@Kunlun, one of my reference albums is Stravinsky's
The Firebird (Eiji Oue, Minnesota Orchestra; Reference Recordings), and in that recording there's a lot of energy way down low and way up high (and everywhere in between). (How Keith Johnson from Reference Recordings captures what he does is something I hope to witness some day.)
The presence of low bass--even the physicality (to the rather limited extent that one can reasonably expect from an in-ear)--is very present with the KSE1500. On the other end, there is excellent extension, to my ears, and a lot of natural shimmer. It doesn't quite have the level of sparkle up top that the SR009 gives me, but it's top-tier.
I've confirmed this with
a lot of different music now.
In fact, at the Tokyo headphone festival, one of the audio engineers (not for Shure) who gave it an extended listen called it simply "incredible." Another audio company executive I let listen to it at lunch said it was one of the best headphones of any type he'd ever heard.
I will say this: The KSE1500 is, bar none, the best in-ear headphone I've
ever heard. It sounds like a high-end electrostatic system to me, and there aren't too many headphones I'd take it out of my ears for. In fact, I'd agree with my lunch mate and say the KSE1500 is one of the best sounding headphones out there right now, period, in my very emphatic opinion.
My main gripe right now is that they sound so fantastic with the foam tips (Shure "olive" type); but, as a guy who's used to custom IEMs, foam tips are a bit of a chore to use. I tried my Westone UM55 custom tips on the KSE1500, and the sibilance region was spotlit. The UM55 tips work great on my Westone univerals, but just didn't pair well with the KSE1500.
@fzman said his Sensaphonics soft-gel silicone custom sleeves for the SE846 worked well with the KSE1500 (which I've since re-confirmed with him via PM), so I'll be getting a pair of those to try soon, and will report back with my opinions of them.
