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Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC Review (Headphone)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
@amirm , I appreciated the tow rope comments, very funny, but since when does the tow rope cost as much as a second hand car.....crazy times! 
I can't take a company seriously when they're selling $3000 tow ropes / headphone cables! In fact I feel quite a bit of disdain instead towards them & their product.....which is backed up by that seriously messed up treble where there are some god awful sharp uncorrectable dips and just a hella lot of peakiness. I suppose the redeeming factor was the spatial effects after EQ, but damn I can't justify liking this product for it's high cost, ridiculous rip off cables (and headphone actually, very expensive!)......me I'd shoot them down in flames the buggers!
I can't take a company seriously when they're selling $3000 tow ropes / headphone cables! In fact I feel quite a bit of disdain instead towards them & their product.....which is backed up by that seriously messed up treble where there are some god awful sharp uncorrectable dips and just a hella lot of peakiness. I suppose the redeeming factor was the spatial effects after EQ, but damn I can't justify liking this product for it's high cost, ridiculous rip off cables (and headphone actually, very expensive!)......me I'd shoot them down in flames the buggers!
He don't look happy! Too right!
Mmm, trustworthy, they better hire better actor next time...
Vini darko
Major Contributor
Thanks to brave soul for sending these in. Be intrested to hear the feedback on the eq Amir came up with.
Crazy, isn't it? One of the best things about this site is the way it has exposed many pieces of very expensive gear that simply don't perform any better than much less expensive stuff. In some cases the more expensive product is actually worse. A good example is two Hifiman headphones Amir tested recently. One was $3K and one was ~$400 IIRC. The $3K model performed, if anything, worse than the cheaper model.
Objective data doesn't tell the whole story- Measurement technology is under development too- but while good measurements don't always equate to good sound, bad measurements nearly always predict bad sound. Generally, I'll trust someone who knows how to use test equipment over someone who knows how to use a thesaurus.
The other thing this site has exposed is the near-total absence of correlation between price and performance in many product categories. As far as headphones go, Sennheiser opened the floodgates years ago, shocking everyone by introducing the HD800 for a mind-boggling $1500. In today's 'deep end' market, that headphone looks like a bargain. Here we have $5K for a headphone whose graphs look like a 3 year old's first crayon drawing? Today's headphone market has fully embraced the statement by the late Brian Cheney of VMPS loudspeakers that "The price is the product." It would be one thing if you got even marginally better performance for that stack of cash, but in many cases the opposite is true.
@amirm , I appreciated the tow rope comments, very funny, but since when does the tow rope cost as much as a second hand car.....crazy times!
Given that they also sell $6k power cables, I don't see why anyone would trust them.
D
Deleted member 31750
Guest
A bit funny with fitting but I was amazed when I tried it for a couple of hours. Really liked it.
Tks
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We got Focal, Abyss, and the HD800 line. All riddled with odd performance, and unusable without EQ (if you want Harmans target).
The last one left is the Meze Emyprean (I have high hopes for these, if this ever crosses Amirs desk, and performs poorly, I will never care about high end headphones ever again).
The last one left is the Meze Emyprean (I have high hopes for these, if this ever crosses Amirs desk, and performs poorly, I will never care about high end headphones ever again).
Count Arthur
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Of course not.
I don't own the rights to either of the images I slapped together in Photoshop, but you're welcome to use it as far as I'm concerned.
What the hell is happening at 400hz?
martijn86
Active Member
DMS: "These headphones will make you cry."
DMS: *plays funeral classics*
DMS: "They cost $8000,-."
Linus: *cries*
Amir measuring these headphones: *cries*
It totally works!
As for myself, I feel a bit better about having bought $400,- flawed Pandas now. Thanks Abyss!
I find Focal Utopia to be excellent without EQ, OG Clear to be very good with most recordings, and Celestee to be good. The Focal house curve has less bass than the ASR target, and improves with EQ, but they all sound good without any EQ IME. HD800s and LCD-X are another story, and I wouldn't waste my time with Abyss.
Thank youOf course not.
I don't own the rights to either of the images I slapped together in Photoshop, but you're welcome to use it as far as I'm concerned.
EXIF68
Active Member
The Abyss.. the movie is better ;-)
We need more reviews of obscenely priced gear. A way to re-oreint, re-set the industry , to make the hobby more accessible and bring more to the fold
My conclusion:
At least it can be equalized to provide (some of) the goods. At its ridiculous price, it is not worth the bother.
Peace
My conclusion:
- This is a good, not superlative headphones and even then, make sure you play within its limit.
- The list of headphones that are superior to this (abysmally) ugly and expensive contraption is long.. No one in their right would take this over the Sen HE800 or, lest we forget, the best headphones reviewed here, the HiFIMan HE6.
- On a performance basis, objective or subjective, the AKG K371 @ <$200 is a better headphones.
At least it can be equalized to provide (some of) the goods. At its ridiculous price, it is not worth the bother.
Peace
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I own a pair of ”true surround” headphones that give a similar Frankenstein look:
For those wondering, you feed it optical and it has its own decoder/amp it has 5 drivers in the headband that send audio down the dual tubes to the ear cups which house the LFE drivers (cups can flip open if you need to hear your surroundings):
Me ~10yrs ago thought it was cool, probably used them 5 times, not great (sending audio thru tubes does not do wonders for sound quality).
For those wondering, you feed it optical and it has its own decoder/amp it has 5 drivers in the headband that send audio down the dual tubes to the ear cups which house the LFE drivers (cups can flip open if you need to hear your surroundings):
Me ~10yrs ago thought it was cool, probably used them 5 times, not great (sending audio thru tubes does not do wonders for sound quality).
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