Question What's your next HiFi purchase?

[Revolutions]

So Revs did you get a set if so love to hear more what brand and how you found the sound?

I went for Hifiman edition xs. Totally astonished, tbh. They’re massive & look ridiculous. All is forgiven as soon as the music starts- I remember reading someone say it’s like listening to speakers & it’s really true. So much space & room in the sound. Makes my HD580s sound flat & closed in when directly compared, and I really like how those sound.

Have you got planars?

 

[Shrek]

I havent yet but keep reading rave reviews and Jason of course .I dont care how they look if they sound that good i will get some will need to do some research .Do you have yours plugged into a headphone Amp if so what one ?.
I have a Zen can 3 Amp but was looking at getting the Fiio k13 when /if it goes down in price .

why did you choose the Hifiman ?

 

[Revolutions]

I went with the Hifiman as I didn’t want to spend loads- don’t listen on headphones at home much. At the cheaper end I read loads of reviews & it seems most people agreed that the edition xs offers a lot for the money. And I remember Jason talking fondly about his.

I’d originally planned to go to RS and do some headphone listening, but they didn’t have the edition xs in the sale, nor some of the similar priced competition I was considering. No regrets for my blind purchase. But now I have 4 pairs of headphones. Admittedly, 2 of them are mainly for music demos with & a friend.

Amp is a Schiit Magni unity. Nice and simple from the line out of my Linn. Annoyingly I have to turn my speakers off to use the headphones, but takes about 5 seconds to do 😁

 

[Shrek]

Thanks for the info Revs you never know what to make of reviews.I have 3 pairs now. None planner ,used to laugh at my brother because he had so many headphones now im going down that road as well.

I need to do some more research thanks so much for your help lots of positive food for thought .

 

[Jasonovich]

Thanks for the info Revs you never know what to make of reviews.I have 3 pairs now. None planner ,used to laugh at my brother because he had so many headphones now im going down that road as well.

I need to do some more research thanks so much for your help lots of positive food for thought .

My ears were buzzing, now I know why! 🤣

In my humble opinion, good designed dynamics can sound really good. I have two, the FiiO FT1, an excellent budget headphone, for commuting and my high 250ohms Beyer Amiron's for my tube amp, which is better suited.

I never heard of planars until I saw YT review of Hifiman Edition XS, essentially saying he's going to retire his Sennheiser's after listening to the planars.

I had in mind to purchase the Sennheiser's prior to seeing this video, got me really curious and I got myself a pair.......after a short listen....my immediate reaction was something like........F'k me....these are good, very good!

Rev is right, first thing you notice about planars is space, openness, lots of detail, controlled bass (not excessive) and clean treble. Dynamics by comparison sounds like it's compressed, lack of breath. I'm using a broad brush here, good designs like Focal can work around their limitations and provide many happy hours of listening.

I was most impressed with my EISA Awarded Focal Elegia's, even though it lacked the airiness of planars.

My Stealth's are my second planars and I can live with them for ever! They're so good. On a completely different level than Edition XS's but you have to cough out multiple times more!
I don't miss my speakers when I listen to my Stealth's!

There are some good budget planars as an alternative to the Edition XS, for a little more , there's the newer (latest planar magnet design) Edition XVs or the Hifiman Ananda nano. FiiO also offer some good planars if you're on a tight budget.
Another egg shaped Hifiman, also good the Arya. They also do better sounding unveiled versions with exposed drivers, don't place them next to anything metal, like small screwdrivers, keys etc ...hmmm a little more care with those.

If you don't like the egg shape, check out the He4, He6 and the new He600. Other planar brands stick to the traditional format, TBH I love the egg shaped headphones, takes me back to my childhood....do you remember the Cybermen in Doctor Who 🙂

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Jasonovich]

Further to my last comment, over in Chi-Fi, Planars are becoming a real buzz, So many unfamiliar brands like Efep, GoldPlanar, ZMF Caldera, Moondrop, Sendy you probably heard, there's Tangzu, there's many.

Even Fosi is getting on the act, interestingly, I was expecting them to sell the i5 for much less than ￡411.19 on AliExpress. I expect higher price on Amazon or other UK distributer.

Fosi i5 Planar-Magnetkopfhörer mit offener Rückseite und 97-mm-Membran, professionelles Hifi-Monitor-Headset mit Kabel für Studio - AliExpress 44

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Look at those Frying Pans!



Ok just to stay on the topic, I am thinking of replacing my commuting headphones with another planar, a closed back design

The Efep solid wood planars look gorgeous but the price is high for just random listening. If they knock it down by a hundred, I'll definitely consider.

 

[matthewpianist]

Further to my last comment, over in Chi-Fi, Planars are becoming a real buzz, So many unfamiliar brands like Efep, GoldPlanar, ZMF Caldera, Moondrop, Sendy you probably heard, there's Tangzu, there's many.

Even Fosi is getting on the act, interestingly, I was expecting them to sell the i5 for much less than ￡411.19 on AliExpress. I expect higher price on Amazon or other UK distributer.

Fosi i5 Planar-Magnetkopfhörer mit offener Rückseite und 97-mm-Membran, professionelles Hifi-Monitor-Headset mit Kabel für Studio - AliExpress 44

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Look at those Frying Pans!

View attachment 10831

Ok just to stay on the topic, I am thinking of replacing my commuting headphones with another planar, a closed back design

The Efep solid wood planars look gorgeous but the price is high for just random listening. If they knock it down by a hundred, I'll definitely consider.

View attachment 10832

How much are they?