol yeah Cayin CS-88a plays very well with them.
2 Likes