Most of this is about buying new products. There’s an argument to be made for getting more experience on your current setup and enjoying that more.
There are always going to be new products to try out and this can lead to buying a lot of gear. Which can be a very addictive in this hobby. But it’s worth pausing and having patience as was said above.
Very true. And that’s a perfectly viable way to enjoy the hobby. What are your favorite headphones or IEMs so far, and why?
Lol, yeah, at one point I had everything but “Listen,” I think.
Utopias are some of the most detailed headphones I’ve heard, and that was what I was most after getting into the hobby. However, they’re so open they sound like wearing nothing, so Stellias became my overall favorite headphones and daily driver for about 9 months. They have near the detail of Utopia with a tastefully boosted bass and closed back isolation. This was my office rig for much of 2019:
Before I got into the flagships, Elegias were my favorites. I’m still tremendously fond of those headphones, particularly at the fire sale prices Adorama has listed them. As with Stellias, the closed back allowed me to use them in an office environment. They’re also easy to drive and work well for immersive gaming, so I converted one into a gaming headset with a modmic. They’re versatile and sound good, and at $399ish they’re kind of a steal.
Elex sound a little better than Elegia (I got mine well ahead of whatever driver complaints started). It’s kind of like the Utopia vs Stellia situation all over, except the beryllium drivers of Utopia / Stellia bring an extra degree of smoothness and detail. Just a lower tier (but still great) open vs closed tradeoff.
Clears aren’t my least favorite, but they have their own reference like signature that I guess I find similar (in terms of when and why I’d want to reach for them) to other cans, like maybe 1990s or Auteurs. They’re like vanilla ice cream–a staple flavor, and arguably a reference from which to assess other flavors, but not necessarily what I want to consume most times.
I haven’t heard Celestee or Clear Mg yet, but I did get to audition Radiance (it’s a pretty stunning industrial design in person–one of the best looking Focals, IMO). If I didn’t already own so many Focals, it might be worth picking up. It’s just that the $1-2k range is sort of a funny space–really too expensive to pick up everything, but still low enough that there are plenty of better, more expensive options.
I always forget you are focal god. That pic pops up from time to time and I go “oh yah. That is a thing”
If you are happy mid-fi isnt the primary descriptor, end game is
They really are extremely pretty and luxurious feeling in person. I bought mine barely used for under $900, which imo takes them out of the more crowded $1k space.
I was looking for a used Celestee but was disappointed by many reports of a tiny sound stage and mid bass hump. I was suggested the Radiance and for the price I paid its been very worth it.
I would like to use that statement myself - If I could without you claiming royalty fees, lol
You are free to use but you must point out is was said by Bob. Not eskamobob, just Bob.
My favorite headphones are probably the TH-X00 Ebony I just recently bought and Elegias funnily enough. Elegias are soooo comfortable, I wear them everyday like 8 hours at work. Don’t really have any IEM experience so can’t say much to that regard. When I got the clears, I was pretty sad that the pads were not as plush as they do not have near the comfyness of the Elegias. I still really like the clears don’t get me wrong, but I can’t wear them for a very long time before I feel like switching headphones.
Radiance looks amazing and after reading some posts on here about it, I would really like to try it out. Seems like a sound signature I would enjoy and it looks stunning. Same with the Stellia, but those are a bit out of the ballpark for me I think 
That it costs a LOTS of money to find out what you like! I have bought SO much gear in the last four years and been disappointed by most of it.
It is so easy to blow through a lot of money. I was looking at what some people were spending on higher end items and I was shocked! And then I started counting up the gear on both sides of my lazy boy. Woah!
I am firmly in entry level/mid-Fi and I buy everything used or on sale. And I still broke $10K! That is bizzare to me, but it is what is.
I am guessing most of you are way, way higher than I am. Yikes.
Dat bass. 
This is why preference is a such a big deal. I have Purplehearts and Ebonies, and they’re some of my least-reached-for headphones. I used Ebonies as my work headphones for maybe 2-3 weeks until the tuning wore me out–too much bass, not enough mids–on the whole, anyway.
