Sennheiser HE 1

Satch

Audiotinkerer
Ok, if this is not allowed, please delete. As a good friend of mine works at Sennheiser, I was able today to listen to their flagship offering, the HE 1. This is a combination of a tube preamp/DAC in a marble housing with electrostatic headphones. As an extra (I don't dare to use the word 'gimmick') the tubes, the knobs and the headphone appear from the marble housing. An amazing piece of art to which I was allowed to listen to for two hours, bringing my own CD/SACD-player and music.
What can I say without sounding like a cheap commercial? It was mindblowing, best sound I ever heard. It also made me realize how good a plain old CD can be, but that's another thread.

Drawbacks? Price obviously, in excess of 50,000 bucks. There's also a waitinglist as each unit is custom made. It shows no mercy for bad recordings or mixes, so if the source is garbage, you will hear it. And, as the cool-running Class-A MOSFET high-voltage amplifier are integrated directly into the earcups it is heavy, although the near-perfect fit sees to it they are very comfortable.

So there you have it in a nutshell. I will probably never in a 50,000+ years be able to affrod it - but a man needs to have a dream, and I've found mine. Next to Mila Kunis that is. I also took some pics (not from Mila - sorry!) so enjoy. I know I did.

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If you just feel the need to let people know that you have "made it", and your AMG Mercedes isn't quite enough, now there's that thing to put on your desk at work! Sweet, but waaaaay out of my price range...
 
I don't buy the argument that these are a status symbol. For something to be a status symbol it has to be immediately recognizable by everybody, and probably part of the zeitgiest. The HE-1 though? Nobody knows what they are unless you're in the hobby so they're not a status symbol. They're the end result of chased dragon.
 
Status symbol, no, probably not(unless someone is in the hobby, and knows what it is). But a statement? Oh yeah, it's all that, AND a bag of chips. If the eight tubes weren't enough, just that chunk of fine marble says "this ain't cheap!"

I have an idea what it is, and all it says to me is "drool a little more, sucker..."
 
Let's see those 2.4 micron thin platinum vaporized diaphragms really can't be all that hard to make to tolerance.
 
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Status symbol, no, probably not(unless someone is in the hobby, and knows what it is). But a statement? Oh yeah, it's all that, AND a bag of chips. If the eight tubes weren't enough, just that chunk of fine marble says "this ain't cheap!"

I have an idea what it is, and all it says to me is "drool a little more, sucker..."
I've never felt that way about high end gear. To me it's just like "someday if I'm lucky".

Then again I want really want some AKG K1000s. And that IS an attainable objective.
 
Oh, no chance of one of those winding up in my possession, short of a lottery win. I like a LOT of cool stuff that I will likely never be able to afford, but I don't make it my life's work to complain about that fact. It is what it is. Right now, I am really happy with my latest upgrade, a relatively inexpensive 40 year old turntable. As long as little things can still make me happy, there is hope for me...
 
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