![DSC_0485[1].JPG](https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/12210005.jpg)
draytonklammer
Headphoneus Supremus
Martin is a class act when it comes to post-sales support.
Warwick Acoustics APERIO and BRAVURA
- Thread starter GoldenSound
- Start date
Yes Warwick and Martin are really customer oriented. I have had reason to communicate with Martin and he always responds in the most timely and helpful way. Just one reason I have owned more than one Aperio!!!
Warwick acoustics are one of the best when it comes to customers warranty. Martin is a nice guy from a great company.
jlbrach
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2005
- Posts
- 7,598
- Likes
- 8,096
with such a pricey item customer service is vital
headphonefranz
New Head-Fier
headphonefranz
New Head-Fier
Martin is a thoroughly fun guy - knowledgeable, articulate, highly supportive and extolls everything good about great music listening.
I continue to be highly motivated to sing the praises of Warwick - and their Bravura / Sonoma system.
Getting the Warwick Sonoma/Bravura system was my biggest audio equipment acquisition effort to date - superseding my getting the Violectric V550.
The seed was sown by my audiophile friend Paskel - who described the system with more than a passing interest - this was a month before I joined him at the Munich High-End audio show last year. Then a short session in the Warwick Audio Room hammered home how good the set-up sounded.
The people behind the product were also very cool and my interest was well and truly triggered. Then a month or so later - an evening with Paskel and his audiophile / audio stuff reviewer - who had a Bravura on loan - sealed my desire to go a bit mad. A bit of selling stuff and saving - and some luck - and I had a Sonoma-Bravura system.
6 months later and the love for this headphone experience has not waned - quite the opposite.
Do I miss cable changing? Earpad rolling? DAC changing and HPA changing? No no no - I absolutely love what the Bravura Sonoma does with everything I listen to.
We‘re talking electrostatic of course - with Warwick Acousic‘s own particular approach.
I enjoy reading about the tech involved - but less so trying to regurgitate what I end up more or less understanding.
Over the months I‘ve been accumulating a series of pieces that form my BRAVURA MASTER playlist - this evening I‘ve focussed on the first six:
Mogwai‘s ‚drive the nail‘ / Esbjörn Svensson Trio‘s ‚from gagarin‘s point of view‘ / Hikaru Utada‘s ‚somewhere hear marseilles‘ / Kings of Leon‘s ‚closer‘ / The Kills‘ ‚future starts slow‘ / & Paul Simon‘s ‚one man‘s ceiling is another man‘s floor‘
They‘re all quite different - in terms of genre, instrumentation / emphasis and focus of instrument and vocals - each one, for me, represents excellence, subtlety, originality, emotion and skill. Which in essence expressed how I feel about the Warwick Accoustic Bravura Sonoma system.
My headphone experience with the Bravura is always and without fail - immersive and easy-going in equal measure. The headphones, DAC and energizer / HPA magically shift and adapt to each piece - as if there is some kind of chameleon acoustic voodoo in play.
It could, in one sense - become dangerously homogenized - a boring, bland and ‚let‘s play it safe‘ audio tuning solution.
But that never happens - the sparkle of a treble, the substance of an upper end presentation that avoids premature roll-off, the velvet quality that a mature refined handling of the higher frequencies can deliver - all of this is part of the Bravura headphone experience.
The mids join this parade of richness and reach. Hikaru Hutada‘s vocal range is beautifully shown off on the Bravura and her ‚somewhere near marseille‘ - effortlessly soaring from the soft deep mids to the upper range - enveloped at times in a gooey warm synth series of waves and pads - moving down from the mids to the lower end. With definition, shape and bass grit.
The reverb, attack and decay is compelling - perfectly on display with ‚closer‘ - a Kings of Leon early classic. The thwack of the drums, the hypnotic guitar riffs, and a plethora of - is a synth? No - a guitar like a synth - who cares - on these Bravura every nuance of sonic magic find full form and shape. The resolution, the clarity (but clarity that retains a musical organic quality) - these are core strengths in this experience.
The sound stage stretches and contracts at will. If it needs to be big it is and if intimacy is required then intimate it is. Magic.
