By the way, I own and enjoy both, but as I said, the Susvara is far superior IMHO. I use a Bliss amp and an MK-465.

The Empys are veiled in comparison to the Susvara. They work as a warm alternative for bad recordings. They are also excellent with vocals, but still bow to the Susvara by a wide margin IMHO.

Great Review. I am trying to order them. Sounds like a great throw in your bag IEM.

i stopped using my headphones after i got these. i love them!

But sir why waste your precious time listening to nonsense online comments? Just ignore and do what you love to do.

I did more experiments sparkos xlr vs original op amp in the rca hooked up to my aune s17 vs smsl sh9 sparkos xlr. The original op amp is a lot more clear organic and musical. The sparkos seem to have more reverb and an exaggerated sound that is not as clear. I went back and forth to make sure what I am saying is true. I also have musician hearing and i know what to focus on

Thanks for the review! Can these drive the Susvara good? I'm looking to buy these soon but don't have the budget for like another 3k+ for an AMP/DAC, I´ve no need for speaker or anything, just the susvara via USB to my PC.

You can't go wrong with a REL sub.

So, the person responsible for the poor design of the product is the best person to ask about the reasons for its performance flaws? Yeah, the makes sense.

I have Harbeth P3ESR in my small room without acoustic treatment but with a table, close to windows and corners I use REL T9x sub but smaller REL will be great choice too I use Aurender N150 + Chord TT2 + Chord TToby on the desk But if I move Harbeth P3ESR to my dedicated music room with better electronics (Aurender N200 + Bricasti M1 + McIntosh C2700 + McIntosh 462) I can hear quite a lot of a difference (unlike other bookshelf I tried) This is why I bought Harbeth P3ESR - they have potential and in (very) certain cases overperform my primary Sonus Faber Amati

325 is vary expensive for non bluetooth my buds2 pro sound amazing for the 50 dollars i paid for them .

My favorite "bass reflex" type speaker is a good passive radiator design. I'm not a big fan of ported cabinets either. My favorites are actually large acoustic suspension designs, if amplifier power and the physical space to enjoy them can be afforded.

My right bud2 pro fell out till i got fome now i ues bouth because thay stay in my ear thats all i care about don't want to have one fall out in the ocean!

Ok, these will be my first non-Bluetooth IEM. Thanks young lad. I'm going to pair this with a Periodic Rhodium and a Topping NX7. Should work.

Smaller speakers are physically incapable of reproducing the lower end spectrum without massive drop off, and discussion about their bass capabilities and "fun factor" should be taken with a grain of salt. I understand not everyone wants or can have a subwoofer, and for them this review is helpful. However, by design, you're working with a handicap if you're not comparing bookshelfs, or even mid sized monitors with a sub.

Recently purchased HE1000 Stealth and totally agree with you, way too aggressive in the treble, makes my HD800S sound dead and dark. I do enjoy the bass presence though. Thinking of trading in the for HE1000SE but there is so much conflicting info out there. Most say it's the brighter headphone, while others say it's smoother and softer in the treble. Wish I had a place to demo, but I normally agree with your takes. Source chain is a Yggdrasil and Mjolnir 3. Tough choice to make!

Is the wired version different from the wireless?

I’m pretty sure he read the article. It’s called litigation. He can’t connect himself in any way to the other person. But he can comment on his own product and forum comments. Why would he spend years on a product, and not spent 10 minutes reading? Because Chord has lawyers and public relations that told him not to say anyone’s name. This is the world we live in, from politics, to civil matters, to familial matters.

Aw man not sure if this conversation rings a bell, but round about the same time that those Harbeth’s came into your life, I said to you that after quite extensive experience with Harbeth’s speakers, many different ones in the range, that I did not like them very much, to my ears they are a bit un-engaging, but I also said that you might enjoy them because of your tastes, I thought your ears would find them pleasant, and you ended up buying them sure enough - however, guess what speakers I use in my main system…Monitor Audio Silver, great minds eh? And also, your description of them being a fun sounding studio monitor is spot on, absolutely so. Their house sound is very clean, very neutral and still a lovely listen. Nice slightly sparkly top end but not very exaggerated. Harbeth are good for classical, and the monitor audios are probably a much more engaging listen for more contemporary music. I moved into them from B&W, which are pretty excellent, but the monitor audio felt better. If you are after a sub, have a look at the little baby REL one, not sure the model number, but they can go high-level into the amp, rather than using the RCA connector, and that can make a wonderful upgrade to the sound, because it takes a load off of the speakers in a sense, supposedly anyway, but having heard and used it for years, yes bookshelves and a small sub can be a match made in heaven.

