I’ll be in Atlanta next week and hopefully will get a few hours to myself to stop by https://hifibuys.com/what-we-do/headphones/
I plan on auditioning as many high-end HP’s as time allows using both SS and tube amps, it’s a perfect opportunity to take some notes and get ears on time w/ some of the more expensive stuff. I took a chance on my ZMF’s and could not be happier, next HP though i want to make a less stressful buying experience, for this kind of money i want my own ears to be the judge.
Soundstage is big but treble spike was fixed in the 800s rev. I’d suggest listening to it before a hard pass. It’s not my cup of tea but I can see how many people love them.
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I would also suggest to try them on a tube, as I think the real negative impressions come from using them on solid state imo. They still are pretty bright tho
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While it has a potentially wide soundstage it can be a very narrow soundstage as well. If an I stringent warrants sounding very close.to you it can do that and if it warrants sounding for its excellent with that as well. It has one of theost Impressive soundstage a I. Terms of how far and how close it can sound.
The Auteur that i received is really nice with detail. But even so i still find myself wanting even more detail. This is bad cause i can feel my thoughts turning to the L700 again. i must quickly head myslelf at the pass before i buy an energizer or something 
But i doubt the Arya will have enough detail to satiate me
Are you sure your not already getting all the detail their is? Cause at this point price to performance goes out the window and you will really want to spend a lot more your asking for
well if i sell the Auteur that will give me about 1400$ to play around with. adding a few hundred more wont be too bad. I can get a arya for about 1300$ used
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I would seriously consider the hedd, the detail was impressive for the price if you wanted to focus on detail
maybe i should
I know that I personally would take it over the l700 after listening, but the estats are hit or miss for most people
Isn’t that auteur the one Zach offered after disliking the Aeolus? You’re considering selling that already as well? Lol. I guess you would almost make a profit in that regard.
Maybe you’re more of a sub 1000 dollar headphone kinda guy. You seem to not be satisfied with what you get over the 1000 dollar range. Which I would get because I do think it becomes harder to justify the differences once you get so high up there.
Are you also using the sp200 for all of these? Maybe you should consider a higher tier amp if you’re planning on going higher and higher up the headphone ladder. Just an idea. I don’t think the sp200 would be giving these the performance they deserve to be honest.
He def would with the options mentioned here
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I’m not sure if im selling it yet. i’m still listening to it lol. i’m just saying i’m not sure of the detail its giving and if i could do better
I think the sp200 punches way above its weight. and i’m very happy with it. check out this video for instance:
In that video Amos points out that it’s good for the price but it doesn’t rival higher end amps and with higher end headphones you would get more out of them with a higher end amp. The thx stuff is a fine choice until you reach above the 1k mark for headphones imo. You can get by with a thx for higher end headphones but it’s not really going to get the most out of them
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@M0N How would you compare the Archel 2.5 to the sp200? A tad worse? I’m reluctant to getting a $1k+ pair of cans if it means I’ll also have to upgrade my amp. In which case I might just sidegrade and get a different sound signature and stay with the Elex.
I mean I think it really depends on the headphones for if you would really want to upgrade your amp. You don’t have to spend a ton on an amp, you just have to find what pairs well with your higher end headphone of choice
I think the 2.5 pro is a bit above the sp200 except the sp200 has more power on tap. I think the sp200 is the better choice if you have something hard to drive (although I would suggest the asgard 3 if you wanted that) or if you wanted something analytical leaning. Otherwise I think the 2.5 pro is the more natural sounding amp.
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He said he compared it to much more expensive amps and found them only a “little bit” higher in quality, he said it wasnt a huge jump up. He said it was one of the best value amps he has experienced, even pushing up the law of diminishing returns for amps.
But he did say it tiny bit of an increase in detail retrieval and better dynamic range and space from headphones but still felt it wasnt sure it was worth 4 times the price. Said it drove headphones incredibly well and had tested utopia and meze empyrean. and it could be a excellent end game amp.
But i know what youre saying about getting a better amp and i would like my headphones to sound the best they can. i’m looking for amp deals but i dont have a lot of money right now and i’d rather spend it on a headphone and maybe upgrade amps later
That’s exactly what you pay for and what makes the difference for higher end headphones, law of diminishing returns hits hard. That 1% difference is what people chase.
I’m not telling people that they can’t use the thx with whatever higher end headphone, I’m just saying that at times you might wonder why you paid for the higher end headphone. The clear is a perfect example of this. You would be better off getting the elex to run off of a thx because on a thx the elex and clear sound fairly close. Once you step up to a higher end amp the clear starts to pull ahead and actually make sense and you get more than what the elex can offer, higher end headphones are just designed for higher end amplification and other components, vary rarely will you have a higher end audio product be designed to be used with lesser components
I can see why he says thx might be “endgame” for most people, but most people don’t spend a grand or higher on a headphone so take that into account
Of course, prioritize the headphones first. I’m just saying down the line a better amp and dac will be fairly beneficial. It really depends on the headphones on what you end up going with. Some higher end headphones won’t be as picky as others
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Yeah I just personally am steering clear of the thx stuff. If the 789 or the sp200 were out at the time I got my jot, I’d probably have gone with them because I won’t argue that they aren’t great for their price, especially with the power they have. But then I may have even just gotten the Asgard 3 if it were out at the time. I just don’t think I’d gain much by getting a thx now to be honest. I’m sure that the 789 is better than my jot but now that I have the rnhp, I basically consider my jot to be my budget power headphone amp, which is basically what thx amps are it seems. So now it’d be kinda pointless for me to get a thx now. I’m slowly trying to ease my way out of the budget market now. I’ve been in the budget market for like 5 years now. Time to move on 
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