New "Abyss" headphones

[Bruce B]

My good friend Joe (JPS Labs), has created a new headphone called the "Abyss". We will have a pair at RMAF in room 8000. Hope everyone into 'cans' will make sure to stop by and take a listen.

Abyss Headphones designs and manufactures very high performance headphones. Our current designs feature a huge planar driver, milled aluminum components, fine handmade lambskin pads, and custom JPS Labs cables. Made in the USA

 

[Lee]

Cool, will see you at RMAF!

 

[Bruce B]

Just got my new Abyss headphones. They are quite different than the prototypes that he had at RMAF last year. Gone are the cool 'spyderman web' designs on each earpiece. They've been replaced with new more cohesive looking black grills. They have the same 'vice-like' look to them. Guess you either love them or hate them. The packaging is beyond first-class. They come double boxed and inside is a dove-tailed presentation wooden box. They come with a 3rd party headphone stand that has been silkscreened with the "Abyss" logo. Inside the wooden box is a high-grade leather case containing the headphones, ear pieces and cables. The leather case looks cool enough to put on my cruiser!
The lambskin ear pieces are held on by magnets and are adjustable by rotating them clockwise or counter-clockwise. Joe said, the ear pieces are adjustable depending on how you want the musical presentation.
The cables connecting the headphones are high-end that only a cable company can do. The cables are pretty stiff, which some may not like, but are made for the headphones to perform at their peak. There are 2 cable adapters for typical 1/4" and 4-pin connectors.
These headphones are pretty heavy but with the nice headband and soft ear pieces, I haven't had a problem using them for hours. A good quality headphone amp is needed. I used them for a while with just the headphone outputs of my Mytek converters and they did reasonably well. Connected to a premium headphone amp like the Cavalli Liquid Gold brings out the best that the Abyss has to offer. I've only compared these so far to the Audeze LCD3 and my Senn HD800 and it was no match. The Abyss out-performed both in all areas of bass, mid sweetness and top-end air. Tonal character was just right and the headphones were coherent from top to bottom.

There is a quick review of them here: Abyss Headphones

Specs are:
FR" 5Hz - 28k
Impedance: 46 ohms (non-reactive)
Sensitivity: 85dB
Distortion <1% over the entire frequency and <0.2% through the mid-range
Recommended power range: 1-4 watts @ ~46 ohms

With a list price of $5495, it will be a hard pill to swallow. But like the article says, what manufacturer's top of the line product can you buy for $5500? If you want "What's Best", this is it!!

 

[Bruce B]

Review at InnerFidelity

 

[Bruce B]

I'll be travelling to RMAF again this year and will be in room 8000. We will have Abyss headphones connected to different sources and DACS.

I'll be bringing my Lampizator DSD DAC playing files from Audirvana and going into the Cavalli Liquid Gold Headphone amp, which in my opinion, is the best sounding combination available today!

 

[starstern]

I'll be travelling to RMAF again this year and will be in room 8000. We will have Abyss headphones connected to different sources and DACS.

I'll be bringing my Lampizator DSD DAC playing files from Audirvana and going into the Cavalli Liquid Gold Headphone amp, which in my opinion, is the best sounding combination available today!

any updates since then ?

 

[Bruce B]

any updates since then ?

I'm still using these phones every day in my studio for restoration/archival. I'm about to try some Nordost headphone cables for the headphones.

As for the Cavalli Liquid Gold, I still think it's the best headphone amp for these phones out there, with the Woo Audio mono blocs either as good or a close second!

 

[starstern]

I'm still using these phones every day in my studio for restoration/archival. I'm about to try some Nordost headphone cables for the headphones.

As for the Cavalli Liquid Gold, I still think it's the best headphone amp for these phones out there, with the Woo Audio mono blocs either as good or a close second!

n terms of pure musicality/ euphonia, the LCD3 + Alo Studio Six I tried bested them for the genres I listen to, and I'm not even a fan of the Audeze sound in general. The Fostex TH-900 (yes, a closed can ... gasp) + GS-X MK2, to my mind, remains the most entertaining combo out of all the high-end rigs I've tried, easily besting the Abyss + LAu and LCD3 + Alo Six in terms of "high from music" moments and presentation.No other combo makes me want to bounce and bob around as much. I don't really care if the Fostex's get slagged off by "true audiophiles" for being too hi-fi sounding or whatever. Obviously there's some bias here if you look at the equipment listed in my profile, but it's equipment I bought after comparing them with everything available in the market, so it's somewhat justified, in my mind.
http://www.changstar.com/index.php?topic=1061.108

 

[KeithR]

To be honest, these headphones don't physically look like a $5500 product at all. I'm glad they sound good at least, Bruce.

 

[Bruce B]

To be honest, these headphones don't physically look like a $5500 product at all. I'm glad they sound good at least, Bruce.

I agree..... looks like a gothic torture device to me!

 

[isquirrel]

Bruce, I have the Abyss headphones, I liked the stock cables but recently had Peter form Double Helix make up a set of his Spore 4 Fusion's in full balanced config and they are substantially more transparent and musical. I have a close friend who also has the Abyss and also heard the difference and has ordered some. We both use the Woo 234 mono's so a bit different to the Cavali.

I love the headphones but hated the looks though, haven't found another that gets anything like close to their performance. I have the LCD-X, 3F's and the HE-1000 are arriving next week.

 

[starstern]

Bruce, I have the Abyss headphones, I liked the stock cables but recently had Peter form Double Helix make up a set of his Spore 4 Fusion's in full balanced config and they are substantially more transparent and musical. I have a close friend who also has the Abyss and also heard the difference and has ordered some. We both use the Woo 234 mono's so a bit different to the Cavali.

I love the headphones but hated the looks though, haven't found another that gets anything like close to their performance. I have the LCD-X, 3F's and the HE-1000 are arriving next week.

Spore 4 Fusion's "?? what is that a custom designed cable ?