Sash Tres - Awesome Budget friendly Custom Cans
Pros: Cost to sound → Planar realm
Headphone Build Quality
Communication with Owner/Builder
Soundstage-> Damn
Simple Add-On for ability to run Open or Closed
Cons: Highs can be too full
Tight on head
Closed mod not as great a value as the open
Intro/Background
Never having written one of these things, forgive any misuse of terms or blathering. Trying to place words to feeling around sound is hard. I have been diving down the audio and wallet sinkhole going on three years now. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed refining my understanding and listening to the broad world of sounds various chains and cans can produce. I have played with a plethora of cans but found that I have an affinity towards wood and handcraft goods. As a DIY tinkerer and Alaskan born and bred these types of headphones just hold a special place in my heart. As you can imagine ZMF is like crack to me. I’ve owned every type but the Blackwood. A majority of my limited free time is spent reading through threads here learning about tubes and headphones and figuring out what type of sound signature I like or want to try. In addition to effectively the full ZMF suite I have also owned at some point all the Focals with the exception of the Utopias and a handful of Audezes. This is not to say I am anything of a pro in this arena but I don’t feel like a slouch either.
My first foray into custom built cans was with Alex at Hyland and his Jupiter 1. I had a fantastic time corresponding with him and ended up with a great set of cans just like I wanted. Maybe if I get into this write-up/review thing I’ll do my second about those.
The Discovery & Build and Fit
I was connected to Sash - the mastermind behind the Sash Tres, through a follow forum member here in Spain. Shout out to @Tano. He and I seem to have affinity to similar headphones. I was taken by @Tano’s Wallapop (Americans think Craigslist) profile picture. Two beautiful sets of headphones one was the Verum MkII and the other I didn’t recognize (now recognized as Sash Tres). The Verums I had heard of and was initially interested in until I read a bit more about the character behind them. That dude won’t ever be seeing my support. Beautiful headphones but support what you want to see in the world you know…your money is your vote! I digress…
Some of @Tano headphones
These new (to me) unknown headphones were different and just as beautiful if not more so! The cups were a deep beautiful wood and had a carving, a Chinese character carved into them with precise matching detail - what I could only assume was the work of a CNC machine. After speaking with @Tano who had already recommend these to me and graciously offered to connect me to Sash I did some digging and the more I saw the more I liked what I saw. At first glance the chassis reminded me in design aesthetics of Audeze and ZMF - like the bastard child of two entities I already knew I liked the look and sound of.
Sash was great to deal with from the start provided prices and pictures of everything sometimes twice if it got too lost down our conversation thread. I went with the Wenge finish and a Matte final sealer. Couldn’t be happier. Took him maybe three week to build out everything and ship. It was a treat to receive random updates over the course of the three weeks from the milled plastic backings to the cutting of the raw cups and planar assembly and wiring. made my day to see the sequential progress. Now in hand these are sexy sexy cans. The detail is exquisite and seemingly as professional in presentation as any Focal, ZMF or Audeze I have used. The hardware is Hard-Ware and I feel like these will be passed down to my kids…they have that kind of feel. Wood stain and finish is smooth, no burs on any of the milled metals and plastics and the leather suspension strap and pads are well finished. Mini xlr connectors run smoothly into the wood chassis without gaps. Right and left are easily identified by blue and red dots with attention to detail.
Quality hardware.
CNC Beauty. Even the internal structure. Screw heads sticking up are the pad attachment points. Very solid.
Note the color dots blue and red for lefty and right respectively…love the attention to detail. Enough to clearly see but not obnoxious.
After first placing these on my head I realized some adjustment was in order. I was use to bending spring steel support bands of ZMF and Audeze to mold feel to head…After adjusting the leather suspension strap and rods by loosening a couple allen keyed bolts I found that the supporting headband is actually a polymer (plastic) rather than spring steel. I was a little disappointed at first as I assumed the clamp force might be a bit more challenging to form to my tastes, however now at ~hr 14 of listening I have become accustomed to the fit of these. While at first I worried they might be too tight I see now that as the pads break in, the clamping force is reduced. I would imagine part of the design is to provide a good deal and to change over time with break-in.
Sounds and Feels
I stress → THIS IS S-U-B-J-E-C-T-I-V-E -
Our sound holes are all a little different- those little differences compound to drastically change what we all hear.
I will lay it down plain and simple. I like the sound these produce. If you are interested in what I perceive and words I put to sound you may continue reading (and I’m sorry). However if you were curious about anything else on these or want help getting in contact with Sash (he is a member of this forum) go ahead and skip down. These are best in value planers and for me a set of headphones I will be keeping in lieu of a set of Audezes.
