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Showing 1 of 17 conversations about:
Zeos
648
May 22, 2020
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OK, Not to alarm anyone but my review of these is coming real soon and I rip these things apart. I feel like this is a $200 Mediocre headphone they were trying to sell at $500 and that really grinds my gears. If they at least sounded decent I could PASS them at $200 but I outright wouldn't.. So now that they are $400 it doesn't change my opinion in the slightest. I will get it out Monday for you all.
TheRequiem
249
May 23, 2020
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ZeosI'm not sure I agree with this preliminary assessment - I think they are great neutral headphones and their build quality seams much higher than that of a $200 set of headphones. I did have to let them burn in awhile and I do have some gripes (minor) such as the earcup fit, but they are fairly unsubstantial and I've been advised that there are new earcups in development. Nonetheless, I'll check out your final review on Monday - I would hope it's an unbiased and honest review.
Zeos
648
May 23, 2020
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TheRequiemIf my pair sounded so different from yours we now have to take into account Quality Control because the set I got was not neutral as much as Hollow, Stuffy and Muddy. The failure of the comfort strap to be comfortable and too long also negates the build as well as the sound the pads make when they slide around. Original Aiva's are $500 headphone and they have custom made pins with logo's on it and innovative fabric pads. These tried to look good but didn't really nail the comfort execution.
TheRequiem
249
May 23, 2020
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ZeosMy didn’t sound muddy or stuffy at all. From what I’ve gathered - there seams to have been a second edition with some improvements shortly after the first one, but I haven’t been able to verify if that’s actually the case. I’ve just seen some talk on forums about it. However, I did receive mine pretty recently. There’s been a few other reviews that seam to echo my neutrality statement however so I am curious as to whether or not there was a second edition released shortly after a first model.
Zeos
648
May 23, 2020
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TheRequiemId be willing to send you this set if they allow it. They might want it back to check. It would need to be a 250% improvement to make them worth $500. That's the thing.
DeeDrick
11
May 23, 2020
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ZeosI’m gripping my wallet with dread... I hope these are shit like you say... Everyone keeps mentioning Sundaras and I can hear them quivering in their case
(Edited)
MaverickAH
747
May 23, 2020
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TheRequiemMy opinion on these is definitely more in your camp. I really can't speak to their neutrality as I demo'd them on Andover's own Model One Turntable System. I suspect that the "warmth" that I heard emanated from that. I suspect this because I also pulled out my Quad ERA-1 & my Focal Elex for comparison purposes. The ERA-1, which already is warm & has a very strong bass output sounded a bit bloaty with too much bass. The Elex sounded wonderful & even the Andover rep preferred them over the PM-50. Both of these are at a higher price point though. As I said previously, the PM-50 is sonically in line with other current planar offerings in their price range. It all comes down to what sonic profile you actually prefer.
TBH, the Model One is the system I'd love to get my hands on!
Muscle_Cow
928
May 23, 2020
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ZeosYea this price range for planars is starting to get saturated and its a very tough bracket to break into if you can't out perform the leading edge sets in this rage which already perform at higher levels themselves.. like the Blons, Aivas, M570s and to be honest I absolutely love my M1070s which also sit in this price range.
Very hard to price a set in the $400 range if it doesn't compete with any of those.
Excited to hear what you had to say on these.
MaverickAH
747
May 27, 2020
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ZeosWow...…..
I can honestly say that I could not disagree with your assessment on these more than I do! Something is definitely wrong because what you're reporting you heard is not what I heard from these headphones. I would urge you to get another review sample.
Zeos
648
May 27, 2020
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MaverickAHI should be able to. It won't change the headband issue and general pad design failure but the sound is most important. I still have my doubts due to the basic nature of the planar inside but I don't want to let a REALLY bad review stand if the product has changed or had a fault.
My thumbnail for failure however is if you have independent ear cup connections, Both drivers are failing at the same time in the same way to sound this bad. Which lessens the odds.
A community member
May 29, 2020
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TheRequiemVery interesting @Zeos and @TheRequiem, I'm curious if the "v2" is being sold through Andover's full-price channels and selling the "v1" on Drop, That wouldn't answer Zeos' issues with his version. I want so much to love these headphones since I'm from MA and want to see an audio company from my neck of the woods hit it out of the park, but that's just a selfish request. I'd be very curious to hear if Zeos' pair sound different to another pair, perhaps you'd be willing to have one of us send you a version to compare? Might be too much time for a $400-$500 headphone that seems like $200 though.....
Cheers gents!
TheRequiem
249
May 29, 2020
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The v1’s were apparently from last year and no longer sold. I’m fairly certain that these are the improved versions from the conversations Ive had with Andover. I definitely agree with Zeos’s assessment that the headband isn’t the best and the earcups are kind of small, but Andover has told me they are shipping me the new pads at no charge. Not sure if that will be the case with every order or if they will silently replace or add the pads to future orders. I think if they improve the ear cups, That will make the head band less of an issue. My pair has a really good neutral tone, so I do feel there may have been some discrepancies between review units. I’ve seen some reviews on other major review sites (at least with the newer units) and they seam to echo my thoughts. Notably, reviewers from head-fi, headfonics , qobuz and hi-fi trends are in line with these newer units.
(Edited)
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