I started with 6xx but never got to try them with a good amp. I have owned all 6 series at some point in my life and they are all more similar than different with probably 660s having least scaling.

I stick with 600 because of personal preference, its less darker. But if not A-B ing, I won't really notice it. Enjoy your set up, its a killer !

This is where I hit wall too. Cavalli tube hybrid, apple dongle and hd600, I am content with this sound.

I got myself a pair of used headphones after that, but they were all for trying the sound and selling afterwards, never for keeping.

It was 2022 Utopia. Preference is hard to tell as I had them at two different times of the day, far away booths.

Utopia was the best among focals clearly coz I heard them all together. However, I heard Susvara, Shangri La together; couldn't find much difference during my brief time. Maybe that says great things about Susvara.

not fair, but this is all I could muster

https://old.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/yogqxw/i_heard_god/ivfcsie/

Could you please share something about the others? I am really curious as I place Clear very high up!

I tried with my phone, anc felt good. I didn't check format type so probably was using aac.

Utopia and Clear are much better experiences than Bathys. Bathys also doesn't feel as premium in hand, and is smaller than others as well. Having clear must feel like endgame I hope!

No mrp was displayed, google says 3000 usd.

I had 6xx and 660s together before so I AB-ed them. I couldn't find much difference, nothing that justifies the cost. Also, I didn't had any amp to drive them to full potential that time. Sold 6xx, felt remorse, bought it again used, then sold 660s.

Then I bought 600 to scratch the itch, AB-ed with 6xx. Similar experience as with 660s. They are more similar but I prefered 600's brightness. Plus I had a dongle dac and balanced cables that time (ibasso dc04) to make a better comparison.

If you are on the fence, go with the cheapest one or the one whose look you like most. They are all similar than different with 6xx and 660s being tad darker. I think if I have to buy one later, I will go for 560s which surprised me during my short interaction with its price to performance ratio.

In the expo HE-1 had its own listening booth. Shangri La was kept like a normal headphone among Susvara, He1000se, Sundara etc. If I hadn't known of the model before, I would have thought of it as a normal hifi pair.

So presentation might have played its part. Also the expo is noisy, and its hard to compare properly there for open backs. You crank the volume and stress your ears. I didn't have a fair base to compare them both to be honest. Its a wonderful headphone but I found Susvara equally wonderful.

I run hd600 with cavalli tube hybrid. On iem, I use sony xba N3. On music genre, its mostly post rock. I also listen to a lot of acoustics, rock, metal etc.

I started with 6xx. Moved to 660s out of curiosity and settled on 600 afterwards. I have also owned akg k701 (amazing cans) and porta pros at some point as well.

On iems, the main ones were se215 and er2xr which was replaced by N3. I also keep an oppoty (blon - 03) because Music and Driams!

I hope you get to listen to summit-fi soon! This was my first time.

its Tidal Hifi which is flac

I heard God and other things.

album compiling few - https://imgur.com/a/oMgbdNV

Never let HE-1 be the first pair to listen while being in an audio expo! I went with this golden rule in my head but couldn't help myself on seeing the booth empty. I didn't know what to expect and I still don't know how to give impressions from my brief moments with it. I forgot time, I stopped thinking. I listened to Florence + the machine's South London Forever and noded to this portion of the lyrics - "There can be nothing better than this". I also got myself till the first part of GY!BE - Storm but had to stop due to time.

On other main cans I got to try, (impressions are very novice plus I got only minutes with all of them).

Hifiman - Shanghri La was a joy. I got to AB it with Susvara and I honestly couldn't figure out any difference. Felt strange, since, in my head they were the HE-1 of Hifiman. I enjoyed the sound of Sundara but the metallic build felt clunky in hands; also, HE1000se was nearby, so I went with it. The closed back wooden HE-R10P looks awesome, but sadly I didn't like the sound of it.

Focal - I absolutely loved Utopia and Celeste, preferred them over Clear mg and Stellia (the only focal I didn't really like), latter preference wasn't expected. Bathys sounded really good for a wireless. All Focals felt very premium.

Audeze - mm150 is the only Audeze I ever got to listen and I don't think its fair to say anything about it as well considering the fact that I went to it from HE-1. Wasn't impressed.

Yamaha - the new flagship YH500SE is the coolest looking thing I have seen. Absolutely loved it. Among the flagships, this was the most comfortable experience of all. I got to try their wireless YHL100A which comes with 3D gimmicks; probably just preset EQs but very fun.

Meze audio - 99 classics were fun and felt luxurious in terms of comfort. I didn't think I would like them but I loved them. Then I heard Empyrean, some of the absolute best of the day.

Final audio - D8000 and D8000 pro were sparkly. I can whine about metallic build being a killjoy but that's just me.

Grado - got to try sr125x and 80x. I don't remember the sound but god those cables are awful. I have been contemplating on getting grados as travel headphones (more like listening at destination than during the route) and the cables killed that for me.

Other Senn - IE600 floored me, the soundstage is good and music felt immersive with really good isolation. I used my own ear tips which might have helped as well. They are also, so fucking tiny. 560s surprised me, bass was good and the stage felt great. I felt I want to own both of them even when I use 600s. I was told that the 560s are made using same drivers as old 700s while angling them or something. Hd800s sounds good; I couldn't help but feel like the pads aren't enough though, also didn't have enough time.

My top 3 other than HE-1 :- YH500se, Utopia and Empyreans

Honourable mention - Sendy Audio peacock; I got to A-B them with my hd600 (both on Feliks audio Euforia evo tubes) and the difference was night and day.

I went through your post, that's so nice! May I ask which store it was, please? I want to do something like this but a bit scared as I won't be making any purchase anytime soon.

I will remember your tip about not trying the top ones at the start!

Thanks a lot. I will take my hd600s with me then plus a 1/4 adapter. I am gonna put some extra tips like you said for iem!!

You are right. I can relate to this observation very much.