It was in 2008 when, after the good test of the Ultrasone Edition 9 in Stereoplay, I received a pair from my trusted dealer together with the headphone amplifier C.E.C. HD53 to test at home. Although I already had a rather warm and sonorous playing CD player with the Trigon Recall I at that time, the sonic result was as described in the relevant forums by the bitter critics of the Edition 9: Aggressive highs, recessed mids, overthickened and to some extent imprecise bass and generally a bathtub tuning. This combo was actually not such that the sound was locked in. Although the HD53 and the E9 had hardly been played in, but it was already apparent that this will not be the sonorous sound, for which I was looking. Therefore, it was relatively quickly decided, E9 and HD53 go back to the dealer and I continue to enjoy my Grado GS1000 and my fully restored vintage receiver Marantz 2265 B (mid-1970s). But then it got to me and I decided just before packing up the loaner equipment to connect the E9 to the KH output of the 2265 B for a short time after all:
What I heard then influenced my further KH life: The sound of the E9 was like changed: No longer a hint of aggressiveness, no more harsh highs, full and present mids and a sonorous driving bass. Where had the E9's gruff bathtub tuning gone? It simply wasn't there anymore, because the dominant mids of the vintage receiver simply compensated for the supposed midrange deficit, and the sonorous sound of the vintage unit took any sharpness out of the soundstage. I listened to one track after another and realized that the E9 was a wonderful match for the Vintage receiver. The beautiful spatial imaging of the combo did the rest. As a result, the HD53 went back and the E9 was played in by me first, which was rewarded with an even silkier high frequency and more accurate bass. Boy, was I glad I hadn't sent the E9 back! I have yet to find its tremendous bass power in any other KH, regardless of drive principle. Its warm tuning also makes it possible to listen to rather poorly recorded bright recordings, and if you ever want to let an AC/DC CD really rumble, you don't even miss a speaker with the E9.
Over the next few years, I enjoyed listening to the E9 with the following other vintage gear: Marantz 2385 (great spaciousness and rich sound), Marantz 2270 and Marantz 2325. Then came the switch to vintage units from McIntosh, which sounded even richer and more tonal: MAC 1700, MAC 1500 (was the best!), MX122 with MC2505. The E9 blossomed sonically with these devices and the Grado GS1000 hardly got any playing time at that time, although objectively it also sounded excellent (guitars and voices can hardly be represented so realistically by any other KH and then the extremely wide stage, even by today's standards), but just didn't have that full tone and bass punch.
But the E9 also blossomed into top form with devices of the present: Old-school tube amps like my Unison Research Simply Italy (I got one of the first German copies) sounded even a corner better than the vintage trannies. However, the Simply Italy had a massive hum problem that was very annoying, especially with headphone sound. But Max Krieger of Audio Kreativ, where I had bought the Simply, knew what to do: He recommended a banal product of the English-Korean company B-Tech, a so-called "Speaker-Control-Box", which was connected to the LS-connectors of the Simply and then in turn could pass the signal on to 2 LS-pairs as well as to a solid KH-connector and came up with an impedance protection circuit, so that critical impedance minima could not be undercut. Although a resistor was of course located in this magic box, so that hum and noise floor were reduced to a minimum and KH were protected from overload, the dynamic output and three-dimensionality was better than with any high-quality KH output of my vintage equipment (with low impedance KH; especially the old McIntosh equipment had excellent KH outputs of the same quality as the LS outputs). At some point I got a revised Simply Italy back from the German distributor with basic noise and hum levels in the normal range, but still kept the B-Tech box, because the dynamic loss was very low compared to the direct not quite harmless connection to the LS terminals and the basic noise level was still significantly lower. Because of this positive experience with the B-Tech BT 911, I connected all my amplifiers from now on my KH and LS via the B-Tech box, because it simply sounded much better than any regular KH connection to an amplifier. What was surprising was what a significant sonic impact the short, only 50 cm long connection cable between amp and B-Tech box made. With this wiring, I still listen exclusively KH with all my amplifiers.
