[PinkyPowers]

I was spending the day today walking the streets of NYC with my son, who is now graduating high school. I got him into the hobby a couple of years ago with a pair of Focal Elex and an iFi neo streamer/dac; he has developed a keen appreciation for good music and a good ear.. As it happened, we were around the corner from @Audio46 so I decided to pop in and say high to Tony K. and @Terco . It was a quiet moment in between the ebbs and flows of weekend visitors, so we dived into an improptu listening session coupled and some fun personal chatter.

Our highlight today was listening to the Hifiman HE1000SE with the Woo Audio Tube Mini, a portable tube DAC/Amp (which was in turn connected to my iPhone as streaming source).

I was prejudiced to finding the HEKSE fast but lean in its presentation, but within a few mintues I made a 180. Simply put, the synergy of these two components is fantastic. These HEKSE are really easy to drive (95 dB/mW @ 35Ω), and the Tube Mini adds wonderful warmths, body, and heft, resulting in bass that was outright rich and textured, while the heddphones retained their excellent speed and resolution. Both my son and I were very impressed and had a great time listening to this setup.

I learned that Hifiman just dropped their price for these headphones to $1.7k, making them an amazing value (in my opinion). Now, anyone who's followed Hifiman over time, knows that they release new versions at a pretty high clip, and these types of discounts come just about that time of year when they get ready to do these model refreshes. So I wouldn't be surprised if Monday's announcement from them carries more updated models down their product lines. Putting new release anxieties aside though, this was a really and fun excellent listen.

We also did some cable rolling. Rodrigo specifically recommended the Final Audio C093 cable for these headphones. The C093 is a silver-plated OFC cable (pictured to the left below). One might expect demo-ing cables in this environment would yield little, but the difference between this and the prior cable we tried with the HEKSE (a very nice and ergonomic cable, I believe the brand was Strauss & Wagner; pictured to the right below) was instantly notable. Speficially, treble resolution was notably improved and (perhaps as a result) sound stage was expanded. With these sensitive headphones, and in this chain, this cable complemented the setup just beautifully.

Thanks guys, was great to see you! Until the next time...

I was stupefied by how good the HE1000 Stealth is. If your signal chain is devoid of harshness, these headphones are heavenly. On the other hand, if any of your gear is prone to harshness, the HE1K is all too willing to highlight that.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

I was stupefied by how good the HE1000 Stealth is. If your signal chain is devoid of harshness, these headphones are heavenly. On the other hand, if any of your gear is prone to harshness, the HE1K is all too willing to highlight that.

I heard the original HE1000se years ago on one of the Mytek integrated DAC/Amps and disliked it immensely, just completely devoid of bass and way too thin sounding, lacking any body.

I had a chance to hear the new HE1000 Stealth on a couple of setups recently, one was using the Headamp GSX Mini (can’t remember which DAC on that one) and the other was using Geshelli JNOG 2 DACs using the Sparkos output chips on the Sparkos Aries and Sparkos Gemini amps.

I thought it sounded much better than I remembered my first experience with the HE1000se being.

Still seemed rather polite and not particularly slammy or dynamic, but it wasn’t offensive by any means. For Hifiman I still prefer my HE6se. I’m sure it’s far less detailed and doesn’t have the same soundstage and airiness, but it’s fun and can vibrate my face with a 10db subbass boost.

 

[bunnygal23]

As it happened, we were around the corner from @Audio46 so I decided to pop in and say high to Tony K. and @Terco .

Nice! I love Audio46, one of the reasons I appreciate staying in Midtown Manhattan, everyone is always super nice and getting the opportunity to demo gear before buying is priceless. The proximity has led to debatable financial decisions though lol

 

[LoryWiv]

Nice! I love Audio46, one of the reasons I appreciate staying in Midtown Manhattan, everyone is always super nice and getting the opportunity to demo gear before buying is priceless. The proximity has led to debatable financial decisions though lol

My experience as well...last time I was visiting my daughter in NYC I disappeared innocently into Audio46 for a look-see-hear and somehow I am now the owner of a Focal Utopia 2022. The team there WAS GREAT though, just as you say, and it's nice to be able to support good people along the journey of this audiophile hobby of ours.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

My experience as well...last time I was visiting my daughter in NYC I disappeared innocently into Audio46 for a look-see-hear and somehow I am now the owner of a Focal Utopia 2022. The team there WAS GREAT though, just as you say, and it's nice to be able to support good people along the journey of this audiophile hobby of ours.

I bought a Final A4000 from them off of a tour they sponsored a while ago. That IEM (along with almost all of my others) was sadly lost in a flood a couple years ago but they seem like a class act.