Some additional show impressions:
Zahl HM1 - we went back to this amp to listen to some more headphones from it. This was THE headphone amp of the show for anyone who heard it. I personally found it more useful to listen to closed-back headphones off of it to really get the full sense of how good it sounded, so I tried it with the DCA Noire and the Stealth, but I also heard it with the Diana TC. Truly a spectacular sounding amp.
A lot of those who heard these headphones off the Zahl felt they had significantly more weight and richness to them with more impactful dynamics, but for me it was also that it made use of some interesting widening functions to the image. Now while some amps have done this in the past, like the Pro iCAN and SPL amps, this did it in a way that felt more natural and organic somehow. Like, just a subtle widening of the sense of space.
We’ll do a video on the Zahl amp shortly, but I also wanted to highlight the craziest feeling piece of equipment that was next to it from Hifi Rose. Check this thing out:
Hifi Rose RA180 Amplifier
While I need to go back and spend some time with it tomorrow, I just had to highlight how crazy it looked and felt to use. I don’t normally care much about the whole ‘knob feel’ stuff, but this felt like interacting with the internals of a high precision watch or clock.
Ferrum Oor, Hypsos, Erco - we got to chat with the folks from Ferrum, and they were some of the most fun people to hang out with at the show. I listened to the Audeze LCD-2 pre memory foam, and it sounded great, but I also think it would’ve been well-suited to the Susvara because these amps had a ton of power to them. I think also it was difficult to make an assessment given it was show conditions and I’m not super familiar with that particular revision of LCD-2. Here’s the stack:
The Erco (pronounced Ertzo I believe?) seems like a convenient DAC/amp for those wanting a high end combo.
Raal CA1A prototype - Clearly one of the highlights of the show. I think it’s one that Danny is still working on refining and getting to production, but if the final versions sounds like this it’ll be a winner. Taron and I were both somewhat gobsmacked at how good it sounded. I think maybe just a tiny bit much in the treble but extremely detailed sounding, and also very well balanced for the tuning. I liked it better than the SR1a, so I think for me this is going to be the Raal to get.
Warwick Acoustics Aperio and Bravura - These are high end electrostatic headphone systems, you may remember these guys from the Sonoma Model One. I listened to the Aperio first, and had to remark that it was the best thing I heard at the show so far - with my specific flavor of jazz music. I think maybe it’s a bit sharp in the upper registers, but the sheer detail and separation ability of this system was nuts.
The Bravura was also very good, I actually think the more balanced tonality out of the two, just dialed back a notch for detail as well. I know they worked on improving the ergonomics, but I think even still for my big head there was a touch of clamp pressure. Normal-headed audiophiles won’t have any issues though and the build on these is outstanding.
Final Audio UX3000 - This is a $150 ANC headphone that was crazy good for the price. They told me they didn’t make it super aggressive ANC because they felt that would detract from the sound quality. In general it’s a balanced (neutral) tuning with a bass boost. One of the better tuned ANC headphones out there, and I kind of wish I could have one for the plane ride home!
Neumann NDH 30 - The Neumann open-back is… really nothing special for me, and honestly I don’t think it’s going to do much for audiophiles, as it was just kind of bland sounding, with a generally mid forward presentation that didn’t resolve all that well. I’m not sure if this is the case but it sounded like maybe there was also some strong front damping going on, and while it wasn’t doing anything outright bad, it just didn’t do anything exceptional either.
Abyss Diana TC - I heard this off a few amps, I think the Feliks Audio guys brought the unit but they let me try it off the Zahl as well. I was quite impressed with this one. While I still think they have a bit of distance to go when it comes to evening out the tonal balance in the primary ear gain region, I think this is a solid improvement on the Diana Phi. It’s also clearly got the technicalities and detail going for it, as it was one of the most resolving headphones I heard all day. Also, detailed and very punchy at the same time, maybe due to the non-seal design and incurring a slight air gap.
DCS Bartok - They were showing us some of the different modes they had added with this, but this was also the first time I’d heard it. I got to demo it with the Focal Utopia in their room, and honestly it just sounded great. I didn’t really find a significant difference among the modes, not like the differences we all found from the Zahl, it was more subtle than that. But I did like Mode 3 best for what I happened to be listening to. It’s one of those things that I imagine folks who already own one of these will be appreciative of.
Focal Grande Utopia Speakers
What the actual f…
So I had heard these before at Focal’s private listening room. But we got to spend more time with them with a wider selection of music at the show. They also had them hooked up to a NAIM source setup, where the system in total cost around 500 thousand.
This was the craziest sounding thing I’ve ever heard in my life, in particular for the bass and the mids, truly a mind-bogglingly punchy and engaging sound. Imagine like, a Focal Utopia just even more dynamic and engaging. People can have all kinds of discussions about sound online, and about measurements and whatever else - the stuff I get into of course. But none of that matters when you get hit with the visceral insanity of this setup.
Here’s DMS’s brain exploding.
