ETHER 2

please don't sign up today, fail to read for days/weeks and skip any attempt at a search.

(to save time for everyone reading in the future:
BW = Bang Wulfsun and 3F = Franklin Fine Fidelity)

 

Did you get a pair yet?

 

I did get them in. Measurements and impressions are forthcoming. They are really good and all everyone has cracked them up to be.

In a nutshell, they remind me of the sound of Magneplanar speakers, but better. Bass articulation, control, and extension are far better. Overall tonality is better. Maggies highs have always been a bit off - too shimmery. The Ether 2 highs sound normal

@JM1979: My favorite amp pairing with the Ether 2 among all the amps at my disposal is the Studio Jr. The E2 can have a bit of glare or hardness from more neutral amps. It's not significant, just nitpicking and of course personal preference will come into play. Although I am not surprised since @Vtory mentioned BW which has a similar tonality to the Studio Jr. (I am running without feedback).

 

Well, look at the bright side. Unlike HE6, MrSpeakers headphones don't need $5000 high-gain speaker power amp and $5000 autoformer / transformer passive volume control.

If you did go ECSjr direction, I would recommend the 4-ohm taps for speakers in the Neutrik Speakon outputs. The headouts are on the 8-ohm secondary taps.

 

EC tube + OPT amps are best amps for all headphones.

(Except those with tiny man syndrome that need a humongous power amp to drive their neck breaking planars to show the world they're actually big boys.)

 

Damn, took you long enough to figure that out.

 

Measurements up: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...2-measurements-and-thoughts.7194/#post-251075

 

A few more comments:

• Measurements might explain why I prefer the E2 from tube amps or more organic / rolled solid- state amps. Will need to explore this more if I have more time.
• Ergonomics are superb. The headphone is so comfortable and unbelievable light with compact dimensions. The MrSpeakers Ether series is by far the best headphones in the industry in regards to ergonomics and comfort.
• The Ether 2 is an evolution of the original Ether, but incorporates the Ether Flow's improvements with a more palatable frequency response (flatter less peaky) than the Flow.
• Ether 2 does not have the "cloudiness" that prior iterations of the Ether seemed to have.
• As with prior versions of the Ether, very sensitive to placement on the head and seal. Low bass will be lacking if there isn't a good seal.
• More e-stat "fast" like than slammin' type of ortho - however most importantly - timbre is good. No metallic sheen, no last octave mosquito weirdness, no jumpy transients. Transients are solid and well damped.

 

Why is our tongue going up Dan’s asshole again? This is the same dude who whined when he lost the “guess that tone” game at a meet and accused us of being wrong with his entry and has a long history of telling us that the pairs of headphones I bought to be measured must all be busted?

 

I would surmise early and cautious signs of Dan trying to bridge long-standing gaps like this (of which I was not a part) with members of our community, which I'd hope we would reciprocate if that means either better information we can provide consumers and/or better products through collaborative development.

Even then, nothing wrong reviewing something for what it is and leaving the people behind it out. We can be honest about our concerns and praise (regarding people, products, etc.). Folks already here, or stumbling on SBAF through a Google search, might genuinely be considering the Ether 2. I think it would be best of/for us, and for everyone else, to have solid, reputable information on what worthwhile (or horrible-stay-away) products we can so everyone can make better informed purchasing decisions.

If you want, you can fight me IRL on this over lunch or something. I gotta find some way to see you finally, no?