I currently own the HE1000se, the Ananda Nano, the Edition XS and now this latest HEK Stealth. I’ve owned the Susvara, the Arya Stealth, and briefly, the HEKV2 in the past as well. I’m also an owner of the Meze Elite, the Sony Z1R, and the 2020 Focal Utopia, and hands down I place all of my HIFIMAN headphones above the others, particularly for the rock and other modern genres I prefer.They are simply unsurpassed for comfort, tuning, bass slam, soundstage, and imaging, and I want to put to rest prior concerns about QC or build quality; all of the HFM cans I’ve owned have been impeccably designed, built and assembled, and my two year old HEKse looks as seamless and brand new as it did when I bought it. I’m well-aware of the QC issues with past models, but I think this issue has been addressed, at least for the models at this price point.For the past two years I’ve considered my HEKse my endgame headphone. Once I had tried their Stealth magnet, nanothin diaphragm, window shade grilles and especially their oval pad innovation—which enveloped my ears without touching them, felt light as a feather, and produced such a prodigious soundstage and bass presence (in addition to being so easy to drive)—I sold my Susvaras (which being pre-Harman had a completely anemic low end bass roll off, and with a sensitivity of 83 were impossible to drive)—and never looked back. I started my audiophile journey with the Utopias, duped by all the corporate-funded website reviews and marketing hype, and before trying the HEKSE I didn’t really know what soundstage, imaging, or bass slam really were—and I’ve rarely picked up my Utopias since.I also auditioned the original HEK V2 at the time, and had a hard time choosing between those and the HEKse—the V2 had the most pleasing tuning imaginable, compared to the SE, which could occasionally be a bit bright and fatiguing on certain tracks. But the SE was so peerless in its detail and accuracy that I couldn’t pass it by—although I remember thinking at the time how perfect it would be to have a headphone with the SE’s level of detail combined with the V2’s impeccable tuning.Then along came these new HEK Stealths. They’re so close to the HEKSE in their performance that my ears can’t discern the difference—however, not only are they near-perfectly tuned, they actually outdo the V2 AND the “flagship” HEKse with a 5-6db rise in the bass shelf, offering HFM’s most Harman-compliant offering yet. The bass response for a flagship of this quality is unsurpassed by any other than perhaps the Dan Clark Stealth/Expanse—which this HE1000 Stealth equals at a third of the cost and a near ten point increase in sensitivity. It’s no coincidence that HFM is going this route in their tuning choices, given that their previous flagships were released pre-Harman—and I suspect that their future iterations will likely continue more of the same.I truly cannot think of a way that these HEK Stealths could be improved upon. And with this recent price drop to $1,399, one would have to be insane to pass these up. I’m not much of a believer in break-in, but as I continue to acclimate to their sound signature, mine keep sounding better and better to my ears the more I listen to them—this time without the fatigue factor of the SE’s. My listening sessions with these could go on forever.The SE has also dropped in price recently to $1,999, compared to the $3,500 I paid for mine—but if I had it to do over again, I’d opt for these HEK Stealths in a heartbeat. These recent price drops lead me to believe that a new flagship line may be on the horizon, but for the first time I’m not plagued with FOMO—I’m so thrilled with what I have that I’m ready to stop my quest for the sublime and enjoy the options that I have for quite some time.I give these HEK Stealths my highest recommendation, and I should add that when I emailed Hifiman about a trade up from my Arya Stealths, they fully agreed—I only had to pay shipping costs and a fraction of the difference in cost between the two (at the time, the Arya Stealths were $1,299 and the HEK Stealths $1,999; for the exchange for a headphone that cost $700 more, they asked for 500 bucks. That’s $200 less than their retail price difference—how often do you get a deal paying full price in this industry? I received my HEK Stealths three days after they received my Aryas.This is a measure of how fair and supportive of their consumers Hifiman is, and I’m a fan for life. Let that be a forewarning to others like me who fell for the $4,000+ price points of other brands, along with their corporate funded reviews—take it from me that my HEK Stealths blow my Utopias and Meze Elites away in almost every category, at a literal fraction of the cost. Please don’t repeat my mistakes—if you don’t believe me, take advantage of Amazon’s no-risk return policy and try these for yourself. I bet you won’t return them.