Two HIFIMAN headphones were unveiled at Stars Picker’s showroom in SEA Park, Petaling Jaya, yesterday.
They were the HIFIMAN Susvara Unveiled and the Mini Shangri-La.
The star of the launch was undoubtedly the Susvara Unveiled which replaces the much-praised Susvara planar magnetic headphones.
The Susvara Unveiled is a truly open-back design without any grilles to cause reflections of sound waves. To protect the driver there is a metal disc which attaches to the back of the headphones magnetically.
HIFIMAN has also made the Susvara Unveiled much easier to drive. But that is not the only difference between the Susvara and the Susvara Unveiled. In terms of sound quality the new Susvara sounds completely different than the original version. The Susvara Unveiled has a brighter tonal balance and a lighter texture while the Susvara sounds darker, denser and warmer. The new Susvara wins in terms of air and detail but the old Susvara wins in terms of engagement with the music. The price is also very different — the Susvara is priced at RM23k while the Susvara Unveiled costs RM37k.
The demo system at Stars Picker was very high end with total cost in excess of RM100k. The streamer was the Matrix Element S connected to the Chord Hugo M Scaler and then to the Chord DAVE DAC connected to the Cayin HA-300 Mk II headphone amp.
Meanwhile, the HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La electrostatic headphones are the most affordable in the Shangri-La range and they come with a matching headphone amplifier.
Contact Stars Picker to fix an appointment to test the new HIFIMAN headphones.