The whole thing is just shy of 7k euro. My luck was getting hold of this beauty from a figure a little shy of 4k euro - less than a good few headphones (minus their bank account stomping chains).
Oh wow - Paul Simon and this Bravura are a match made in sonic paradise The timbre realism - the pianoness of the piano on this piece and separation of voice, horns, percussion, guitar string viscerally vibrating. Damn this is good.
All my sonic itches have been scratched with this Warwick excellence.
And after twice bathing in the gorgeous sonic goodness of the 6 pieces I mentioned I am now deep-diving in The Cinematic Orchestra‘s ‚dawn‘ - well past midnight - here in Munich Germany.
So a big heartfelt thank you to Warwick Acoustics for their magnificent Bravura Sonoma system.
I continue to be highly motivated to sing the praises of Warwick - and their Bravura / Sonoma system.
Getting the Warwick Sonoma/Bravura system was my biggest audio equipment acquisition effort to date - superseding my getting the Violectric V550.
The seed was sown by my audiophile friend Paskel - who described the system with more than a passing interest - this was a month before I joined him at the Munich High-End audio show last year. Then a short session in the Warwick Audio Room hammered home how good the set-up sounded.
The people behind the product were also very cool and my interest was well and truly triggered. Then a month or so later - an evening with Paskel and his audiophile / audio stuff reviewer - who had a Bravura on loan - sealed my desire to go a bit mad. A bit of selling stuff and saving - and some luck - and I had a Sonoma-Bravura system.
6 months later and the love for this headphone experience has not waned - quite the opposite.
Do I miss cable changing? Earpad rolling? DAC changing and HPA changing? No no no - I absolutely love what the Bravura Sonoma does with everything I listen to.
We‘re talking electrostatic of course - with Warwick Acousic‘s own particular approach.
I enjoy reading about the tech involved - but less so trying to regurgitate what I end up more or less understanding.
Over the months I‘ve been accumulating a series of pieces that form my BRAVURA MASTER playlist - this evening I‘ve focussed on the first six:
Mogwai‘s ‚drive the nail‘ / Esbjörn Svensson Trio‘s ‚from gagarin‘s point of view‘ / Hikaru Utada‘s ‚somewhere hear marseilles‘ / Kings of Leon‘s ‚closer‘ / The Kills‘ ‚future starts slow‘ / & Paul Simon‘s ‚one man‘s ceiling is another man‘s floor‘
They‘re all quite different - in terms of genre, instrumentation / emphasis and focus of instrument and vocals - each one, for me, represents excellence, subtlety, originality, emotion and skill. Which in essence expressed how I feel about the Warwick Accoustic Bravura Sonoma system.
My headphone experience with the Bravura is always and without fail - immersive and easy-going in equal measure. The headphones, DAC and energizer / HPA magically shift and adapt to each piece - as if there is some kind of chameleon acoustic voodoo in play.
It could, in one sense - become dangerously homogenized - a boring, bland and ‚let‘s play it safe‘ audio tuning solution.
But that never happens - the sparkle of a treble, the substance of an upper end presentation that avoids premature roll-off, the velvet quality that a mature refined handling of the higher frequencies can deliver - all of this is part of the Bravura headphone experience.
The mids join this parade of richness and reach. Hikaru Hutada‘s vocal range is beautifully shown off on the Bravura and her ‚somewhere near marseille‘ - effortlessly soaring from the soft deep mids to the upper range - enveloped at times in a gooey warm synth series of waves and pads - moving down from the mids to the lower end. With definition, shape and bass grit.
The reverb, attack and decay is compelling - perfectly on display with ‚closer‘ - a Kings of Leon early classic. The thwack of the drums, the hypnotic guitar riffs, and a plethora of - is a synth? No - a guitar like a synth - who cares - on these Bravura every nuance of sonic magic find full form and shape. The resolution, the clarity (but clarity that retains a musical organic quality) - these are core strengths in this experience.
The sound stage stretches and contracts at will. If it needs to be big it is and if intimacy is required then intimate it is. Magic.
