Right out of the box these are exceptional headphones. These are right on, you nailed it – I feel you have something very special here. If anyone asks, these are remarkable.

 1st I played the (2) Genesis CD trax (1st one & last one), then again on SACD (“Dance on a Volcano” and “Los Endos”). Then on to Steve Winwood – Fill Me Up. Next up was Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, followed by ELP’s Tarkus. Then a slower piece from Mahavishnu Orchestra was played for violin tonality. Finally the all-thunderous Triumvirat – Spartacus album was played. You must hear this album start to finish thru these new Nectar, it is captivating !

I let all gear warm up for 2 hours before listening. Right after the 1st two Genesis trax played beautifully I also took Nectar off head and played the full Winwood album twice softly, in case any charge was needed. Nectar are fully charged right away within seconds like any great stat. Only reason is I do this (rarely needed) with all new stat hp’s…it’s only ever needed with really old stat hp’s that were stored for years (unplayed therefore) to “wake them up” with a charge. I only needed it 1 time with my stored Sigma Pros & it’s rare any cans need that…some guys do this continual soft play for 24 hours to even 1 week straight playing to correct channel imbalances on older sets. “Electrets”, which are electrostatics, do respond to this very well.

Here’s my listening results of the new tuning…

Awesome detail, clarity from highs, down thru mids and bass right to deep, tight sub bass. Very clean, distortion is gone.

Solid & precise vocal delivery thru midband. Acoustic guitar pure & spectacular like only an estat can deliver. Violin & piano timbre spot on. Choral pieces exhibit not just unison but individuality can be distinguished.

Bass digs deep, has texture & layering is heard. Very low frequency synths & deep electric bass in fast, complex compositions plays well without congestion. Very coherent with complicated music.

Highs are crystal clear, lifelike & airy. Whispering high notes from softly struck cymbals down to snare drum ghost notes easily heard and distinctive.

Speed & transients are excellent. Dynamics punch well, headphone tonality remains constant during soft passages up to louder movements. The front attack and subsequent decay of notes is just right, not overtuned and not sluggish, but lifelike to music.

Very wide soundstage & authentic. Imaging is very good. Maintains coherence as volume increases; capable of reaching volume to satisfy all.

Nice character, presentation, signature. Very accurate. Maintains a laid back slight warmth, yet is well balanced with brilliant, sparkling highs. Entire bandwidth balanced from lows thru mids to highs. Low end does not interfere with midbass, but has smooth, seamless transition.

Comfort with or without eyeglasses is great; appearance, construction, cabling, connectors & plug are all well done and all black finish color is super.

Ranks right within the Stax line up, vintage to present.

Well done, lovely, articulate electrostatic headphone.

It is now hard to find any fault with this new retuning, they are wonderful now & a perfect tuning.

It would take me much time to run a comparison to other estats, so I can’t free up that time for a really long while with a full schedule ongoing.

If asked, what could be better ? At their price, no improvements are needed, they are spectacular. With expensive, high resource R & D all that could be done, which is really difficult for all but the most costly headphones is…finer bass layering, low end even order harmonic distortion (not THD) could be reeled in a tad bit and soundstage height & depth increased – which is very hard to do in headphones.

Sajeev, your skills are commendable and this tuning is an accomplishment to be forever proud of.

These Nectar will remain with me until my time ends.

I received your red phones two days ago in perfect condition. I have had a chance to listen to them and compare them briefly with Stax SR-009’s and the new Hifiman Jade 2. I will later compare them with my Stax SR-L700’s, but I want to give you an early report.

I listen mostly to jazz and classical music from analog (LP)sources and to hi-res digital files from my Sony HAP-Z1ES. My analog system is very high quality and outperforms digital files in most cases,especially in terms of soundstage and transient dynamics. I am using a Woo GES amp (pure triode tube) for the phones driven directly by the phono preamp or Sony digital player. Here are my preliminary thoughts regarding your headphones:

Physical Design and Construction — You have done a very nice job packaging and finishing these phones. My only complaint is the cups are too small to fit around my ears, so I feel like my ears are being pinched. On the other hand, I think your phones are the first to have a headband that adjusts in height to my ears at a mid range position. All of my other headphones from Audeze, ZMF, Beyerdynamic, Stax and Hifiman must be collapsed all the way for the cups to fit over my ears, which, apparently are too close to the top of my head.

Bass — You have done a superb job capturing clean, deep bass with these phones. It is very similar to the SR-009’s, and only suffers slightly in bass definition. Your bass is cleaner than that from the Jade2’s, especially at high levels. I wouldn’t mess with this aspect of your phones.

Midrange — Again, very clean and fast, which is typical of electrostats. I sometimes hear a coloration in piano notes that masks some of the harmonic complexity and disrupts the note decay. It’s almost a toy piano sound, but not that obvious. I do not hear this in complex orchestral music, but only sometimes in certain notes from a solo piano or from the piano in simple jazz trios. The SR-009’s and Jade 2’s sound cleaner in these instances, but for 99% of the music I listen to, the coloration is not present. (This may be the result of a small, narrow resonance in the electrostatic film or the stators or case). On the other hand, the great strength of your phones is their ability to play complex orchestral music loudly without collapsing the soundstage or losing resolution of the many instruments. Your phones do not get honky or confused, and in this regard, they eclipse both the SR-009’s (which get peaky in the highs) and the Jade 2’s (which get edgy and grainy). Bravo!

Highs — These are very clean, but lack some”air.” By comparison, I think the upper, upper midrange in theSR-009’s is too hot and can be unpleasant when the sound is turned up. This manifests itself even with a lush tube headphone amp! The Jade 2’s,on the other hand, have about the right level of clean, airy high frequencies.

Soundstage — I love the soundstage presented by your headphones! It is moderately wide and presents a continuous sound right to left. There is some depth, and instruments are well placed. The soundstage is also delightfully horizontal, and does not extend way above my head, as some phones do, which I find distracting. The Jade 2’s, produce a narrow soundstage that is almost vertical, but with some depth. TheST-009’s produce a very wide, deep soundstage, but the instruments are isolated from one another, separated by sonic black spaces. Instrument height is also unnatural. Instruments are sometimes placed on the right or left at jaw level, while others are centered above my forehead.

Sensitivity — Your phones are relatively insensitive, based on the volume control position on the GES. I would say they are about 6 dB less sensitive than the SR-009’s, and about 2 dB less sensitive than the Jade2’s. I had enough gain to drive your phones to loud levels, and I never detected clipping of the amp. Both gain and power from the GES appear to be adequate for your headphones.

Overall, you have produced a very professional product that gives me musical pleasure. Your tuning is very balanced, which lets me listen for hours without fatigue or boredom. I just wish you would make the cup diameter a little bigger.