Over time, the E9 got so much listening time that the filling in the pleasant leather ear pads gave way and as a result the KH became uncomfortable, so that I could no longer wear it without uncomfortable pressure on the ear. Unthinkingly, I then rushed to sell the handset (instead of simply ordering new ear pads from the manufacturer), even though I sorely missed its sound in the years since with my newly acquired Grado GS1000i. Then I got a tip to try the Ultrasone Signature Pro, which as the successor to the E9 should still sound quite similar. And lo and behold, the Pro was even a touch more high-resolution and spatial (S-Logic Plus) and even a bit darker tuned. The bass still had that typical punch, too, though with slight reductions to the E9, but still comparatively dominant. The Pro saved me through time until I got by chance the opportunity to get a very well preserved copy of the old E9, which is only very very rarely offered on the second-hand market.
Now for a few months, the successor of the extremely successful Signature Pro (very good tests, so far best Ultrasone in the sound-price ratio) is on the market, which of course I had to order. Would the new Ultrasone Signature Master be able to surpass its two predecessors?
I say unequivocally: Yes! The Master works with the once again improved S-Logic 3 surround sound system (I know that S-Logic doesn't work for some users, but fortunately it does for me!) and the distance to S-Logic and S-Logic Plus is enormous: The midrange now emerges completely free and spatial from the sound image and also the treble resolves once again much higher and more spatial. One can confidently speak of a whole higher sound class compared to the predecessor models. At first impression, the Ultrasone fan will probably miss the very dominant bass of the Pro and E9. But once the master has been burned in for at least 2 weeks, the bass power increases significantly. It is no longer as present as with E9 and Pro, but if there is a punchy bass on the recording, then this is also reproduced by the Master, which in my opinion is fully sufficient and the typical outstanding dynamics of the predecessors are retained. The master is thus even more neutral than its two predecessors, which is why it is also touted as a studio tool for mastering. Nevertheless, the tendency to warm and typical Ultrasone tuning with the beautiful timbres remains. And also just like its two predecessors, the Master shines on vintage electronics and amplifiers with an old-school sound as seen in the picture:
From the left above to right down under:
Shindo Montrachet (circa 2000) single ended, Ultrasone E9 (2008), Pro (2011) and Master (2021) (background Grado RS2 (1997), (GS1000i (2009) and GS1000 (2006), Esoteric X 01 D2 (2007), Lavardin Isx Ref (2021), Luxman D-380 (2020), Harman Kardon 630 twin powered (1972), McIntosh MCD 500 (2012), McIntosh C22 (1967 restored) and besides the Ismet step-down transformers, the McIntosh MC225 (1964 restored).
The experiences described here are of course, as always, subjective!
What I heard then influenced my further KH life: The sound of the E9 was like changed: No longer a hint of aggressiveness, no more harsh highs, full and present mids and a sonorous driving bass. Where had the E9's gruff bathtub tuning gone? It simply wasn't there anymore, because the dominant mids of the vintage receiver simply compensated for the supposed midrange deficit, and the sonorous sound of the vintage unit took any sharpness out of the soundstage. I listened to one track after another and realized that the E9 was a wonderful match for the Vintage receiver. The beautiful spatial imaging of the combo did the rest. As a result, the HD53 went back and the E9 was played in by me first, which was rewarded with an even silkier high frequency and more accurate bass. Boy, was I glad I hadn't sent the E9 back! I have yet to find its tremendous bass power in any other KH, regardless of drive principle. Its warm tuning also makes it possible to listen to rather poorly recorded bright recordings, and if you ever want to let an AC/DC CD really rumble, you don't even miss a speaker with the E9.
Over the next few years, I enjoyed listening to the E9 with the following other vintage gear: Marantz 2385 (great spaciousness and rich sound), Marantz 2270 and Marantz 2325. Then came the switch to vintage units from McIntosh, which sounded even richer and more tonal: MAC 1700, MAC 1500 (was the best!), MX122 with MC2505. The E9 blossomed sonically with these devices and the Grado GS1000 hardly got any playing time at that time, although objectively it also sounded excellent (guitars and voices can hardly be represented so realistically by any other KH and then the extremely wide stage, even by today's standards), but just didn't have that full tone and bass punch.