The whole thing is just shy of 7k euro. My luck was getting hold of this beauty from a figure a little shy of 4k euro - less than a good few headphones (minus their bank account stomping chains).
Oh wow - Paul Simon and this Bravura are a match made in sonic paradise The timbre realism - the pianoness of the piano on this piece and separation of voice, horns, percussion, guitar string viscerally vibrating. Damn this is good.
All my sonic itches have been scratched with this Warwick excellence.
And after twice bathing in the gorgeous sonic goodness of the 6 pieces I mentioned I am now deep-diving in The Cinematic Orchestra‘s ‚dawn‘ - well past midnight - here in Munich Germany.
So a big heartfelt thank you to Warwick Acoustics for their magnificent Bravura Sonoma system.
Great review. With Lampizator as a DAC I would be surprised if Aperio WASN'T better than HE-1. Question is, what happens if you feed Lampizator into HE-1's amp?
chesebert
18 Years An Extra-Hardcore Head-Fi'er
- Joined
- May 17, 2004
- Posts
- 8,946
- Likes
- 4,110
HE-1 is like Sus and Aperio is like Utopia 2022 in terms of sound profile (roughly speaking). I like Aperio better personally but YMMV.Great review. With Lampizator as a DAC I would be surprised if Aperio WASN'T better than HE-1. Question is, what happens if you feed Lampizator into HE-1's amp?
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draytonklammer
Headphoneus Supremus
A great review.
For my tuning preferences and head shape, the Aperio has been my endgame.
I've owned a vast majority of the TOTL and Halo products on the market today and can't find a better all-rounder.
I'll be curious to see if my future Immanis challenges it or ends up being a complementary pairing.
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headphonefranz
New Head-Fier
A day later – Munich HIGH-END show was a highly informative and very often – throughout – sonically thrilling. Yet the greatest ingredient of the whole day wasn’t the headphone amps, the DACs or the headphones – it was the people.
My friend Paskel is the reason I went last year (for the first time) – and remained the overriding reason for going this year. Paskel is not only an exemplary audiophile – he’s a beautiful guy who speaks, not in terms of a hobby, but rather always in terms of the ‘community’ – the crazy people who keep on buying audio equipment – headphones and IEMs, HPAs and DACS and cables, DAPs and, for me, I always get the distinct impression that the narrative is the journey is the destination. There is no endgame but there are an endless succession of gorgeous sonic blissful moments. Highs in this HIGH-END audio merry-go-round. And the 2024 Munich High-End event held plenty for me. Even if it was only a single day from 10.00 to 18.00. Non-stop.
First stop was the seclusion of the Warwick Accoustic team – 2 Sonoma 1 Bravura systems and 2 Sonoma / Aperio systems. Last year I heard, for the first time the Bravura – and that proved to be ‘deadly’- 6 months later I had a Bravura/Sonoma system. A big financial stretch – and worth every cent.
I knew this time I would bet back, later in the day, for a good solid session on the Aperio. It’s a system that will never be in my price reach BUT we don’t have to own a thing of great beauty to appreciate its beauty – or even aspire to owning.
The Warwick Acoustics’ team are outstanding – in truth it is in great part their qualities as people that inspired me to stretch my resources to bring the Bravura into my music listening multiverse. And the fact is they have the coolest space set up at the High-End event.
But the Aperio would coe later. Paskel arrived and we headed off into the jungle / oasis of audio goodies – Paskel had already spent Thursday and Friday immersed in the offerings – so I left my odyssey in his capable hands – with a few detours on my side.
I borrowed Paskel’s Meze 109 last year – and after 3 months concluded they weren’t for me – for a number of reasons. There were certain frequencies I found problematic. It’s always going to be different strokes for different folks – but I felt there were definite tuning issues that hampered the 109’s overall performance.
Paskel took me to the Meze stand and pointed to a pair of HPs that looked very similar to the 109. In this case the earcups were black though. They looked and felt very understated. On they went and the music began. 5 minutes later I had a pleasant smile on my face and the 5 minutes had been a delight. Nothing out of place sonically – an overall signature reminiscent of the 109 but much better – more rounded, a mature midrange – an upper end that extended – no roll-off as such but nothing too bright. Informed impressions aren’t possible at an event of this kind – especially with open-backed pieces.