My Chain:
Computer (FLAC or Spotify)-> Schiit Gungnir Multibit → Schiit Mjolinir 2 W/ BugleBoy ECC88 matched-> Forza Balanced → Sash Tres
Also have run these on both of my work rigs:
Bifrost 2-> Jotunheim 2
And through JDS Element II
All the following is very un-scientific or instrument supported. No graphs or tracking devices were used, created nor harmed in the making of this review.
NOTE: Initial review is as open- back planar. I will attempt to update the whole writeup thing when I start playing with these with the cups, the backing and whatnot.
So sexy as open backs!
Bass - It goes Boom.
I have a bit of experience with what I believe is the entire range of LCD -2 series: Closed Backs, Fazer, Non-Fazer, Classics, and limited edition Aluminum version. Audeze wins the award for best brain rumbling sub-bass. I haven’t tried EQing these (honestly haven’t dipped my toe into the world of EQ…might consider down the road) That being said I can imagine tweaking and giving these some deeper rumble. The whole Bass region to my ears is really well balanced. To say that Audeze slightly edges these out oughta give you an idea of just how well these hold their own. I would argue the bass region overall is more balanced.
While writing this (obviously listening to these cans) I went and found some Deadmaus…hell yeah these hold their own. Plenty of depth and range with the base beats- the soundstage still with the deep notes…I can hear the movement not just the changes in frequencies…though not the fastest response …relative to dynamics I’ve heard, but that’s like comparing Apples to Pineapples. Not what I’d consider dark and not the fastest but as a solid all-rounder these do a freaking great job and are punching way above price point.
Perforated and no perforated pads available all angled…I haven’t yet had a chance to check. I will report back on sound difference.
Mids - Energetic, Clear, Really good
Initially the mids on these cans struck me as having a sheen…slight metallic tinge…it might have been the highs…
Let me clarify, when I say initially I mean the first track I played on these, ever. Ever since (we are at ~20 hrs now) I have yet to liken the metallic haze I first heard. The mids are very solid. Vocals are jaw droopingly good. I think the off sound I heard came from the upper mids - verging on highs. These are tuned to be very energetic and I think a lot of what I perceive- that energy, comes largely from the solid midrange tuning.
Highs - Hit and Miss
Doesn’t have that sparkle of say Campfire Andromedas Campfire …but again Apples to Pineapples. Some of the features/frequencies of the highs sound really nice but others throw me and don’t quite sound on point. Don’t get me wrong its not like these are sibilant at any point they are just brighter on certain songs. Maybe it’s that’s what give these the energetic sound as well … It’s not that its terrible or anything even close, just parts of the highs strike me as brighter than on other cans.
I assume these cups will change the sound a bit but haven’t played with them yet. Will report back.
Soundstage - Holyfuckballs
Just listened to Chemical Brothers Das Spiegel sounded crisp and clear. Bass was present and the sounds transitioned really well and that soundstage really gets highlighted. At their price these would be worth it if all the frequencies sucked.
Partial Conclusion- What does that even mean!?
It means I’m just getting started with this set of cans. Gonna try closing them up - swapping and playing with different baffles and pad rolling. The idea being I’ll update this as I go.
I know I seem to toggle back and forth betwixt the strong points and where I see see room to improve …take it for what it is…none of my gripes are anywhere close to deal killers…they are room for improvement for Sash- if he wants to hear it. These are my thoughts on specific silly things that I noted from my earhole experience.
Another thing to love about the Sash Tres is Tres = 3 …this is his 3rd iteration and Sash continues to improve aspects of the cans based on his own ear and the ears of others. Iteration and growth are traits any maker should aspire to and an endeavor am happy to support.
I bought these as a long term exploratory project and find myself exploring the sound all off the advice of a dude I met in the forum who seemingly has similar aesthetic and earhole tastes as me.
These cans are the steal of the Pandemic era in my opinion. At their price point Sash could charge 200 euros more per set and I’d still say they are a deal. I likely will be ordering a second set when I get some more cash saved up for a gift and guess what I’ll have it saved in half the time it would take me for a set of Audezes!! Do yourself a favor get a hold of Sash (@SashaLach) in this forum and HERE for his business/Facebook page, and HERE for the gent himself. Have him build you a set! Shout out again to @Tano for the recommendation.
To Be Continued…Experiments with Closed backs