Looking at buying IEMs on the highend side

[no9]

Originally Posted by TacticalPenguin

Sorry but I have to ask, how can you be so sure about the downsides of 1 armature in the SA6's? It would eliminate crossover issues (you can't even try to tell me that every single sound that comes out of SE530's or triple.fi's is coming from the armature inside that would be most ideal for that sound) and who's to say its one armature isn't better than any of the individual drivers in dual or triple (or quadruple but for $1150 it better not leave $180 universal any chance) driver IEMs? I do think it is a huge topic to argue over, and I don't think you should be talking about them when you've never listened to them.

The distinguished Mr. WalkGood heard them at CanJam and said they sounded excellent to him. As for dfkt, he has had much more experience with IEM's than probably anybody on ABI. He has the amps (home/portable) to test, and has owned more than his share of fones. The price point of the SA6 is high enough that it competes directly with multible armature IEMs, and as a single it is suspect to much ridicule. I respect dfkt's opinion on IEMs more than anyone I've ever talked to because he has reviewed/used/owned almost all of the best. I've owned more than 50 headphones in the last 20 years and dfkt and walkgood were the posters I had in mind when I posted this thread because they know what sounds good.

[TacticalPenguin]

I absolutely agree that walkgood and dfkt know what they're talking about when it comes to sound and IEMs, but I don't see how you can so simply say 1 armature = bad without even considering possible benefits or listening to them

[no9]

Originally Posted by TacticalPenguin

I absolutely agree that walkgood and dfkt know what they're talking about when it comes to sound and IEMs, but I don't see how you can so simply say 1 armature = bad without even considering possible benefits or listening to them

I understand what your saying, and the Sleek SA6 could very well be the second coming, but the ability of one armature to reproduce sound next to 2/3/4 armature's would be an amazing feat, not that it can't be done. An educated guess says no. dfkt strongly recommended the Atrio M5 (single armature) when I started my quest, but I would really like to try a multible armature set-up. If you own or have used the SA6 what did you think? The short list is still the Qjay and the UM2, and I just found out the UM2 can go custom via the UM56 custom molds

[TacticalPenguin]

I haven't listened to any top-end IEMs as I am in the middle of nowhere where nobody else has good phones and I am poor and thus can't justify spending $170-300 on some IEMs that I will end up ripping the cable out of and having to fix. I don't claim to or have the slightest thought that I would be able to compare any phones or know sounds like dfkt, I just don't see how a single armature phone automatically loses simply because it is only one armature, ignoring any upsides to a single armature and other features of the SA6.

[s.zhao2891]

I don't think they're really saying that single armature phones lose automatically because it's only one. Rather, it's just the price point that seems rather off for the SA6. Considering you have plenty of other single armature headphones in around 100 dollars, it's skeptical to believe that double that price would be enough of an increase in sound quality to warrant it. In general, multiple armatures and dynamic drivers do perform better because of how the technicalities work, so for the price range that no9 is willing to delve into, I don't see why he shouldn't consider mainly multiple armature IEMs. Sure, maybe the SA6 do sound very good, but in principle single armatures just don't perform like multiple ones and they shouldn't be that expensive imo. If they were cheaper, I don't think anyone would be knocking on them at all...

[Xenodius]

Originally Posted by no9

dfkt strongly recommended the Atrio M5 (single armature) when I started my quest, but I would really like to try a multible armature set-up.

The Atrios use a single dynamic driver, quite different than an armature. I don't think there are any multi-dynamic driver IEM's, correct me if I am wrong. (I well may be, I have never heard of any though)

[no9]

Originally Posted by Xenodius

The Atrios use a single dynamic driver, quite different than an armature. I don't think there are any multi-dynamic driver IEM's, correct me if I am wrong. (I well may be, I have never heard of any though)

I believe you are correct. I've never heard of one either.