Paskel introduced me to Alex – the Meze person who was responsible for the tuning of these new (soon to be launched) Meze – the 105. Meze had welcomed the successful reception of the 109 – but also followed the less favourable customer feedback. The 105 are the result. An impressive response and crowned by a price-tag that is gobsmackingly nice – they will retail around the 400 euro mark. That’s half the price of the 109. Good news – in all senses.
And then I tried the forthcoming IEMs from Meze – named ‘Alba’ – Rumanian for ‘first light’ – and damn if these aren’t excellent. We talked to Vlad – the brains and heart behind these – and he was most inspiring. A musician himself and a perfectionist – he’s achieved excellent results with the Alba – which will come with a gorgeous dongle too. Price tag here won’t exceed 190 euro. Easily worth it.
Then over we went to ERZETICH – earlier I had noticed a striking guy with bare feet and wearing a kilt. It turned out this is Blaž – founder / owner of ERZETICH. I had been curious and fascinated by the unique form of his headphones last year (hexagonal) – and he explained the choice – he wanted to create a shape that would instantly been associated with his creations. Again – the encounter was everything I love about audio equipment – namely, the people. Their stories, their inspirations and ideas. He was great to talk to (former graphic designer, electronic engineer, and musician) – then I put on his planar-magnetic ‘Charybdis’ – driven by his ‘Scylla’ (a completely balanced dual-mono class A amp) – and sonic bliss and beauty ensued. He had a carefully chosen / curated set of music to listen to – top-quality recordings. As his business card says: “Boutique handcrafted Audiophile personal audio” – this is what greatness in listening to recorded music is all about.
Many more inspiring and most enjoyable encounters followed. The time spent with Fried Reim – founder and mind behind Lake People and Violectric – is always a great pleasure. And funny and fascinating in equal measure. Now I know the story behind the naming of ‘Violectric’ – a fund story – and indeed, naming of pieces is usually a story in itself. Fried has been in the business for nearly 40 years – at 68 years old he mentioned the possibility of slowing down a little – perhaps turning his 5 day week into a 4 day one when he hits 70. Still frothing and bubbling with ideas and good to hear Violectric is thriving. I absolutely love my Lake People stuff – and my V550 headphone amp.
Paskel then took me over to another genius headphone amp designer – Michael Zähl – to check out his limited-edition headphone amp (50 each year). His HM1 is a masterpiece of tradition AND innovation. Michael explained its genesis and also layers of other stuff – a most modest and lovely person – dedicated to excellence of music production and reproduction. He’s doing crazy good things with his headphone amp and next year promises the launch of a new one – with all the strengths of his HM1 but with a significantly lower price tag. Listening to the HM1 was a revelation – his innovative concept of simulating speakers’ sonic presentation, soundstage, treble. Bass, loudness – all well-trodden territory but he’s making new ground here. And again – the human / person aspect is here, again, paramount.
Before I went back to Warwick Accoustics – for my Aperio experience – we hit the Final stand. The one that was presenting their new flagship: Final Audio x8000. I totally loved this headphone experience. In every way possible. But especially the level of dynamics I experienced. They got me totally excited and the nuanced relationship between all key frequency fields was the most delicious and subtle 3 course meal I could have wished for – this was my sonic Haute Cuisine – although in truth – this was Japanese technology, design and art at its best.
The thing is – the thing is I am going to wrap up this text simply.
The Warwick Aperio is the most wonderful **** bollocks bum recorded music listening experience I could want. In no way did this (or does this) undermine my utter satisfaction and delight with my Bravura.
The simply thing is that the Aperio and its amp/DAC/Headphone + tuning achieved a presentation that represents the highest levels of recorded music presenation. The whole things disappears and become absolutely and utterly invisible. Only the music remains and my 20 minutes of listening to music was horrible. Because it was so perfect. ‘Back to Black has never sounded more painful, delicate and haunting – its vivid musicality is everywhere to be heard. The cliché ‘never heard THAT particular note before – yes, roll out that cliché in huge endless dollops. Alfred Bendel was live – every piece – deepest bass, highest high – fullest mids. The Aperio was ready for everything and remained invisible.