But the E9 also blossomed into top form with devices of the present: Old-school tube amps like my Unison Research Simply Italy (I got one of the first German copies) sounded even a corner better than the vintage trannies. However, the Simply Italy had a massive hum problem that was very annoying, especially with headphone sound. But Max Krieger of Audio Kreativ, where I had bought the Simply, knew what to do: He recommended a banal product of the English-Korean company B-Tech, a so-called "Speaker-Control-Box", which was connected to the LS-connectors of the Simply and then in turn could pass the signal on to 2 LS-pairs as well as to a solid KH-connector and came up with an impedance protection circuit, so that critical impedance minima could not be undercut. Although a resistor was of course located in this magic box, so that hum and noise floor were reduced to a minimum and KH were protected from overload, the dynamic output and three-dimensionality was better than with any high-quality KH output of my vintage equipment (with low impedance KH; especially the old McIntosh equipment had excellent KH outputs of the same quality as the LS outputs). At some point I got a revised Simply Italy back from the German distributor with basic noise and hum levels in the normal range, but still kept the B-Tech box, because the dynamic loss was very low compared to the direct not quite harmless connection to the LS terminals and the basic noise level was still significantly lower. Because of this positive experience with the B-Tech BT 911, I connected all my amplifiers from now on my KH and LS via the B-Tech box, because it simply sounded much better than any regular KH connection to an amplifier. What was surprising was what a significant sonic impact the short, only 50 cm long connection cable between amp and B-Tech box made. With this wiring, I still listen exclusively KH with all my amplifiers.
Over time, the E9 got so much listening time that the filling in the pleasant leather ear pads gave way and as a result the KH became uncomfortable, so that I could no longer wear it without uncomfortable pressure on the ear. Unthinkingly, I then rushed to sell the handset (instead of simply ordering new ear pads from the manufacturer), even though I sorely missed its sound in the years since with my newly acquired Grado GS1000i. Then I got a tip to try the Ultrasone Signature Pro, which as the successor to the E9 should still sound quite similar. And lo and behold, the Pro was even a touch more high-resolution and spatial (S-Logic Plus) and even a bit darker tuned. The bass still had that typical punch, too, though with slight reductions to the E9, but still comparatively dominant. The Pro saved me through time until I got by chance the opportunity to get a very well preserved copy of the old E9, which is only very very rarely offered on the second-hand market.
Now for a few months, the successor of the extremely successful Signature Pro (very good tests, so far best Ultrasone in the sound-price ratio) is on the market, which of course I had to order. Would the new Ultrasone Signature Master be able to surpass its two predecessors?
I say unequivocally: Yes! The Master works with the once again improved S-Logic 3 surround sound system (I know that S-Logic doesn't work for some users, but fortunately it does for me!) and the distance to S-Logic and S-Logic Plus is enormous: The midrange now emerges completely free and spatial from the sound image and also the treble resolves once again much higher and more spatial. One can confidently speak of a whole higher sound class compared to the predecessor models. At first impression, the Ultrasone fan will probably miss the very dominant bass of the Pro and E9. But once the master has been burned in for at least 2 weeks, the bass power increases significantly. It is no longer as present as with E9 and Pro, but if there is a punchy bass on the recording, then this is also reproduced by the Master, which in my opinion is fully sufficient and the typical outstanding dynamics of the predecessors are retained. The master is thus even more neutral than its two predecessors, which is why it is also touted as a studio tool for mastering. Nevertheless, the tendency to warm and typical Ultrasone tuning with the beautiful timbres remains. And also just like its two predecessors, the Master shines on vintage electronics and amplifiers with an old-school sound as seen in the picture:
From the left above to right down under:
Shindo Montrachet (circa 2000) single ended, Ultrasone E9 (2008), Pro (2011) and Master (2021) (background Grado RS2 (1997), (GS1000i (2009) and GS1000 (2006), Esoteric X 01 D2 (2007), Lavardin Isx Ref (2021), Luxman D-380 (2020), Harman Kardon 630 twin powered (1972), McIntosh MCD 500 (2012), McIntosh C22 (1967 restored) and besides the Ismet step-down transformers, the McIntosh MC225 (1964 restored).
The experiences described here are of course, as always, subjective!
