The Soundstage is way wider and taller with the HE1KS, sens of depth is different though because your part of center stage while with Audivina your more like in small studio room with centered monitor speakers, for ex, HE1000S remind me my big Magnepan MG02A planar speaker which embrace my whole sound perception scale. I was placed on the front table for Saturday afternoon by Ethan, which meant I would be able to take a look around for the start of the show. Their first planar headphones was the HE5 launched in 2009, then they evolve alot and create a wide variety of headphones, yet they seem to favor planar open back above dynamic driver or closed back headphones.

The imaging isn't bad at all due to speedy sound layering projection that only good planar can achieve, so it avoid macro resolution muddyness and your able to dig into sound layers to find instrument behind. All in all, if you are timbre and tone lover and favor mid range instrument and vocal fullness and wideness as well as note weight and smooth balance, the HE1000 Stealth is the one to choose, if your more into high fidelity clarity and effortlesly analytical sound, the Arya Organic is an easy suggestion.

The forgiving nature of the signature, which allows lo fi and older to be heard in a lovingly nostalgic way is still there, albeit with just a smidgeon less compromise. The more money you sunk into a Hifiman, the better it would do this department, which seems to be the case with the HE1000 Stealth. I've felt that the OG HE1K had potential and generally the highs weren't horribad with at least half the samples. This not only offers better comfort but also an improved seal of the cushions around the ears and on the head for better bass.

With the Ananda, it was the "wall of sound" dynamics that removed any ability to detect any subtle nuances in the sound. Then for percussions, it's similar, but do underline how capable are these headphones to deliver speedy attack when needed. I changed back to the Audeze Maxwell for something else and noticed how compressed that sounded immediately compared to the HE1000.Whereas the V2 had a slight sparkle that mostly maintained its balance, the Stealth is definitely overall a step brighter, more forward. It might even be just be more out-right detailed than the HD800 SDR, but I don't have one to compare anymore and I'm going off memory.

The Stealth Magnets did things to the sound in exactly the way I have alluded to in the previous revisions of the Arya, Sundara and HE400 Headphones. The sub bass is leaner than mid bass here, yet dig very deep in a well controlled way with slightly densify and warmed sustaain and clean well layered release that permit both bass line and kick drum to cohabit in harmony.That does make it not as "romantic" as something like a good ZMF, but does do things accurately (without making it sound inorganic or artificial.

The HE1000SE, owned by myself, and the Susvara, of which I have a pair, have pushed Planar tech even further. The actual bass measurements are barely different between the two in the bass regions, so it makes me wonder if the stealth magnets just made it a lot cleaner in distortion and that's why it doesn't sound like it's trying to hard to sound big in the bass. The packaging is extremely minimalist and well, eco friendly since the box is recyclable and even the protective foam have second life as an Headphones stand. I wonder if he got a bad HE1000Stealth, because mine is a lot less bright (still f'ing bright though - just not to that extreme) than his measurements showed, and every other measurement of it has smooth treble from 3-5khz.Maybe it's just age, maybe there's something I'm not hearing that is elevated/wrong with the sound that is bugging me but I can't explain it. I don't feel the HE1000 Stealth is held back much by the Piety (as it's pretty easy to drive,) but it does sound like I'd be able to get a bit more out of it with a beefier amp. Cohesion and fluidity are still in the DNA but everything is more tight and forward in the presentation.