Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Dan Clark]

I don't get the impression that the Stealth headphones where made to achieve a price point. It appears they where made to be the best Dan Clark could design and manufacture and then a value was placed on them. That means a lot to me.

That's correct. RT and A2 were made for a price point, here our goal was to make the best we could.

EDIT: It was really liberating and fun to take that approach, I have to say. It was the first time we developed a product that way.

 

[_thelaughingman]

I think you underestimate the market for luxury products.

Luxury market right now is reaping stupid profits. Just look at LVMH conglomerate and their performance across the board for all their luxury brands which include Dior, Louie, Moet and numerous others making double digit growths in the same high end luxury market that theyve dominated for years. There is a demand for luxury products, and i would not begrudge a manufacturer to make a product that caters to that crowd.

Edit: I second @Dan Clark, when an inventor wants to push the boundary of technology and creativity, capping the price point and crowd would hinder that ability to deliver the best.

 

[restorer-john]

Suggestion: at that price why not have a lifetime warranty?

Koss did it.

It has stuck in my head for decades as THE BEST advertisement for headphones in the world, ever.

 

[Doodski]

Koss did it.

It has stuck in my head for decades as THE BEST advertisement for headphones in the world, ever.

View attachment 148688

Koss populated a significantly large section of a 40 foot/12 meter long slat board display wall behind a personal electronics sales counter where I retailed home audio gear. It was a sea of different models of headphones . The mark-up was very significant on Koss product and the sales volume was huge because the Koss representative had the attention and loyalty of the sales people. The warranty was possible because of the lucrative nature of the Koss product of the time and the customers recognized the brand.

 

[GDK]

Koss populated a significantly large section of a 40 foot/12 meter long slat board display wall behind a personal electronics sales counter where I retailed home audio gear. It was a sea of different models of headphones . The mark-up was very significant on Koss product and the sales volume was huge because the Koss representative had the attention and loyalty of the sales people. The warranty was possible because of the lucrative nature of the Koss product of the time and the customers recognized the brand.

They still offer a limited lifetime warranty on some of their products. Unfortunately, it no longer covers acts of dog.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Koss populated a significantly large section of a 40 foot/12 meter long slat board display wall behind a personal electronics sales counter where I retailed home audio gear. It was a sea of different models of headphones . The mark-up was very significant on Koss product and the sales volume was huge because the Koss representative had the attention and loyalty of the sales people. The warranty was possible because of the lucrative nature of the Koss product of the time and the customers recognized the brand.

ZMF is not a huge company of headphones

 

[Doodski]

ZMF is not a huge company of headphones
View attachment 148690

Nice looking product line and the prices are certainly high. With that product line a first owner warranty is a great deal for the owner. I never heard of ZMF before but I like the looks of it. A lifetime warranty is a strong statement about support and confidence in the product. I never did get a answer from @Dan Clark about the warranty period for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth model. The warranty terms webpage at the Dan Clark Audio website did not specifically list the Stealth model.

 

[Acerun]

Well if I sell all of my existing headphones I can probably get about $2,000 then these headphones only cost $2,000... That's one way to look at it. On the other hand variety may be the spice of life. I love my fostex Ebony, my EtherCX, my Audeze Sine, my 650, 560... Not sure I am ready for one cans to rule them all..

 

[jlb]

I'm pretty sure you're really underestimating the cost of the materials and the cost of labor

perhaps they could be given away for free

 

[Chagall]

Different take on Stealth's design - minimal, non gamer design mockup. Let me know if posting this is againts forum rules.

 

[XGEOX]

Interesting to see our varying perspectives on 'value'. I avoid discussing headphone purchases with people outside of the hobby for obvious reasons; we all have our own idea of what a sane limit is for any given product. I think most would raise an eyebrow at $400, let alone $4000.

However I sometimes talk about this with a relative who is into watches and guitars. Both are hobbies with similarly stratospheric price ranges that can't be rationalised simply by material usage, manufacturing techniques, etc.

A big factor is resale value. The right watch or guitar (or car, etc) will hold their value and may even increase in value over time. As such you can appreciate/enjoy them for a period of time and then scratch that next itch; eventually switching to something else with minimal loss. An initially high entry cost turns into a low total cost of ownership.

But do top-end headphones like this generally hold their value?

I had a quick look and couldn't find any used Ether 2 for sale in the UK. Perhaps that scarcity bodes well. I got a really good deal on mine new and would be surprised if they sold for much less now. Not that I'd want to.

I've enjoyed my HD800S for over six years, and going by a quick look at prices on ebay, they'd still fetch £900-1000 (assuming they're actually selling at these prices); meaning they'd have cost me £70/year for that period.

I bought my LCD2C used and it looks like I could now actually sell them for more than I paid a few years ago.

The Focal Clear Pro doesn't seem to have retained value quite as well; I think because Focal have devalued their range by bringing out so many models.

A concern would be that if/when this technology does trickle down into other DCA products (as we hope), that $4K value could drop considerably. Perhaps most buyers lining up for these just won't care about this.

