StereoPravda
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of these guys yet but the Russian StereoPravda will get known very fast, mark my words.
When you first see the SpearPhones you will either think the designer is blind or had a very bad day
And no that’s not a prototype. The design philosophy behind the series is that the drivers (Balanced Armatures) have to be position in one line for them to sound most natural and best (hence the shrink wrap around the drivers) The glued on eartip is angled as well for the best performance and the cable is thick and expensive. These earphones are high maintenance and they’ll have to be sent back once a year for a new tip and maintenance. The 7-model – which also sticks 7 centimeters horizontally out of your ear is their reference model and it sets you back around $2500 USD. That being said, the sound simply blows you a way. Incredible.
Trilogy
The UK based Trilogy of course had to join the London show and they took both their 931(left) and 933 headphone amplifiers with them.
Trilogy only the week before or so introduced the H1 Engergiser for STAX, and it could be demo’ed at their booth as well
Ultrasone
The German Ultrasone came to the show together with Violectric
V-Moda
I just missed V-Moda’s big boss at the show but we had an interesting visit and talk with the V-Moda guys. We already published a review on their latest creations but I never say no to a V-Moda demo as a lot of people really like their sound signature/house sound
The Crossfade 2 Wireless in white was very flashy, but the black one is very nice
And of course you can always change the face plates
Most of my attention went to the Forza Metallo Wireless, which Berkhan reviewed, and he’s right: it sounds excellent
Westone
Last but certainly not least of my report is the US based Westone. Only very recently I published the universal W60 (6-driver) review, but they were mostly promoting the W80 as you can see.
Naturally they brought their full W-line-up to demo and I sneaked in a listen to the W80 as I have an ES80 coming in soon. Happy me!
Best of show
There were a huge number of excellent brands and great sounding units at the show and unfortunately it’s impossible to mention them all here. These are the one that for me personally were most impressive.
DAP: The Sony WM-1Z & AK-SP1000
Full Sized Headphone: Sonoma Model One
Universal Inear: Audeze LCD-i4 & StereoPravda Spearphones 7
Custom Inear: Noble Kaiser Encore & Empire Ears Zeus
Amplifier: Auris Audio Headonia
DAC: Chord DAVE
Dac/Amp unit: KUOS RealAmp
Cable: Effect Audio 8-Wire Leonidas
See you soon at the next show!
Carl A
Nice coverage and write-up.
Many thanks.
Martin
That Sonoma System is the biggest disappointment i have listened to in the last 5 years. I had a chance to listen to this one at the HighEnd in Munich this year and it was a total letdown. Not only is the amp not capable of driving the headphone to a proper loud listening level, it also distorts really easy. I’m also glad that I am not the only one who thought about this one the way i did. What a waste of money.