I have the ZMF Atrium, THX 789 and R26. I am thinking of getting a H26 but the Sparkos really interests me but I've never tried Tubes. I was thinking of trying the MT604 to try to dip in the Tube space. What you do recommend? Would Sparkos really be the better pair than the Gustard G26 and MT604? I do have other headphones like the Arya, KPH40I, Aeolous and I'm getting the Empyrean II in the future. I really hope you respond.

I'd recommend a REL T0 for a small and unobtrusive yet very effective subwoofer -- but advise using its high-level input using the supplied Speakon connector. With Class D amps, best to connect the black wire to the ground screw of the amp, or if one isn't supplied, to one of the casing screws rather than the left negative speaker terminal. At £449 new, not sure if it'd be considered "affordable" though.

I compared this M1 with Chord Dave, dCS Lina and several Cayin dac amp packages at an exhibition held in Shenzhen, it sounds fuller and more wide open which gives a larger stage feeling. A more clear, natural tone with abundant layerings in its presentation. Really good and competitive.

Yeah, but spending 10k on a streamer / dac demonstrates insanity. I will stick with the Wiim. Can't wait for the Ultra!

Loving my Aero paired with the z10e but haven’t been able to actually sit there and compare it to my other dac, the Chord Dave. I will say the build quality on LTA products is absolutely superb.

When the woofer(*) warps and moves to distortion level you are really playing EXCEEDINGLY high SP level, as a close up(near field) monitor how often do you wind it up it to even HIgh SP level? This situation also never occurs. * Most modern woofers esp. from proven manufacturers like MA have low distortion level at normal listening level already.

1. Wear gloves with tubes. 2. The tubes don't convert d to a, use a proper tube preamp if you want the tube sound. Let the dac do the dac

I've heard the Harbeths with two REL T Zero, and it's transformational, but I'd guess one is going to give you enough in your room

I will stick with my Xduoo TA-26 with my Shuguang Black Treasure 12au7 tubes. Hifi Tuning fuse Supreme 3. Maybe, I should get a diamond to adorn the fuse. Suppose to clarify an otherwise clarified signal even more so. Sounds so real.

Hey Lochlan thanks for the review. I have a Rel tZero V3 that would be a perfect fit for those Harbeths. Small, sounds exquisite plenty for a small space, will dig down to approx 30-35Hz depending on the space. Brand new in box, purchased to review haven't had time to post for sale. Pm if interested i'm in Vic so not far from you :) ""G

Neumann & Genelec have effectively killed the competition in small speakers and made everything else redundant. Maybe the KEF Meta R3 is worth considering for a passive option, good performance but still quite a bit worse than the above and can't be calibrated with DSP room correction in the same way.

Wait til you hear Adam audio t5v. Best speaker under 1k$ easy

The pad rolling segment is awesome…this was very helpful… i wish more people did it…I bought the auteur solid hybrid… and boom everything was tightened up in the bass and the mids came a little Forward and everything seemed a little clearer… thanks I would have never tried these pads otherwise ! Plus I love the fit versus the calderas

The pad rolling segment is awesome…this was very helpful… i wish more people did it…I bought the auteur solid hybrid… and boom everything was tightened up in the bass and the mids came a little Forward and everything seemed a little clearer… thanks I would have never tried these pads otherwise ! Plus I love the fit versus the calderas

For me it will either be øa denafrips Pontus 2 15th or the laiv harmony dac

Imagine all the cables going from KZfaq servers to you....If we could fix all that cable, how CLEAR would the sound be!!!

As always great work sir. I have 2 questions. 1. Did you mean and used sparkos S3062 in this review while comparing with burson op amps? 2. I have 3XGT old one. Is it really worth the money to upgrade from v6 to v7 ? because these are costly op amps. Thanks.

This dude failed a blind listening test with different usb cables yet here he is

I ordered one, then cancelled. I felt bloody awful about it because they are an awesome company, but it had to be done.

