Achieving High Fidelity Sound

I have used Graham's products for years and I consider the Majestic-Proprius combination to be among the best money can buy for listening enjoyment and critical listening, for digital sources. Product specifications and statistics have a lot in common; they can both be manipulated to give a false information. I have very limited trust in the entire industry.

I have never had an ideal environment for high fidelity speaker listening, therefore have been listening with headphones for a long time. The quest was always for a flat frequency response in order to achieve high resolution of detail and correct tonality and dynamics. I was seeking speaker spatial rendering from headphones as well though but eventually concluded that it was simply not possible without digital signal processing. Once single driver speaker technology developed enough in recent years (I quickly rejected multi-way designs), my expectations of both headphones and speakers looked set to "meet in the middle" at some point and I shifted to open baffle speakers for a while. Then headphone technology eventually progressed and MySphere was born to refine the K1000 concept with modern materials and manufacture. Like the K1000, the listening enclosure with MySphere is gone and you are listening in free space. But the binaural perception is not the same as speakers at a distance. Spatial DSP for headphones like Smyth Realiser A16 is so expensive at the moment so I am avoiding a purchase for now. Therefore MySphere and my mono-suspension Alpair 11MS speakers have yet to meet in the middle. But they are much closer than ever before, if implemented carefully.

Edited by Ash - 22 Sep 2020 at 8:25pm

I have no special hearing abilities and I do not measure frequency response objectively; I only judge by ear. However, I have slowly extrapolated what a flat response should sound like over the years based on comparing the sound characteristics of many headphones. I spoke to an experienced sound engineer named Graham Slee in 2012 where I transitioned from HD600 to HD250II based on advice and spent time listening to what was right and wrong with both of them. Sold HD600 as upper bass emphasis on my listening material. Wasn't completely satisfied with HD250II as midrange a little withdrawn and low bass could be resonant/overwhelming. Observed headphones from the manufacturer with similar design and found HD540. Tried HD540II and discovered improvement in that the midrange seemed correct despite low bass lacking weight. HD560II was a side-step so sold that as no improvement found. Eventually bought HD800 for comparisons with HD540II. Sound got better yet got worse as well. Bought K1000 on a gut feeling. It blew everything else out the water... Sold HD800. Recognised K1000 had slight mid-bass to low midrange emphasis compared to HD540II then sold HD540II. Kept K1000 and waited three years. Bought MySphere 3.1 blind based on gut feeling. Was disappointed and was going to return. Left it plugged into FM radio for a couple of days while I went to work and slept. Wow, what was I thinking?! No way I returning it! Compared to K1000, all the subtle improvements that were expected. Same sound but better. Music reproduction was finally brought back to normal. MS 3.1 kept and K1000 sold. And they lived happily ever after. The end.