I returned from AXPONA 2018 last night. There were, surprisingly, several high dollar speaker based systems that were excellent. This is unusual; most megabuck gear at shows is only good if even that. There was another surprise, not because it was great but because it was there.
Our first stop, Woo Audio (a family NYC firm that makes headphone amplifiers), had in attendance the Sennheiser representative who has been demo-ing the company's new flagship product all over the country for the last year or two. He was sitting in a little private room with sliding doors. A table, three chairs, the HE-1 and a small Microsoft Surface laptop. We asked if we could make an appointment to hear it; he said no need because there had been a colossal screw-up and the show had forgotten to mention he was going to be there. Come on in, we were the first and no one was waiting. Well, twist my arm. (Dave had planned to fly to San Francisco just to hear them, so this development was beyond fabulous.)
The HE-1 is Sennheiser's statement product, the first since 1991. Like the Hartsfield, the Paragon, the Everest, and the DD66000. No one has come forth to argue that it is not the best headphone system that has existed so far. It costs $55,000 US. He has presented his demo to literally thousands of listeners and the only negative comments have been about the price. Not one stray word in criticism of the sound. Dave listened in silence, took them off and said he would gladly sell all his non-source gear to get them. I couldn't quite stay silent. I laughed a few times and tears rolled down my face. The reproduction and presentation were as perfect as I have ever heard. If there was anything at all wrong with it, we couldn't detect it. The imaging and soundstage were without fault and there are unique technical aspects present that guarantee that no one will ever think the sound is between their ears.
He invited us to hang around and take photographs while he chatted with other reps. No one was waiting. I shot the setup and Dave wearing them. (He did have me hold his hat while he was actually listening.) I'll post a few shots and include a few links.
https://gizmodo.com/we-listened-to-s...adp-1741947676
https://gizmodo.com/sennheisers-buil...s-b-1740236171
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