I personally think it's too much money to sink into a single set, but I understand the potential value proposition.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Different take on Stealth's design - minimal, non gamer design mockup. Let me know if posting this is againts forum rules.

View attachment 148706

I honestly dont think the original design was lacking anything but the minimalist styling you have drawn up does make them look good.

 

[Helicopter]

Interesting to see our varying perspectives on 'value'. I avoid discussing headphone purchases with people outside of the hobby for obvious reasons; we all have our own idea of what a sane limit is for any given product. I think most would raise an eyebrow at $400, let alone $4000.

However I sometimes talk about this with a relative who is into watches and guitars. Both are hobbies with similarly stratospheric price ranges that can't be rationalised simply by material usage, manufacturing techniques, etc.

A big factor is resale value. The right watch or guitar (or car, etc) will hold their value and may even increase in value over time. As such you can appreciate/enjoy them for a period of time and then scratch that next itch; eventually switching to something else with minimal loss. An initially high entry cost turns into a low total cost of ownership.

But do top-end headphones like this generally hold their value?

I had a quick look and couldn't find any used Ether 2 for sale in the UK. Perhaps that scarcity bodes well. I got a really good deal on mine new and would be surprised if they sold for much less now. Not that I'd want to.

I've enjoyed my HD800S for over six years, and going by a quick look at prices on ebay, they'd still fetch £900-1000 (assuming they're actually selling at these prices); meaning they'd have cost me £70/year for that period.

I bought my LCD2C used and it looks like I could now actually sell them for more than I paid a few years ago.

The Focal Clear Pro doesn't seem to have retained value quite as well; I think because Focal have devalued their range by bringing out so many models.

A concern would be that if/when this technology does trickle down into other DCA products (as we hope), that $4K value could drop considerably. Perhaps most buyers lining up for these just won't care about this.

I personally think it's too much money to sink into a single set, but I understand the potential value proposition.

Anything HiFi made after 1980, I expect very little equity after a couple years. With headphones, you are especially lucky to get much back. Anyone who disagrees, feel free to make me an offer on my Clear, LCDX, Celestee, HD800s...

 

[HiFidFan]

Sooo, any chance of a Drop version lol

Give it a few months. . .

 

[Helicopter]

Another pet peeve on the topic of a $4k headphone is people talking about having the 'income' or 'wealth' to buy it. I would say you need 'funding' or a 'budget' to buy them, and you need to want them more than other stuff. Income is related to a budget for a pair of headphones, but it is far from the same thing and the correlation is far too weak to interchange the words.

 

[Chagall]

I honestly dont think the original design was lacking anything but the minimalist styling you have drawn up does make them look good.

Yeah, I don't mind the original also...a bit too gamerish for a flagship product, maybe. But then again, I have only seen them in a few pictures.

 

[jlb]

I think you underestimate the market for luxury products.

I do not understand why anyone complains about the cost of a product such as this....this is not an essential like food..it isnt as if a quart of milk was 100 dollars...there are headphones that cost 100 dollars and 1 I believe that cost 50k...you can buy anything you want and more importantly NOT buy anything you choose not to...if you can afford the stealth god bless and but it...if you cant buy a less expensive model...same with a car, a bottle of wine etc

 

[beeface]

Different take on Stealth's design - minimal, non gamer design mockup. Let me know if posting this is againts forum rules.

View attachment 148706

I like this. the name “Stealth” almost seems tongue in cheek with the bright red stitching

 

[Doodski]

I would say you need 'funding' or a 'budget' to buy them, and you need to want them more than other stuff. Income is related to a budget for a pair of headphones, but it is far from the same thing and the correlation is far to weak to interchange the words.

I remember customers from when I retailed audio gear. One was a unemployed kinda strange if not weird dood. Nobody wanted to manage his sale because he was a time waster chatty sort that was always too excited about stuff and asked a bazillion questions. So I took him on and showed him around and educated him in my spare time on slow days. He went and got a minimum wage job as a barista and saved up enough to pay cash for CDN $3000.00 1990's dollars for a Yamaha surround system and a big TV. Another was a guy that labored running coax cable wherever the company he worked for told him to pull it. Anyway he showed up about 3-5 times a month dirty and rough looking and always looking at the big Yamaha and Luxman power amps and pre-amps and the speakers like big Infinity Kappa, JBL 250Ti, B&W Matrix etc. Everybody said he was a wanker and a time wasting tire kicker. One day out of the blue he walked in and slapped down his cash and voila... He walked out with a Yamaha 200w/ch power amp, pre-amp, 3 head tape deck, high end CD player and a pair of KEF 104.2 c/w all the accessories I tossed in because he was such a loyal customer. Then there was the controversial T-shirt wearing white supremacist nazi loving "knives" collector... I sold him too as weird as it was dealing with him. I could go on and on about some customers but you get the idea. Income level does not always mean a person is or isn't a buyer. Luxury purchasing does not require affluent people.

 

[MRC01]

I resemble that... back when I was a dirt poor college student, I lived on ramen and rice for 6 months in order to buy a nice set of speakers.