My next step after Ebonies was Elegias, funnily enough. And those lasted me a while until I finally stepped up to Stellias.
If you enjoy the bass heavy signature of Ebonies, one of my favorite cans for that type of tuning is 1770 Pro with a pad swap to the included pleather pads. I like the mids better on the Beyers, and the bass is both plentiful and articulate. I’ve seen them fairly regularly in the low $400s new, if you bargain hunt.
There are so many IEMs out there, and plenty of good ones. I am loving MEST MkII customs so much that I’ve only half-jokingly suggested they could be a one-and-done for all things audio. They are portable, easy to drive, sound great even out of bad sources (like my phone and Xbox controller), and they isolate so you can use them in noisy environments (so long as that’s not riding a bike in traffic or something, lol).
I don’t have much experience in sub-$1k IEMs, but I still think used Andromedas are a pretty ideal entry point–they have a very likeable tuning, and they’re still quite well-known, so they make an easy reference point from which to try other things.
Since you mentioned Ebonies, Campfire Atlas is a nice bass cannon IEM–one I could see being a daily driver. They do have an issue with driver flex, so I use foam tips with mine to get a good seal without locking up or “pinging” the driver (Atlas is sensitive to trapped air between the driver and your eardrum putting pressure on the driver that can prevent it from moving or make it pop with a loud ping–letting foam tips expand in place avoids that).
Anyway, those are some of the more bass heavy things in my collection–all things I’ll reach for when I’m in the mood for house & other bass-heavy electronic genres, for example.
Huh interesting, I’ll definitely keep an eye out because that does sound interesting - maybe I’ll just keep whatever pair I like more if I end up going that route. Yeah, most the music I listen to at the moment is hip-hop / R&B / EDM so that’s why I think I am enjoying the more bass heavy sound signatures as of recently. Thanks for the recommendation!
As for IEMs I do have a pair of KZ ZST and Alpha and Delta KS3 but I really haven’t used them much at all. Since covid I haven’t really gone out much so I haven’t needed to use my phone for music, but I’ll probably give those a go next time and if I like the convenience of them I might look into purchasing a better pair of IEMs.
After finding 1 of the 2 possibly only dealers that deal in this type of gear? That my heart nor wallet has the fortitude. Let me just say my first foray hasn’t been a positive one so far.
Yah… tbh I feel like most dealrs are probabaly kept afloat by a few clients so until you spend some money you don’t realy get the time of day fairly often. You can run into the same issues with classic car dealers too
Also really depends on where you live, in some countries dealers are extremely scarce, and in others are more common and prominent
That is the case for me…only dealers in the area specialize mainly in speakers, headphones and chain gear is an afterthought.
What no Best-Buy near you 
When he said speakers he meant Bluetooth speakers. So naturally Best Buy.
I feel like this has been one of my big lessons getting in to hifi, is just how important use case is. I can enjoy a lot of different sound signatures, but when I’m wearing a headphone for several hours in a row while also trying to focus on work, it changes a lot about what I want from a headphone’s sound.
Yes, it’s exactly that. You need to spend money and a significant amount ( maybe a couple months worth of rent at least? ) before they will really put out some sort of effort.
Also yes to Mon. They are scarce here because it really isn’t a profitable business unless you are leaning on the PA side of things.
And it’s the same thing also as Hazi noted. Front end is an after thought at best. It’s just speakers and PA gear, used to be some ok ones back it the day but now it is just the cheapest stuff with the known brands you can find. Bose is considered best of the best here lol. Not even headphones either.
It’s not like there isn’t anyone at all but they are even harder to stumble upon here and most have really vintage stuff. Think Kenwood back in the day when they had the guys that would go on to form Accuphase old.
I now need to find the time and time off from work and a transport to take my speakers back to the shop to have them looked at since one of the drivers isn’t working.
The bright side is at least finding a dealer turned out to be much easier than it was a few years ago so it’s not all bad.
