Customer Reviews

In this page I have compiled unsolicited feedback from various customers that I’ve received through emails that you can scroll through. These are all amazing customers that took the chance to buy my meticulously crafted home-made headphones. I don’t know any of these people personally (although I’ve been doing this for some time now and so some I do now call friends).

Over the years there have been very in depth, reviews and evaluations on head-fi, super best audio friends, headphones.com, an A star rating at crinacle, and many others on the HiveX. The Bee was introduced in August 2022 but has since been discontinued. My most recent addition is the Ambrosia which has been enjoyed and reviewed by many.

There are also some Pollinator reviews below included for posterity, but this was discontinued and succeeded by the Hive then the HiveX.

HiveX

Nectar Hive & HiveX (scroll left/right)

More Nectar Hive (scroll left/right)

Ambrosia

Man… the Ambrosia is special… REALLY special
I did want to listen to the headphones some more before sending out my full thoughts on it, but there’s already some aspects of the headphone that I’m certain on.

The Ambrosia to my ears possibly has the best midrange I’ve ever heard in a headphone. It’s really spectacular how well the midrange also integrates with the super tight and responsive bass that the headphones can reproduce. Obviously, it’s not going to be as intense or powerful as the Bee, but, with the included fenestrated pads, the amount of bass goes hand in hand almost perfectly with the rest of the sound signature of the headphone.

The high end along with all micro details in any song are extremely well reproduced and are hard to miss.

But what really stands out to me is the way vocals sound on these headphones. The way to described it on your Instagram page when you compared them to the Sennie HD800s is spot on. There’s a certain intimacy and presence in vocals that I haven’t really heard from another pair of headphones before, albeit some headphones get really close. Some sound too distant, like they’re at the other end of the room, and others can be claustrophobic. I feel as though the Ambrosia gets it perfectly right in between where vocals sound like they’re near you, instead of being too far away or being in your head.
Also, on the topic of vocals, the vocal separation on the Ambrosia is also excellent. It makes it really easy to focus on the main singer, background singers and everything else in between as well as vocal harmonies between multiple singers.

Here’s a really interesting effect that I’ve heard the Ambrosia be able to reproduce really well: Beat frequencies. Where the Bee and other headphones for example might have it melt together into one continuous sound (especially with bass tones), the Ambrosia has the ability to reproduce the beat frequency produced from 2 very similar frequencies. It’s really quite amazing how the Ambrosia can very clearly and distinctly render the individual modulations in amplitude from lower frequencies! While it’s not exclusive to the Ambrosia, it’s definitely one of the best valued headphones to be able to produce this effect so well!

I think the Ambrosia might undoubtebly be my favourite sounding headphone I’ve ever owned, and once again, that’s incredibly special!
My friend, you absolutely nailed it with these headphones! I’m going to have some friends over to try them out and see what they think, and then compile their thoughts and feedback (as well as my own) into an email for you sometime soon!

Pollinator Impressions (scroll through)

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.

The Bee

Please also check out the reviews from the loaner program on SBAF here.

“Already I can tell these are going to be a favorite of mines, the main thing I wanted the bees for was for bass, and it delivers in a way that exceeded my expectations. It is impactful, full, has detail, and doesn’t bloat much into the mids like I’ve heard with some dynamic drivers. The speed is definitely not comparable to other planar magnetics, but then again that is definitely not what I got them for! I also like just how great the soundstage and imaging is, it’s comparable to my aryas but I’d say even more detailed in where exactly an instrument sounds like where it’s coming from, it’s extremely impressive! My favorite song to test out was “There better be a mirrorball” by Arctic Monkeys, the bass sounds so smooth and everything sounds just right. The Bees are very easy to just listen to and I can definitely appreciate a set of headphones that can do that. I still have to do some more listening to form more opinions on things like the mids, the highs, the weight, but overall I can say that it sounded off and much darker at first, then started sounding right after about an hour of listening.

The diaphragm making noises when the headphones are being shifted around is a bit annoying and does cause a bit of channel imbalance but it is also easy to pop back into place and get the sound right. I’m extremely happy with my purchase, I can’t wait until I can listen to them again today!”