Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Doodski]

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.

I've heard of students getting scurvy from living on noodles. That's devotion to the cause.

 

[Zensō]

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...

Companies often torpedo the resale value of their own products. Just as examples, looking at your list the Clear is undercut by the Elex, the Celestee is undercut by the heavily discounted Elegia, and now the HD800S is going to be undercut by the HD8XX. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is the HD650 being undercut by the HD6XX.

 

[Helicopter]

These companies often torpedo the resale value of their own products. Just as examples, looking at your list the Clear is undercut by the Elex, the Celestee is undercut by the heavily discounted Elegia, and now the HD800S is going to be undercut by the HD8XX. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is the HD650 being undercut by the HD6XX.

Electronics are the classic example of the product life cycle, so I have no objection to this. If you want something that might appreciate as a collectible, get something that is 50 years old.

 

[icenine]

Excellent. I have my mouse on the buy button.

 

[HiFidFan]

The amount of space in this thread dedicated to discussing how or why other people spend their money seems strange to me.

 

[John B]

Why the belly aching on price? You are looking at years of commitment (with associated investment risk), a real live breakthrough in his space (with the meta material use), and a small team verifiably moving the performance bar in one of the biggest most competitive CE categories on the planet. When does that happen? It’s genuinely exciting. After thinking it over, I ordered a pair and even though I recently bought an Aeon RT opted not to claim the 15% discount. When Dan licenses his waveguide tech and I see his yacht off in the distance - maybe I’ll think differently. Until then, hats off. 4K is less than a modest piano which sits silently in a living room corner. Here you have all recorded music at hand in its best possible light.

 

[Doodski]

Excellent. I have my mouse on the buy button.

Remember to disengage the safety before pulling the trigger.

 

[Rottmannash]

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.

And I have to say the RT Opens sound fantastic!

 

[Billy Budapest]

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 to weak to interchange the words.

Exactly.

 

[Acerun]

Why the belly aching on price? You are looking at years of commitment (with associated investment risk), a real live breakthrough in his space (with the meta material use), and a small team verifiably moving the performance bar in one of the biggest most competitive CE categories on the planet. When does that happen? It’s genuinely exciting. After thinking it over, I ordered a pair and even though I recently bought an Aeon RT opted not to claim the 15% discount. When Dan licenses his waveguide tech and I see his yacht off in the distance - maybe I’ll think differently. Until then, hats off. 4K is less than a modest piano which sits silently in a living room corner. Here you have all recorded music at hand in its best possible light.

I just don't want all my eggs in one basket. I have great headphones and could add a Sennheiser 800s and still keep all of my current, great headphones and still keep $1200 in cash (after taxes) for the same price as selling all my headphones and buying this one. Not a simple equation for me at least

 

[Billy Budapest]

Rolling eyes... That settles it then. Of course. If you say so it must be true.

Not to beat a dead horse, but look at the published Ducati sales figures. Don’t just take my word on it that 7,000 Ducati’s were sold in the U.S. last year. I got that figure from Ducati.

Anyway, my point is that enthusiasts of all income levels will buy $20,000 Ducatis or $4,000 headphones. If they want it, they will find a way to pay for it. It’s not about who has money/who doesn’t have money. Rather, it’s about who is dying to have the best motorcycle/headphone vs. who doesn’t care about having the best motorcycles/headphones. Both are enthusiast markets and both are small. Small not because of the number of people who can afford them, but rather the number of people who simply need to have them. That’s Ok, though.

Personally, I do not have any problem with the price of the Stealths, I just realize that the market for them, all things considered, is a pretty limited size. Most people are content with their AirPods.

 

[Doodski]

Not to beat a dead horse, but look at the published Ducati sales figures. Don’t just take my word on it that 7,000 Ducati’s were sold in the U.S. last year. I got that figure from Ducati.

I'll take your word for it. Alternatively the Hayabusa sold from 1999 to June 2007 over 100,000 Hayabusas were sold worldwide. In the United States in each of the years 2005 and 2006, over 10,000 units were sold. That's devotion to the model and a luxury ticket. I think optimistically and proactively about sales and look at the big picture rather than the shadow behind the picture. The global figure is astonishing and is what allows the Hayabusa to exist. The Dan Clark Stealth globally will sell many units.

 

[EJH]

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.

Koss did it.

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

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ZMF is not a huge company of headphones
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Given what the Focal Utopia and other TOTL headphones cost, $4,000 does not seem unreasonable if the Stealth is as good as the review suggests. But for this price I do expect a generous warranty. A $4,000 headphone should last a lifetime. I applaud Koss and ZMF for standing behind their products this way.

 

[HiFidFan]

A $4,000 headphone should last a lifetime.

A lifetime? Really?

 

[jlb]

well at more than 2 yrs

 

[Billy Budapest]

applaud Koss and ZMF for standing behind their products this way.

Koss headphone material quality leaves a lot to be desired, and I bet that lifetime warranty has come in handy for many consumers. Kudos to them for keeping manufacturing in the USA, but those bottom-barrel plastics and tales of electric tingling from their electrostatics . . .

 

[Ilkless]

Koss headphone material quality leaves a lot to be desired, and I bet that lifetime warranty has come in handy for many consumers. Kudos to them for keeping manufacturing in the USA, but those bottom-barrel plastics and tales of electric tingling from their electrostatics . . .

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwauk...ase-koss-embezzler-suesachdeva-after-six.html

I wonder if this had anything to do with the stagnant product line of Koss ...

 

[PuX]

nice, I hope they will create a reasonably-priced model next using what they learned with this one.

 

[bboris77]

nice, I hope they will create a reasonably-priced model next using what they learned with this one.

Even if it is not next year, I am sure that lessons learned on making this statement product will eventually trickle down to their other products. I mean, there is no way that an amazing pair of headphones like the Aeon RT Closed could have been possible at $499 4-5 years ago without all the tweaking that Dan did on the original Aeons that were $799.

 

[EJH]

A lifetime? Really?

Lifetime warranty is meant to ensure just that. Headphones can last decades.

Koss headphone material quality leaves a lot to be desired, and I bet that lifetime warranty has come in handy for many consumers. Kudos to them for keeping manufacturing in the USA, but those bottom-barrel plastics and tales of electric tingling from their electrostatics . . .

I have the Koss ESP95X. First pair came with all sorts of noise issues. Second pair developed same issue in very short order. Had to send them to Koss three times under their lifetime warranty, but they finally fixed them. Have had no problems since. I only paid shipping once. Their warranty is the real deal.