I can’t afford the asking price and won’t ever be in a position to do so – unless I sold all my current equipment. And then started to save up. But I’m not going to and don’t have to. Because it exists and I believe it’s wonderful it does exist.
Many more highlights helped fill up and give meaning to my 8 hours at the Munich HIGH-END.
I’m already looking forward to next year.
My friend Paskel is the reason I went last year (for the first time) – and remained the overriding reason for going this year. Paskel is not only an exemplary audiophile – he’s a beautiful guy who speaks, not in terms of a hobby, but rather always in terms of the ‘community’ – the crazy people who keep on buying audio equipment – headphones and IEMs, HPAs and DACS and cables, DAPs and, for me, I always get the distinct impression that the narrative is the journey is the destination. There is no endgame but there are an endless succession of gorgeous sonic blissful moments. Highs in this HIGH-END audio merry-go-round. And the 2024 Munich High-End event held plenty for me. Even if it was only a single day from 10.00 to 18.00. Non-stop.
First stop was the seclusion of the Warwick Accoustic team – 2 Sonoma 1 Bravura systems and 2 Sonoma / Aperio systems. Last year I heard, for the first time the Bravura – and that proved to be ‘deadly’- 6 months later I had a Bravura/Sonoma system. A big financial stretch – and worth every cent.
I knew this time I would bet back, later in the day, for a good solid session on the Aperio. It’s a system that will never be in my price reach BUT we don’t have to own a thing of great beauty to appreciate its beauty – or even aspire to owning.
The Warwick Acoustics’ team are outstanding – in truth it is in great part their qualities as people that inspired me to stretch my resources to bring the Bravura into my music listening multiverse. And the fact is they have the coolest space set up at the High-End event.
But the Aperio would coe later. Paskel arrived and we headed off into the jungle / oasis of audio goodies – Paskel had already spent Thursday and Friday immersed in the offerings – so I left my odyssey in his capable hands – with a few detours on my side.
I borrowed Paskel’s Meze 109 last year – and after 3 months concluded they weren’t for me – for a number of reasons. There were certain frequencies I found problematic. It’s always going to be different strokes for different folks – but I felt there were definite tuning issues that hampered the 109’s overall performance.
Paskel took me to the Meze stand and pointed to a pair of HPs that looked very similar to the 109. In this case the earcups were black though. They looked and felt very understated. On they went and the music began. 5 minutes later I had a pleasant smile on my face and the 5 minutes had been a delight. Nothing out of place sonically – an overall signature reminiscent of the 109 but much better – more rounded, a mature midrange – an upper end that extended – no roll-off as such but nothing too bright. Informed impressions aren’t possible at an event of this kind – especially with open-backed pieces.
Paskel introduced me to Alex – the Meze person who was responsible for the tuning of these new (soon to be launched) Meze – the 105. Meze had welcomed the successful reception of the 109 – but also followed the less favourable customer feedback. The 105 are the result. An impressive response and crowned by a price-tag that is gobsmackingly nice – they will retail around the 400 euro mark. That’s half the price of the 109. Good news – in all senses.
And then I tried the forthcoming IEMs from Meze – named ‘Alba’ – Rumanian for ‘first light’ – and damn if these aren’t excellent. We talked to Vlad – the brains and heart behind these – and he was most inspiring. A musician himself and a perfectionist – he’s achieved excellent results with the Alba – which will come with a gorgeous dongle too. Price tag here won’t exceed 190 euro. Easily worth it.
Then over we went to ERZETICH – earlier I had noticed a striking guy with bare feet and wearing a kilt. It turned out this is Blaž – founder / owner of ERZETICH. I had been curious and fascinated by the unique form of his headphones last year (hexagonal) – and he explained the choice – he wanted to create a shape that would instantly been associated with his creations. Again – the encounter was everything I love about audio equipment – namely, the people. Their stories, their inspirations and ideas. He was great to talk to (former graphic designer, electronic engineer, and musician) – then I put on his planar-magnetic ‘Charybdis’ – driven by his ‘Scylla’ (a completely balanced dual-mono class A amp) – and sonic bliss and beauty ensued. He had a carefully chosen / curated set of music to listen to – top-quality recordings. As his business card says: “Boutique handcrafted Audiophile personal audio” – this is what greatness in listening to recorded music is all about.
