Very interesting! Thx for posting. The future most likely holds electrostatics for me, and the more options the merrier.

Agreed, but the 2 I like and would take over my HD800 or LCD-2 setup are out of production and either astronomical in price (HE-90) or have mostly fallen apart by now (Jades). Here's hoping this one is good. I don't read too much into dealer impressions, but Drew saying bass is very good is promising.

Well if I do end up getting a set and nobody from the Bay Area has one I'd be glad to send it off to the test lab (aka Purrin). After a week or so of *cough* real testing... of course.

Wow! I'm always happy to see new budget electrostats. Hopefully these will actually sound and compete well.

Sounds good to have new stats on the boat, wonder how it will compare to second hand Staxen and the ESP950.

Getting really tired of spritzer on the emperor thread. Bashing these before anyone knows anything about them. Also finding it hard to believe people arent taking these seriously. IMO the looks are simple but elegant (like the old rounder Porsches), and is actually what has attracted me more than anything. Also this company has made electrostatic speakers for a long time. If this is successful, and it sure is priced to be, I'm sure there will be other models to follow.

We've seen speaker manufacturers and their first headphone attempts recently. Most are mediocre to good, but none have been great. The first hifiman was not great but not bad, the LCD1 was a bit better but still not great. This emperor will also probably not be perfect, but it is at least starting out with the best technology and a price point that directly competes with the entry level of the only other maker of stats. It sounds like they are taking a tactical approach to entering the headphone market so that makes me think this might be more than just a one time small run.