Passion: 100 Listening skill: 0

I enjoy your videos. Great job! How would you rate the xduoo to the Valhalla 2.

Would be nice if that data base he talked about at the 10:20 mark was still avail.

Small speakers sound small especially at loud volumes. My speakers are 6' x 2' x 1' with dual 15" woofers each.

Went for ATC (40 SCM), because they appealed to me as an engineering brand and had a proven track record.

I don't see what the problem is. If people can't objectively tell the difference between two DAC's in a blind test then save $$$$ and buy the cheaper DAC. End of story !! Why does it have to be the more expensive item should always be better ??

REL subs!

It shows KZfaq audio salesman can't do what they claim they can do, just as i thought no surprise to me. Yet if our host here reviewed the $600 cable and the $5 one i guarantee he'd say the $600 one sounded way better. Real audio reviews should be done without knowing the price, once a human being knows the price of something there's already bias at work, then add the psychoacoustics and you're always saying the expensive one sounds better.

I'm going to sound like a disagree with you and then, presently, I'm going to sound like I'm repeating exactly what you said, so what's the point of the comment. But I hope when I'm finished you'll agree that the comment is somewhere in-between. Lachlan, you're probably ( ? definitely ? ) too young to remember the "Pepsi Challenge" debacle in the mid-1980s, yes? The situation was that Pepsi was going to county fairs all over the U.S. and inviting people to take a blind taste-test between Coke and Pepsi, and Pepsi was winning in a blowout. It was well over 2:1. In response, Coke panicked and changed its formula to taste more like Pepsi -- the infamous "new Coke" -- and everyone hated it. (Except for me; I liked it, but that's another story). Eventually Coke changed their formula back and they lost even *more* money. But the story here isn't what happened -- most people know that part. The story is why. The thing is, we don't sip our cola once and walk away from it. That's why Pepsi kept winning: It's not a valid way of assessing the two products. Pepsi tastes better when it first hits your mouth because it's *way* sweeter -- more fun, to borrow a phrase -- and Coke is much, much, MUCH more long-wearing. You can drink an entire Coke. It takes dedication to drink an entire Pepsi. Gets old REALLY fast. Now you're probably way ahead of me but Lachlan, I am nowhere near as surprised as you were that the $600 Monitors sounded "more fun" than the $3000 Harbeths. And the reason isn't the smile-shaped frequency response of the Monitors; it's where that smile-shape is coming from. It's the metal drivers, sir. Metal-driver speakers ALWAYS blow people away straight out of the box. That's their party trick. You listen to a pair of Spendors for six months and then hook up a pair of Amphions and you're immediately going to think, "OH MY GOD WHERE HAS THIS BEEN?!?" but then, just like the Pepsi, the excitement turns to a real problem over time. And depending on how one listens, it can be a much bigger problem. I think most people fall into one of four categories of listener: The monitor listener, the concentrate-like-your-life-depended-on-it audiophile, the walk-around-the-room guy, and then there's this fourth category, the audiophile who sits pretty still while the music is playing, but not so still that he can't relax and enjoy himself. And this presents two problems for the conclusions in your review: First, the Harbeths already comfortably win two of those four categories, the walk around the room guy and the companionable-music audiophile guy. The Harbeths win both of those after ... less than a day. Maybe even less than that. Maybe, like, twenty minutes. But the elephant in the room is that we all WANT to be that fourth guy. The happy audiophile is the fourth guy. It's what we all dream of. And it seems foolish to me, lower price notwithstanding, to buy any piece of kit that won't fit that eventual fourth-guy system. Audio gear selection processes -- and by extension audio gear reviews -- should place much, *much* more emphasis on long-term companionability. If you bought those Monitors, and re-sold your Harbeths, you would regret it. To borrow a phrase, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of your life." Call me an iconoclast but I'm over metal-driver speaker reviews. They don't pass the fourth-guy test. Because they can't. They're made out of metal.

Lechan is an absolute madlad. You have balls going against the grain lol. 🫡

I saved up for quite a while to get the Silver 100s-for me it was a big purchase. But I really enjoy them, especially for rock and modern pop, which I think benefit from a rather impressive bass, given their size. Overall I think the monitor house sound is just plain and simple fun

I have one in the living room. Its really amazing, the quality is so clean!