Many more inspiring and most enjoyable encounters followed. The time spent with Fried Reim – founder and mind behind Lake People and Violectric – is always a great pleasure. And funny and fascinating in equal measure. Now I know the story behind the naming of ‘Violectric’ – a fund story – and indeed, naming of pieces is usually a story in itself. Fried has been in the business for nearly 40 years – at 68 years old he mentioned the possibility of slowing down a little – perhaps turning his 5 day week into a 4 day one when he hits 70. Still frothing and bubbling with ideas and good to hear Violectric is thriving. I absolutely love my Lake People stuff – and my V550 headphone amp.
Paskel then took me over to another genius headphone amp designer – Michael Zähl – to check out his limited-edition headphone amp (50 each year). His HM1 is a masterpiece of tradition AND innovation. Michael explained its genesis and also layers of other stuff – a most modest and lovely person – dedicated to excellence of music production and reproduction. He’s doing crazy good things with his headphone amp and next year promises the launch of a new one – with all the strengths of his HM1 but with a significantly lower price tag. Listening to the HM1 was a revelation – his innovative concept of simulating speakers’ sonic presentation, soundstage, treble. Bass, loudness – all well-trodden territory but he’s making new ground here. And again – the human / person aspect is here, again, paramount.
Before I went back to Warwick Accoustics – for my Aperio experience – we hit the Final stand. The one that was presenting their new flagship: Final Audio x8000. I totally loved this headphone experience. In every way possible. But especially the level of dynamics I experienced. They got me totally excited and the nuanced relationship between all key frequency fields was the most delicious and subtle 3 course meal I could have wished for – this was my sonic Haute Cuisine – although in truth – this was Japanese technology, design and art at its best.
The thing is – the thing is I am going to wrap up this text simply.
The Warwick Aperio is the most wonderful **** bollocks bum recorded music listening experience I could want. In no way did this (or does this) undermine my utter satisfaction and delight with my Bravura.
The simply thing is that the Aperio and its amp/DAC/Headphone + tuning achieved a presentation that represents the highest levels of recorded music presenation. The whole things disappears and become absolutely and utterly invisible. Only the music remains and my 20 minutes of listening to music was horrible. Because it was so perfect. ‘Back to Black has never sounded more painful, delicate and haunting – its vivid musicality is everywhere to be heard. The cliché ‘never heard THAT particular note before – yes, roll out that cliché in huge endless dollops. Alfred Bendel was live – every piece – deepest bass, highest high – fullest mids. The Aperio was ready for everything and remained invisible.
I can’t afford the asking price and won’t ever be in a position to do so – unless I sold all my current equipment. And then started to save up. But I’m not going to and don’t have to. Because it exists and I believe it’s wonderful it does exist.
Many more highlights helped fill up and give meaning to my 8 hours at the Munich HIGH-END.
I’m already looking forward to next year.
Attachments
ICYMI Joshua Valour posted this review on the Warwick Bravura a few days ago.
It's a fair review. He's spot on for most except for one (15:46 mark): you can’t build a system around any headphone let alone the Empyrean II that can surpass the Bravura (unless you’re a basshead). I own the Empyrean II and it’s great for travel and well suited for pretty much all genres but it’s not as spectacular as the Bravura for the majority of songs that I enjoy no matter what DAC or amp I pair it with.
I also somewhat disagree with him and others when they say that you’re kinda stuck with the SQ of the Bravura as it’s proprietary. Yes, there’s no way around switching the amp, DAC or headphone cables but know that the Bravura's great in every other aspect, and that the sub-bass is actually scalable if you can make upgrades to your chain (source, power components, etc.). It took me an additional $7K CAD ($4.5K USD) to get there but not only did the sub-bass bloom from a 3/10 to an 8/10, which is unprecedented for an e-stat...but the mid-bass that I thought was perfect went from an A+ to the S+ tier. I kid you not, it's better than even the HE-1 in that aspect.
