Quick tribute to the EN1000, and shoutout of thanks to @GooberBM
These are really doing it for me as my clear, wide, treble present but not bass weak set. You can tell the DD is made of something special.
I’ve recently really been appreciating clear sounding balanced sets that don’t remove bass to get there, EA500 (even with subbass roll off) and in a recent reaudition, I really really like the Olina SE. I’d say it’s like a tgxears bud in IEM form for good timbre, balance, and imaging. I rate it very highly. But if you’ve got the money, or incredibly kind friends, this “Wonder King” comes out on top.
This is a killer female vocal set for me too by the way, volume scales to provide huge textured vocals.
Although I wouldn’t unless my hand were forced, with this and the Serial I feel I have a complimentary pair that would check all the boxes. (Serial with more speaker-like bass, and a little more relaxed approach.)
There are sets that come close but ultimately would be redundant to me vs the coverage this pairing can give.
For one example I am a huge fan of Michael Bruce’s Eru, but I have to tip roll to get rid of some consonant sibilance* and at rare times even that doesn’t fully remove the problem. While that issue in how I hear things might be my longest running thorn in my side as far as sets that I love becoming non-reach-for sets (and as far as I’m aware is from the midrange gain rising in the 1-2k region, but I may be off on this and it’s not always graph justifiable) it’s a hidden blessing as far as eliminating some otherwise top runners I’d have to struggle to pick between.
*listening to singers saying “t, ch, s, sh” and wincing or having to brace for it