Posted yesterday about hifimans refurbished deals. We are past that now and it's a non issue. Atm I'm looking at the V2 stealth and the Se at the exact same price both brand new.
Read pretty much all posts on Reddit about both and all reviews I can find. To me it sounds like:
Similarities:
Hyper details with spectacular imaging, placement and soundstage. Classic Hifiman treble. Deep planar sub bass. Analytical without sacrificing musicality. Not good if your fairly treble sensitive. Can be detailed to a fault (everything gets noticeable on less than stellar recordings)
Differences:
V2 stealth:
*Is a bit more v-shaped with some extra weight to the bass but also more treble going into dangerous territory for sibilance (conflicting here if it's to much or just right), seems to come with a bit of constriction to the soundstage.
*Seen mentions of this having a nicer tuning, have not figured out in what way though, are they more musical or do people just prefer the added oomph
Se:
*Better from a technical point of view, even more detailed, imaging and spaciousness.
*More neutral/analytical tuning without the extra bass but also with the treble more under control.
- less bass but mentions of it being better; texture, detail and quality, just not with the quantity.
*A bit softer presentation overall.
*A little bit more mid-forward giving drums etc a bit more slam and some beautiful vocals.
*Easier to eq (making the lack of bass a non-issue if you want more)
This is just how I understand it from scouring the internet for information, and the seems to be ALOT of conflicting opinions about these HP's.
The non-stealth V2 sounds like a lovely pair but isn't interesting since I can't find it anywhere, although I heard the stealths are tuned really close, but with more sibilance (and the og is discontinued?)
Opinions that disagree with my understanding of the HP's are welcome since I've never listened to them.
For context:
I'm going from the Arya Stealth and I really liked them and decided to upgrade within the same house sound. I found them a little bit bright but they calmed down for me over time.
Really liked the bass but actually preferred them with the dekoni velour pads; a little loss in bass but made them smoother and a little more spacious, even though I would have liked even more space. (Yes I know speakers are best for that)
I REALLY enjoy listening to tracks and just appreciating how they separate instruments and just place you in a space surrounded by music more than anything I had before. Part of the reason the he1000s seems to be for me.
In this upgrade Im mostly looking for better soundstage, imaging and timbre. Was fully satisfied with the bass amount in the aryas. Awell as the he1000s are mostly metal which might give some more longevity.
I also do enjoy dynamic HP's with some bass aswell like my 109pros and Denon ahd5200.
They will run on a Fio K9 pro ess even though I might look for some planar friendly tubes in the future.
Haven't heard V2 Stealth but i upgraded from Arya Stealth to Hekse and compared them side by side for a week or two.
I don't wanna inflate your expectations but Hekse has much better stage, imaging, separation and detail to my ears. That's the first thing i noticed switching between two. Hekse sounds like stereo, arya stealth sounds like mono. Things are more spread out on Hekse.
Other side of the coin is that Arya Stealth has a bit more hefty, physical bass and overall Arya sounds slightly more engaging with some music types. It's more focused and aggressive sound. Trade off is that Arya can sound too busy and claustrophobic. It's like things masking each other and sound happen too close to your ear. It grabs more of your attention.
Hekse is brighter but less offensive if that makes sense. It has a colder tone than Arya Stealth.
Hekse mid is more distant.
Hekse might be the pinnacle of separation trait.
About what I've heard then, I imagine the se bass might be what I got when swapping my aryas to the velour pads...
Have you experienced any of the shoutyness that some have complained about?
The shoutyness difference is insignificant. Hekse have a bit more energy at 3khz, Arya Stealth have more energy at 4khz.
Hekse's 3khz a bit higher than it should but it doesn't really bother due to staging/detail capabilities of the headphone and the distance it creates. Ananda was a big offender to me in terms of shout.
I've only really tried the aryas.
You don't feel their relaxed nature and staging is so big that it makes music just feel distant and never intimate?
I know the V2 stealth has gotten praise for having maybe not as big stage as the Se but still having a big stage whilst still being able to feel intimate when needed to.
It's hard to describe. Hekse's stage isn't massive and it can still get intimate. I think all egg shape Hifiman's can do that. However it's not as intimate as Arya Stealth. Music doesn't really feel distant but mids feel a bit distant relatively. It's still an engaging and intimate headphone when it needs to. If you read comparisons between old Hekv2's and Hekse you will see that Hekv2 users complain Hekse is ''too energetic and forward''. So it's kind of a middle ground i guess.
I read a lot about Hekv2 Stealth too. People actually praise it's bass a lot so if you like bass i'd say go for HEK Stealth. Hekse doesn't really excel in bass. It does the bass perfectly but nothing beyond. Where Hekse excel is separation and spread out imaging. Excellent detail. It's significantly better for gaming and movies in my experience. Arya Stealth's had a bit more bass oomph but it's imaging was lackluster in comparison.
I strongly recommend this guy's comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2zibq8UIho