Raal Immanis top of the line headphones

Sounds like ignorance is bliss, even for the pros.

The guys making the RAAL gear are also musicians, actually well-regarded ones and what I have observed from them is that they know a thing or two about sound.

I have owned a Grado and gave it away because it sounded terrible. It cost $75 back in the day so maybe it was not their best. I owned a Sennheiser before and could not listen to it (fatigue).

Listen to my $1350 RAAL CA-1a headphone, the ’worst’ one they sell. Then compare it to your Grado. Someone in NY is selling a SR1a earphone for $1650 (USAM), that is better than my CA-1a. I have owned the SR1a but sold it after hearing the Immanis.

One thing to understand about me is that I DO NOT think a higher price means a better audio result. Definitely not with my DAC, speakers, XLR’s, and to a lesser extent my speaker cables. However, when it comes to the Immanis it is so much better than the other RAALs.

The Immanis is actually starting to annoy other TOTL phone owners because new owners are starting to ditch their TOTL phones or say that the Immanis is the best out there.

You can read all of this here.

Raal Ribbon Headphones - SRH1A | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

RAAL 1995 headphones, Magna and Immanis | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

I am giving you a hard time on this for calling people looking for the best crazy. What is crazy is the lack of informed comments. If you want to hear for yourself what I am talking about, give Danny at RAAL a call and ask him to send you the demo Immanis to your house. If you are in Denver, there is a huge fan-initiated audio get together in Nov or Dec with likely ALL the very best phone gear. This is the second one, the first was in Spring 2024 and people bought their best gear and had a listen. This was initiated by fans who wanted to hear the Immanis and Magna because of all the gushing reviews by early adopters (including musicians).

BTW - On my ROON stats it shows I have listened to music for 194 hours and 44 minutes in the last 4 weeks. That does not include the 3 hours daily from M-F (9AM - 12PM) listening to KCRW radio and occasional late-night KCRW listening. My audio system is an integral part of me making money. I could not do any of that with some lesser quality gear.

I agree we are all a little nuts in a way. We could all just buy a bluetooth speaker and stream spotify and still connect with the music on some level. Good music is good music. Even if you listen out of a tin can with a string connected, you can still be moved by a musical performance.

That said, I think anyone hanging around this website is looking for something better than that. How much better is a matter of taste and we all draw the line somewhere. Your line might be in a different place than mine, but I guarantee most people out there would think we are both crazy for spending more than $40 on an amazon bluetooth speaker or $20 on some earbuds. 

@yyzsantabarbara is obviously a big fan of Raal but the point being made is a very good one - some people don't have the best room for a speaker setup, so headphones become a very compelling option. I have enjoyed some Grado headphones in my day such as the old PS500 and RS1. Others I didn't like so much but none have been as enjoyable to me as my Raal headphones. And that's perfectly ok.

Today I have the RAAL Immanis and the Magna in the house for an audition. I will be selling my RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp that is phenomenal with the Magna | Immanis | CA-1a | SR1a to raise cash for the Magna or Immanis. I will also be selling the CA-1a.

I plan to go with the lesser sonically Schitt Aegir amp with the TI-1b since I would prefer to have the best phone over the best amp.