I did a pretty intense re-cable project on the speaker side of the desktop/near field system today, and while I had everything apart, I couldn’t help myself. I reconfigured and tried the Horizon Closed on the AMP-F2 / SA-1 pre setup. And I’ll be damned, it was better. The stage was bigger, imaging /separation was improved, mids right up through the highs were spectacular. It’s a measure more neutral than the DA-9, and the bass isn’t as authoritative as the DA-9. Bass hits harder and extends lower. Oddly, I also have more headroom on the DA-9. And I have volume control right there at the amp, so no preamp is required.
At the end of the day I ended up putting everything back the way it was. The AMP-F2 will continue to be a dedicated speaker amp. But I’m glad I did it. It’s yet another great option for the Horizon Closed that I can switch over to pretty easily whenever I get the itch.
Switching back and forth from Horizon Open to Verum One Mk2 has made me appreciate the Verums even more, for 350 dollars they sound spectacular and close to Horizon Open maybe with tad less detail, but dynamics/soundstage are almost on par. [to my ears at least]
It seems to have gotten a lot of traction in the wider audio community, and I would assume there is quite the number of backorders. I have not ordered one myself as of yet, but I am sure that he is working on getting them out as soon as possible.
I will continue enjoying my Horizon Open on my Valhalla 3 until then.
Hopefully you will get your Horizon Closed Carbon sooner than later. I am sure that they are worth the wait.
That will be interesting, but unfortunately waisted on me since I don’t take my Hifi on the go. Options are always nice, and I am sure there are those who are ready and waiting to place their order.
Aside: If anyone can pull that off it would be Cayin.
I have received the headphone and have to say its worth the wait and sounded amazing!
Its very detailed, clean, open and works well with all genres of music I throw at, whether its vocal midrange or instrumental layerings. The bass response is fantastic and didnt bleed into the mid, it does need quite a bit of power to drive it, but otherwise its really fantastic sounding headphone.
I would say its very effortless and natural sounding headphone that balanced well through all FR. I have other high end headphones to compare, and it compete and better than a lots of the higher price ones. Only small thing is the adjustment rod is a bit loose and had to adjust every time, but otherwise very comfortable to wear.
