My current chain:
Singxer SA-1 —> Musicians Audio Pegasus
Ok people, here’s my first impressions of the Expanse, and they are a doozy. First of all, they need power. I can run my Atrium’s on low gain for most songs except for quiet recordings like Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits or some Pink Floyd. The Expanse needs to be in high gain…period. I’m not trying to step on anyone’s toes, but anything less than 4 watts is not going to cut it for these. I don’t care what anyone else says about this. Less power than that is going to be suboptimal. Even on high gain, I had some tracks from Pink Floyd’s the Final Cut on max volume!!!!
These are fantastically built! I love the look, feel, and ability to compact them down for easy transport. 10/10
For me, their comfort is ridiculous good. I love the way the earpads feel, they’re large enough for my ears, and the clamp is like a pillow made of clouds. These perfectly suit my preference. I put them on and they disappear 2 minutes later. 10/10
Now to the sound. This is going to be short and easy. These are ridiculous awesome. These are the most perfectly tuned headphones I’ve ever heard, period. They are crystal clear yet velvety smooth. I simply cannot believe how much I love the entire frequency band. I cannot fault any part of it. I love it all. It has super high quality punchy bass, eye-watering mids, and possibly the best treble I’ve ever heard. I will say it again: Simultaneously CLEAR and SMOOTH and very detailed. Vocals are to die for. 10/10
The soundstage is astounding to me. I honestly don’t know what others are hearing when they say it sounds narrow. These sound as wide to me as my Atrium’s, and possibly image even better. They do not leave me wanting any more. Binaural tracks are breathtaking. Old school hard-panned recordings, like the Doors. sound almost disjointed it’s so wide. I love it. These bring you front row and in the middle of the music, but then casts a wide berth of awesomeness. 10/10
This is all I can say. My Atrium’s make my music sound like a very well recorded HD track. The Expanse makes the music sound like you are there LIVE.
These sound so good, I’m actually salty that I had to take them off to write this short review. What will I do with them?
These are impressions right out of the damn box. I hope they don’t change at all. I don’t want or need burn in. I don’t know what Dan did to come up with the idea to create these, but these are a masterpiece.
If you want to know how these compare to the Susvara..I sold my Susvara. You’ll have to pry these from my cold, dead hands.