Campfire Audio - Andromeda Emerald Sea (2023)

7th Acoustics Supernova, AFUL Cantor, Monarch Mk2/3, Moondrop S8, Used Campfire Andromeda are some of my favs under $1000

64 Audio 12T and Campfire Andromeda is another. I'd say that even old school stuff like the Aurisonics ASG 2.5 might still be perfectly good today and Shure SE846 still has its fans.

For someone who is into any hobby, that extra level of performance is not linear in terms of price. So $2k iem or headphones are not 2 times better than $1k iem/HP. This is true for any hobby. Is a Ferrari Daytona SP3 really worth $2.25 million vs a $200k Porsche? (ie 10x better?) Not in terms of just performance from a linear perspective, but if you have the money than maybe. Also made in the US, or Italy (for the Ferrari) etc...that is a factor. I am not a Campfire fanboy, but I do have a few pairs that I bought used. I think they are great, especially at a pre-owned price. I also do own some chifi gear and that is also great sounding. I have not heard these, but they are getting high praise, as they should for that price! I think they might be comparable to the HD-800s, which are also not cheap. But it depends, putting that much performance into a tiny little iem is not as easy vs full-size HP. I know some people comment on other Campfire products not being great. I do agree that they should pair back their sub-performers and stick with the iems that are great, the Andromeda, Solaris etc... and I suppose this pair as well. This approach would be the Ferrari approach, each vehicle is fantastic. Porsche, is there really a lot of love for the Panamera? Fugly.... I don't think people are saying Porsche is a trash company because the Panamera is ugly. Granted, it's more attractive than the old Pontiac Aztek, but that is a low bar ha! All I'm saying, who cares what others think. If you have the money and like what you hear, just buy it and enjoy :)