LOL..  So what would an HE-560 be?

Stax 007/009 are...

I love duck train!

What evidence or personal anecdotes of this do you have of this?

I have listened to and/or measured no less than four HE-560s and a dozen T1s. The HE-560s have all been consistent. The only thing cheap-ass about the HE-560 is the veneer, and from what I hear, that was because idiots on HF were bitching about the use of wood on the protos.

The T1s sounded all over the place. The construction of the T1 is no better than the DT880, other than a few external cosmetic touches. The insides of the T1 have no damping. The T1's treble is pure shit. Even if you EQ, the metallic timbre comes through. T1 bass also has issues with cavernous resonance issues.

Please explain better on what merits the T1 should be on the Leaderboard, other that that it suits your budget and 40db low SPL listening needs personally. Good soundstage + shitty peaky and rough treble + overall mediocrity + $1000 price + inconsistent sound / driver matching <> Leaderboard.

I have stated separately in my earlier posts:
1. The T1 images better than the HE-560 in terms of instrument positioning and proportion which I value higher (and obviously most of the people here don't)
2. I listen at more like 85dB SPL, not 40dB SPL
3. I bought my T1 bland new for about USD750 including shipping. Which is about the same price I can get a HE-560. If I buy used I can get a lightly used HE-560 at below USD500 as most Chinese people don't like how the HE-560 sounds. Most of us like the HE5/HE500/HE6 better.

Besides the wood veneer issues, the HE-560 has uneven thickness pads, stains (not sure if it is glue or just scratches) on diaphragms reported issues in China/Hong Kong. Then there are other minor issues which does not affect sound quality like easily snapped headbands.

I am not sure if Hifiman ships all the grade A HE-560 overseas. There are also sellers on taobao in China selling T1 at low prices and people are saying those are refurbished T1.

I am new to here and I honestly didn't know the T1 is so hated here.

It's not that we want to hate it, we really have no choice. But if you search the threads here you'll know why.

1-The hype train claims they are HD800 killers and god's gift to audiophiles yet come no where close to the scaling and maximal performance of an HD800, 009, etc.
2-12 pairs we've gone through all measure differently. Their own QC video shows one lone chick measuring only one side of a driver for half a millisecond before boxing them up to ship out. I'm not even sure she really bothers to look, just sticks it on the mic and if it shows some sort of horizontal type signal that's fine.
3-None of them have cup damping because apparently Beyer marketing believes the 'Tesla' magnet makes the phone immune to resonances, yet all cheaper DT880's that are almost $1000 cheaper have proper damping and better driver matching. Go figure.
4-Many T1 fans tend to believe using metal materials in herring bone patterns makes things sound better automatically. Of course it does....
5-Many people here on many rigs have had issues with the treble mountain. Peaks and mountains tend to sound more offensive. Many of us AB gear at live acoustic performance sound levels at minimum (avg 75-80dB; not peak) so those peaks turn to daggers and only get progressively worse as you crank it.

Hope that helps explain. At $399, you would be able to make a solid argument. At $1300, no flippin' way that phone ever gets on when it's outclassed by the DT880 in a number of relevant ways.