Yggy > Eddie Current Red Top

Phenomenal with orthos, but not a good pairing with the HD800 in my opinion. Super controlled but with a tube liquidity, this is my favorite solid state amp. Really good pairing with the Abyss/Code-X/Slants/Audeze cans. I would not use this as my primary amp due to loving the HD800s, but a ridiculous deal.

Liquid Crimson

My favorite Cavalli amp so far. Very, very sexy and a great sound.




Ether

Super big surprise for me! Mr. Speakers' best headphone. I wish it came out before/instead of the Alpha Prime. I thought it was really pleasant out of the Yggy > Ragnarok.



Hugo TT

Having owned the QB76, the QuteHD,  the Peach, the gem, the toucan and a bunch of other Chord gear I was sad that this thing was so mediocre. Seriously, super harsh, unnatural sound and not super duper resolving at all. I honestly thought the base geek out v2 > Leckerton stack was significantly better.




Bill's LCD-2
Getting better! The tuning keeps improving.


I regret not listening to the liquid carbon. It's super little, though and I'm certain I'll be enjoying my preorder when it arrives.

• Good overall tonal balance. Treble is slightly splashy. Hard to describe. I'm betting not much aberration on an actual measured FR up top; but yes, the treble was slightly splashy. Not tizzy, not strident, not hard or glaring, not etched; but splashy. From the EC Studio, the tubes helped mitigate the splashy treble somewhat. No headphone is perfect, and the HE-1000 is no exception. But what I do is nitpick. I know most people will have not have an issue with the HE-1000's tonal response. But I did want to warn treble sensitive folks here like Hans that this could be a potential issue. In the end, I personally wouldn't be too concerned. If one was so inclined, they could fix it. I know folks like Hans, Bill-p, and Jerg here could fix it. The comforting thing is that there were no issues with all crucial midrange and upper midrange. To put things in context, the HE-1000 is already ahead of the of the HD800, HE-560, etc. in terms of tonal balance and frequency response. Also, if you like laid-back / rolled-off Audeze sound, keep away from HE-1000. HE-1000 is tuned to be neutralish. Even if the production unit sounds the same way, I am confident that I can fix it and make it sound like my modded Jades, of which I loved the FR.
• The bass is a touch less hefty, but also a bit faster than the Abyss. Like the Abyss, bass seems emphasized from a subjective point of view, but I'm betting it's one of those things where if you put the HE-1000 on the measurement rig, it's going to look flat. The bass emphasis is a bit higher in frequency compared than the Abyss, creeping up into the lower mid-bass area. This is not a bad thing.
• I prefer the FR (slight tilt downward) of the modded Abyss more. But this is probably not fair because I am comparing HE-1000 to a headphone that I tweaked for my preferences.
• Speed is better than Abyss across the board. Might be the best overall transient response among all orthos that I have heard to date. HE-6 might be able to match the speed only in the treble, and even then at the cost of  the HE-6's treble etch which I find distracting. STAX fans need not worry. It's no SR-009, but I feel the HE-1000 brings so much more to the table than the SR-009. I'm actually glad that it doesn't sound like the 009. The 009's transient response sounds artificial and fake to me.
• Soundstage seemed deeper this time around compared to CanJam where is sounded overly wide. I don't know if this is a function of amps, DACs, and recordings used. The Yggy/Theta DACs and EC amps are known for great soundstage depth.
• Super comfortable. Pads felt luxurious. I think quite an attractive product.

LOL, I love that you're starting to use me as the example for treble sensitive types. But also do appreciate the honest heads up.   It does sound like a headphone I'd really like to try, but given what you said and some of my past experiences with HFM, not worth me risking the high cost.