Thanks for the nice write-up! The last thing either of my ex-spouses would give were headphones 
Iāve been collecting cans since almost 40 years (not figuratively, this is a real maintained collection of new and near-new items not a mish-mash of old broken headphones), I put so much money in it that 2 years ago I sold my car just to save on fuel, maintenance, parking fees, tags, insurance, etc so I could afford more state-of-the-art cans to display at home. They range in price from $500 (HFM Sundara) to around $8,000 for the HFM Susvara.
Decidedly Hifiman is all over the place and hold an enviable position on the planar market but they should not give similar names to vastly different models: Susvara and Sundara are ridiculously named, itās like naming your children Robbie and Ronnie lol. You only do that with twins and God knows the Susvara and Sundara are no twins. For ma collection I choose phones that have some quality, such as being very old (my oldest are a 1898 set used by telephone operators), having historical value, being representative of their market niche, belonging to a same series (such as the upper-tier models from Focal), being Chinese AND of highly regarded quality, etc. I have well over 100 pairs by now so for the wivesā¦ meh.
I have the HE560. The reason is that they were the best phones under $1,000, bar none, and they held that rank until the arrival of the Sundara, which sounds marginally better but most of all is extremely handsome. Having unusually attractive styling is also a criteria and unfortunately for the HE560 the public prefers the more stately, expensive-looking Sundara to the hip HE560. I have the Sundara but it is not part of my collection, because I listen to it almost every day. Same thing goes for my Focal Elear and Clear, thatās my daily driver trio. The HE560 has been integrated in the collection.
My goal for this year is to acquire every member of the upper-tier Focal family (Elegia, Elex, Elear, Clear, Stellia and Utopia) I already have the Utopia, Elear and Clear. Buying the Elegia next week, Elex in July, Stellia as a Christmas gift to myself. Canāt wait. Donāt go thinking Iām a millionaire, I can afford these cans because I got rid of my car as I said above. I live in a city of 4 million, thereās plenty of options for transportation, no real use for a car. Instead I buy headphones, amps, DACās and vintage receivers that I restore to near-mint condition as a hobby. I still cherish the HE560, itās less dynamic but softer than the Sundara. Youād be surprised at how many so-called flagships sound bad no matter what and how you feed them. There are good reasons why I donāt listen to the Utopia. Itās extremely detailed but sounds thin and lacks bass. That may sound like the Senn HD800 but itās not as finicky on sources.
You may wonder what a $8,000 can sounds like well, Iād describe the Susvara as ethereal and very suited for chamber music and minimalist folk but for rock eesh, itās godawful painful. the cutoff between the bass and the low mids is too steep, leaves a gaping hole thatās filled with fluff.
