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.
Sorry, I was mostly referring to the upper treble. You can see that the HE1000SE has a massive upper treble spike, just above 10kHz. This will make the SE's more "sparkly," but more fatiguing.
I use my HE1000 Stealth everyday and I don't find it to be sibilant. However, I have tinnitus, so take my treble impressions with a grain of salt. You mentioned that you wanted better soundstage and imaging, and the HE1000 Stealth is phenomenal for that. It goes for a decent size soundstage, while keeping the imaging precise. I can tell exactly where each instrument is. This is unlike some headphones that go even further with their soundstage, but end up with less precise/more diffuse imaging. Combine that with its excellent timbre and detail makes everything sound so lifelike (at least for headphones).
Ah alright, hmm, the V2 stealth kind of sounds like it's hit the sweetspot between staging and intimacy with the Se being huge but loosing some intimacy maybe.
Also I heard great things about the timbre and overall tuning of the V2 stealth, I was mostly worried the stage might have taken to much of a hit compared to the og or Se.
Thanks for your input!
I went for the V2 Stealth for this reason, SE looked like too much treble. I haven't heard the other two though. Subjectively, the HE1000 Stealth sounds smoother and less fatiguing to me than the Arya Stealth which was my favourite headphone before it, although I don't see that in the graphs. HE1000 Stealth also has better bass than the Arya, it's much more visceral and punchy, that's the other big difference. It's definitely better, although... diminishing returns, the Arya is already a great headphone and it's difficult to get that much better again.