Also a common and legitimate complaint and one that I experienced early on is the gain feeling anemic when cranking the volume knob. That for me now is no longer an issue -- naked, I had to go at least 1 o'clock whereas now I'm content at 10 o'clock with most songs. Yes, you'll need to spend $$$ for that improvement but it exceeds what I got from a Susvara on a TOTL chain and you're probably saving at least $10K. I've yet to test the Aperio but it may come close to it. It’s why I've sold nearly every can & gear I owned as I can’t get to enjoy them as well.
I'm still in the midst of making more upgrades but I'll share with you guys later on what I've done so far to improve the Bravura. Soundstage, imaging, separation, timbre...what was great before is at an another level now.
It's a fair review. He's spot on for most except for one (15:46 mark): you can’t build a system around any headphone let alone the Empyrean II that can surpass the Bravura (unless you’re a basshead). I own the Empyrean II and it’s great for travel and well suited for pretty much all genres but it’s not as spectacular as the Bravura for the majority of songs that I enjoy no matter what DAC or amp I pair it with.
I also somewhat disagree with him and others when they say that you’re kinda stuck with the SQ of the Bravura as it’s proprietary. Yes, there’s no way around switching the amp, DAC or headphone cables but know that the Bravura's great in every other aspect, and that the sub-bass is actually scalable if you can make upgrades to your chain (source, power components, etc.). It took me an additional $7K CAD ($4.5K USD) to get there but not only did the sub-bass bloom from a 3/10 to an 8/10, which is unprecedented for an e-stat...but the mid-bass that I thought was perfect went from an A+ to the S+ tier. I kid you not, it's better than even the HE-1 in that aspect.
Also a common and legitimate complaint and one that I experienced early on is the gain feeling anemic when cranking the volume knob. That for me now is no longer an issue -- naked, I had to go at least 1 o'clock whereas now I'm content at 10 o'clock with most songs. Yes, you'll need to spend $$$ for that improvement but it exceeds what I got from a Susvara on a TOTL chain and you're probably saving at least $10K. I've yet to test the Aperio but it may come close to it. It’s why I've sold nearly every can & gear I owned as I can’t get to enjoy them as well.
I'm still in the midst of making more upgrades but I'll share with you guys later on what I've done so far to improve the Bravura. Soundstage, imaging, separation, timbre...what was great before is at an another level now.
hAbIrAbI
100+ Head-Fier
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I think he needs to listen to the Aperio and Immanis to round out his understanding of Summit-Fi headphones. Aperio is incredibly expensive and I haven't heard the Bravura but it sounds like the Aperio fixes the bass issues of the Bravura. Also the clipping issue that I've heard some people have.
That really seems like going out of your way to build around something that was designed as a system...
Another problem with Joshua is that he didn't really "get" the Susvara and is (i feel that way anyway) very biased towards Abyss (he says that the midrange of the 1266 is very good on something like an A90).
He is not the typical TOTL reviewer that dives really deep imo.
Another problem with Joshua is that he didn't really "get" the Susvara and is (i feel that way anyway) very biased towards Abyss (he says that the midrange of the 1266 is very good on something like an A90).
He is not the typical TOTL reviewer that dives really deep imo.
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Unless he's a basshead there's no solid reason for one to prefer the 1266 over the Bravura or the Susvara. You can't pull off a Chopin or Diana Krall on the 1266 on an A90 to the degree that you can with Daft Punk or Hans Zimmer on a Bravura, there's just no way with how the 1266 is tuned.
Critiquing its proprietary nature is definitely valid but critiquing the cost of entry while you have the 1266 out? C'mon! He should know that the 1266 headphone itself comes in nearly the same cost as the entire Bravura system. Just on value alone, the Bravura is substantially better than the 1266, and I've yet to find another headphone system that can deliver better SQ while coming under the $7K mark. Maybe there's one out there, and if so I'll be the first to sell my Bravura for that system.
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