I certainly expect the 4000 euro ones to be! But that’s beyond me, I never tried any, was just considering going this route a year ago and had my dealer website at hand. I decided for the system in my profile instead, didn’t turn out cheaper (as you are very aware )
I didn’t even compare, haha. I knew that it would keep bugging me, so made one big (pandemic) step from modest NAD pre/streamer and Rotel amp to the place where any further upgrade means 500, which is very unlikely to ever be an option. One way to stop the itch for good!
And full Fraim as the forum will tell you! I couldn’t because it’s too wide, but happy with my rack and bases (lots of them). As I am with the streamer, indeed. Can’t complain about any of the sources really. Am very happy to have taken the plunge in one go instead of dithering on for years, never being quite satisfied, and probably wasting a lot of time and money in the process
It’s surly all about stopping the speaker bass going through the system… I’ve bought some Gaia II isolators (turning up nx week)
My thinking is isolation of the problem at the source rather than let the vibes get to the rack?
I don’t think there is just one problem. You can’t do anything to stop the air vibrations reaching the system, and the transformers vibrate too. In any case, everyone seems to be convinced after trying full Fraim. Not an option for me sadly, but doing the best I can
I am not sure if the Gaias are doing anything to stop bass energy from going into the floor, or are supposed to. However, they are working very well for me whatever the reason. Follow the instructions and level them as precisely as you manage, seems to me that this makes a lot of difference. I also believe that they need time to settle after making adjustments (certainly the suction cups stick and pop a lot more after a few days)
I am using the RHA T70 - a good in ear headphone at its regular price but even better at the lockdown price that was available last year. At the other end so to speak, I use the Campfire Solaris - again another great price reduction (to bring it inline with your Shure 846) when the new Solaris came out. I use both with the Mojo and am really happy with them - they each bring their own signature but the Solaris is quite something.
For IEMs, I still use my old Senn IE8. Awaiting a new cable for my older UE Triple Fi 10s, which I used to adore but now I’m not so sure. The IE8s still impress me greatly. I’ll be trying out my Westones again when I can find em!
I’d like to try the Audeze iSine 10, but it seems SQ is better with the Apple-specific cable (Cipher, Lightning?) so probably won’t.
I may try the A&K, as I now have one of their players.
It’s a long time since I used to haunt Head Fi, so I’m really not up on current faves n raves.
Took me ages to find IEMs that were not just comfortable but fitted well. I obviously have odd shaped ears.
Never got on with Shute. The Audiolab M-ear 4D sounded really good but I had to keep a finger on them to keep them in place. I really wanted to keep them but just not going to work for me.
Finally settled on Grado Gr10e (about £400) which are tiny, very light and pretty sophisticated. They fit well for me. Their GT220 Bluetooth models are nice too although not as classy sounding.
Basically I meant to say that fit is completely essential for performance as well as comfort when buying IEMs so make sure you have an option of a trial with free return on any you buy.