Just curious to hear some insights from those that have potentially tried both. I’m using an Asgard 3/Modius stack and am thinking of maybe switching the Blons for an Elex at some point, but not sure what I’d be getting myself into fully yet.
I quite enjoy the Blons, though the headband isn’t the most comfortable, and it can get a tad bright at times. Listening to my HD 6xx I can tell the Blons have some uneveness in their response, but that doesn’t seem to impact the overall presentation too much. Female vocals can get murderous at times though from that 2-4k hump.
The Elex is enticing but I’m also worried about longevity, since I hear stories about headbands breaking and drivers failing, not to mention clipping issues which is head scratching for a headphone at that price. I hate to think of spending Elex kind of money for it to break a year or two later with no resale value. I’m not sure if Blon has a similar reputation or not, but part of me feels like I might as well invest elsewhere and just keep the Blons for the time being?
And yet…I do like the idea of a more even FR presentation and perhaps a step up on technical ability, though I’m not sure if that’s what the Elex actually possesses. Ultimately I’d like to eventually try the Elex out as a hobbyist, so perhaps I bite the bullet and just treat them delicately while I have them?
I’ve got both the elex and Sendy Aiva. Definitely get the elex. They do make a nice companion as one is Planar V shaped and the other is more bass and mid centric with nice treble roll off.
The elex has some of the most dynamic range. The slam is just incredible and the bass is incredible. The bass on the blon/Aiva is good it’s just more rolled off. A really tasteful roll off but I do prefer the Elex in all circumstances.
The elex is the master of imaging its amazing.
The Blon/Aiva I love the treble its amazing how airy it sounds.
But overall the Elex is so full in body when vocals come through and very well done bass. Most similar to an X00.
That honestly sounds exactly like what I want from a sound signature. Well now my interest is fully piqued hah. I definitely could use a can for gaming so the imaging is great to hear. Perhaps I’ll buy one and if I love it I’ll sell the Blons to recoup some of the cost, though I feel like I should hold onto my HD 6xx for awhile, at least until I try a proper tube amp with it.
Since I have the Asgard, do you think it’s worth getting a balanced amp to run these kinds of headphones? Or would a well designed SE out be just as good? I’m on the fence about keeping the Asgard as is, so perhaps it would be worth switching that out to a balanced amp at some point too.
I would probably sell the 6XX as the elex most similar to the 6XX are similar minus the bass. That’s my opinion,
The Blon B20 may not be as detailed as the P2/Aiva but it’s still a great example of detail. Tons of detail probably the most detail before an Ether CX or LCD4
The 6XX needs a tube to lift the sennheiser veil adding more air and the elex are even more fun with a tube and make it a lot more relaxed.
This is a hard choice of what to sell. I’d buy the elex first then decide what I’d sell.
Definitely buy a Darkvoices before selling. If you buy a transformer based tube amp you can run the Blon off of that. Which I hear is an incredible combination seeing as it should help the mids a lot, definitely the weak spot of the Blon. Transformer based tube amp recommended would be a SW51+ for $315 usd hand made in Russia. I’ve linked the order form below.
Also seeing as the blon is a nano scale Planar if recommend hitting it very lightly with some canned air. Any dust makes a huge difference on these planars
Aaaaand a trip to Micro Center just made it on my Saturday to-do list. Very curious to give some compressed air a shot!
I did feel like the 6xx was a step or two down from a technical stand point from the Blons so it might make more sense to sell those off, especially since I’m more interested in trying the 600 on a tube as it is anyhow. Detail is very important to me and hearing that the mids could get a boost makes that a very interesting option to pursue. I’ll definitely see how the Elex sits with me and then see which one is the most redundant/least favorable between the three.
And I’ll take a look at that SW51+. I really haven’t done much research on that one yet but I’m curious to read more on it. Would that be good for a wide range of planars you think?
It definitely would be a great option for Planars with 32ohms and above, so fine for the blons if you plan on adding planars and using them with your Transformer based tube Amps double check their resistance.
Transformer based tube Amps are really the only option for Planars. The old ZDT Jr would be suitable too but is only available second hand which the SW51+ is based off or the Tor Rodger is amazing.
The Asgard is the class A option from schitt right? It would 100% be fine with all of your headphones. Including the elex. I’d say if you want to change it up to a different class A can’t go wrong with the new Singxer SA-1 that’s an incredible amp.
Also Amps and sound make world class transformer tube Amps but that’s a huge price increase.
Personally I can’t say the sw51+ is all that enjoyable with most of the planar I have tried off it, works great for somewhat lower impedance (not too low though) but doesn’t have the current and control for some planar
It is a price increase, but that’s the price range where you start getting tube amps that drive planar well imo, the cheapest options otherwise might be something like a quicksilver headphone amp, cayin ha-1a mk2 (that one is picky which planar sound good), or a lta mz2 + lps, stuff in that range and above typically
I would have to agree with this, I don’t own a lot of planars, but those I have tried on the SW51+ have been pretty terrible.
I like the SW51+ a lot but it’s got an output impedance in the 25+ range even on low.
I clouldn’t finish 1 track on it when I tried the D8KPro on there, it was an uncontrolled mess, but I love it on my Eikons.
Your tube options are very limited for planars under $2K.
I have the Elex and the M570s and the Elex would take it 8 days a week. They just have so much energy across the vocal range and the dynamics/“punch” are crazy.