I too like the HiFiMan house sound.I found the Audeze slow & slightly plodding compared to HFM,the Focal too much like the original Senn HD800 on top & not as sweet in the middle.I settled in on the HE6 reissue driven off the 4ohm taps on my Cayin KT88 amp..IMO it's shoulder to shoulder with the 1000 in the mids & uppers but MUCH better defined & more colorful bass,at least in my system..
What are the best bang for the buck on higher end headphones?
In the last year, after solidifying my main system I have moved on to establishing my headphone system which is in our home office/game room, as this system has grown I am now at the end of the game and have just pulled the trigger on a Dennis Had Inspire headphone amp from Moon Audio that will replace my Yamamoto HA-3 amp & will sell it as well as the extra headphones that my Hifiman XV2 have beat out, with that said I want to purchase one more set of cans to go with the XV2s and have my mind on the Hifiman HE1000v1, HE1000v2 or the Focal Utopia and have found really good deals on all these mentioned as demos from dealers. I am partial to the Hifiman house sound versus Audeze but is there some cans in this league that I am missing. Have not heard the Utopia but am willing to take a chance at the great price I have been offered. What say you?