The Watercooler-- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first

The Symphonium Helios are a flat-out outstanding set of monitors, worthy of being someone’s end game, no two ways about it. I have 10-12 flagship IEMs but I always use the Helios in rotation.

Reasons:

1. I absolutely love having a thinner (but not thin) sounding IEM which reminds me of my favorite Hifiman headphones in midrange. Sometimes a lush midrange can become a bit boring (although I love my Perpetua and my XE6). Differing flavors of midrange.

2. I appreciate its bass. It’s probably my favorite BA bass. It doesn’t sound like BA or like DD but its textured, has natural decay, and enough slam, tactility and extension to please a bass aficionado such as myself.

3. Its got ridiculously good treble. It walks such an insanely fine line between being relentlessly articulate and not sounding sharp.

4. Its so cohesive! All the 4 BAs fire together to create a perfectly cohesive whole.

It reminds of the Subtonic Storm which is far more technical and is a superior IEM. But I may prefer the Helios for its cohesiveness and I find the Storm on the wrong side of dryness with many sources and cables. Your mileage may of course (and should) vary.

P.S: I have tried the Storm on multiple sources (changes quite a lot on different sources and requires power). My favorite source for the Helios is the WM1ZM2.

Sources: Sony DMP-Z1 | Sony WM1ZM2 | Brise Tsuranagi Transducers: Campfire Trifecta + Effect Audio Centurion | Dita Perpetua + Dita Celeste | Aroma Fei Wan (Incoming) + PW Audio Orpheus YT Channel: Amplify Audio Show