Sennheiser Orpheus - Still the holy head-fi grail 20 years on?

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Steve

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So 20+ years on, the limited edition Orpheus HEV-90 + HE-90 combination set is vintage. How does it stack up against the current reference head-fi cream?

Sure, not balanced & the inbuilt switchable DAC is undoubtably dated, but would it give an optioned Woo WES & Stax SR-009 a run?

Still the holy head-fi grail?


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I wish for a Sennheiser Orpheus 25th Anniversary Edition. Fully balanced dual monaural tube amp with matching limited edition HE-1000 cans.

True?
 
I have just returned from The Pantheon. The God of Music has answered my wish.

APOLLO IS COMING...
 
Non matching numbered set just sold in Sydney for AU$23,100.
 
Yes. For the limited edition HE-90 and HEV-90 headphone amp. 300 sets were produced and an extra 150 headphones in the early 90's.
 
Steve said:
Yes. For the limited edition HE-90 and HEV-90 headphone amp. 300 sets were produced and an extra 150 headphones in the early 90's.
Click to expand...

Wow! Hope they sound amazing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Considered by some the best electro-stats and valve headphone amps ever made....Well until, recent years anyway.

Very rare and highly collectible, but a high risk purchase IMO. (I was not the buyer).

Sennheiser's upcoming cost no option limited edition will have evolutionary new technology and will be set at an unobtaineum price point for the most discerning buyer that is lucky enough to reserve.
 
It will be expensive for sure. I spent enough ordering a HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE amp and SR009. Hoping they will come in the next few weeks after a year and a half.

i watched Head-Fi intently over the years, Orpheus has gotten expensive and long in the tooth. Rumblings of a new electrostatic system have been present over the last couple of years from Sennheiser, but they seem to be focussed on urban design and more consumer items. The HD800 have been out for years now (still use mine daily at the office) and many of the other companies have 2-3 iterations of their high end headphones out since then.

But the Orpheus, and HD600/650 ruled the roost for a long time.
 
Bones13 said:
It will be expensive for sure. I spent enough ordering a HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE amp and SR009. Hoping they will come in the next few weeks after a year and a half.

i watched Head-Fi intently over the years, Orpheus has gotten expensive and long in the tooth. Rumblings of a new electrostatic system have been present over the last couple of years from Sennheiser, but they seem to be focussed on urban design and more consumer items. The HD800 have been out for years now (still use mine daily at the office) and many of the other companies have 2-3 iterations of their high end headphones out since then.

But the Orpheus, and HD600/650 ruled the roost for a long time.
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3 years ago I set out on a quest to see if headphones could compete with the big rig. I bought a pretty good dynamic set-up, HD-800's and Woo 6SE with some upgraded mods.....and a pretty good electrostatic set-up Stax 007 mK2's and Stax SRM-717. both of those set-ups were good, but could never quite do anything like my big rig speaker set-up.

so not good enough to really compete, even on just information. not that they were not very good in their own right.

when I got into the headphone forums I read about the Headamp Blue Hawaii Special Edition Electrostatic amp and the not at that time for sale new Stax 009 headphones. also the Headamp Aristeaus Electrostatic amp. so I decided to get in line for a BHSE and Aristeaus and also order the 009's. I got the 009's first and after a year of waiting I did finally get both the BHSE (serial number 27 as I recall) and Aristeaus.

by that time I had upgraded my previous speakers and to help get my new speakers and amps I had to liquidate all the headphone gear shortly after I finally got the new stuff. but I will say that the 009-BHSE did better my previous speakers in detail, but don't approach my new ones. and I had an opportunity at one point to listen to a full blown Orpheus set-up and while I was not able to compare them side by side, the 009-BHSE was better overall to my ears. more detailed, more lively, less colored. I suppose if you were a digital guy with less than ideal sources then the Orpheus would tame it better. but the higher quality your sources the more the 009-BHSE would be the choice. the 009-BHSE will not suffer ordinary electronics gladly.

the 009-BHSE is as good as it gets with headphones IMHO. and Justin from Headamp is a great guy to deal with (if not speedy) and super meticulous with his products.

congrats and enjoy!

as always YMMV.....this is just one guys opinion.
 
I have listened to the BHSE with Stax SR0009. It is a great sound. Problem is the 18 month wait time.

My choice in that respect would be the Woo WES.

But the overall sound & flexibility of the WOO monoblocks matched with Abyss AB-1266 Planar Magnetic headphones win me. ��
 
My "big rig" will not stand up to the BHSE/SR-009 combo. And my room is too flawed to really expect perfection.

i have considered that the Orpheus system was voiced for a different era, lush and romantic. Decidedly not "HiFi" by today's standards.

I do expect my DIY AudioNoteKits DAC 4.1 to soften the stark clarity and oft reported high end glare of the SR-009s. Well, that and my 55 year old ears, damaged by early years with guns and wood shop (before we knew better) and the many years using noisy tools in my profession (Ortho surgeon)
 
Steve said:
I have listened to the BHSE with Stax SR0009. It is a great sound. Problem is the 18 month wait time.

My choice in that respect would be the Woo WES.

But the overall sound & flexibility of the WOO monoblocks win me. ��
Click to expand...

I've not heard the Woo Monoblocks, but based on listening to the Woo WES back a couple of years and that type of sound, i'd gladly wait for the BHSE. I use darTZeel electronics in my big rig system and the BHSE has that type of open lively very natural, but not colored, sound. immediate, dynamic, involving.

I waited 14 months for my BHSE and my wait was one of the shorter ones that I knew of.

admittedly I've moved on from the whole headphone scene and only posted since I saw the BHSE-009 comments which brought back fond memories. I'd love to have those beauties sitting here for when the mood stuck me.

btw; I think that the Headamp Aristeaus amp sounded better to my ears than the Orpheus amp. it seemed to have a similar sound but did it better than the Orpheus. as I recall it's circuit is somewhat based on that of the Orpheus.

I've heard the Abyss which is a very fine sounding headphone. I did not hear the 009's side by side, however.....I think I prefer the 009-BHSE to the Abyss with the solid state amp I heard it with whose name now escapes me......but I did like it. they are both in the same general performance category.
 
Bones13 said:
My "big rig" will not stand up to the BHSE/SR-009 combo. And my room is too flawed to really expect perfection.

i have considered that the Orpheus system was voiced for a different era, lush and romantic. Decidedly not "HiFi" by today's standards.

I do expect my DIY AudioNoteKits DAC 4.1 to soften the stark clarity and oft reported high end glare of the SR-009s. Well, that and my 55 year old ears, damaged by early years with guns and wood shop (before we knew better) and the many years using noisy tools in my profession (Ortho surgeon)
Click to expand...

009's did not exhibit any high end glare to my ears. but my power grid (Equi=tech 10kva isolation transformer), source electronics and even resonance control were very competent. the 009's will not hide any issues. but that is just as true about my current speakers or any very top end transducer. garbage in, garbage out.

the AN dacs are very very fine and I would think an excellent choice.
 
The Woo monoblocks with the Abyss deliver the lower mid & bass dynamics. The outcome is more convincing than with the electro-static combinations above. It is the first time I felt that listening to headphones was not such a compromise to sitting in front of a big rig.

That said, the word is a new generation of headphones (including electro-stats) will drive the technology forward in somewhat of a evolutionary way. Sennheiser will start phasing out the current line-up to make way for "new technology" inside of the next 12 months.
 
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