RAAL 1995 Magna | Open-Back Dual-Ribbon Headphones

To follow up on my Magna review:

I was so excited to talk about the sound quality that I completely forgot to mention the top-notch build quality. The materials and design are impeccable. No matter how good it looks in pictures, it looks (and feels) even better in person!

First, let me say that I have been incredibly pleased with all of my experiences with Bloom Audio. They are highly knowledgeable, thoughtful, very responsive, and honest. As audio enthusiasts themselves, they give very good advice and are very honest: if, based on your goals and listening preferences, a more expensive/"summit-fi" product is best for you, they'll tell you that; and if you'd be equally well served by something less expensive, they'll tell you that too. I've worked mostly with Matt at Bloom, and he has been extremely helpful. But really, everyone I've encountered at Bloom has been excellent.

Now, as to the Raal Magna:

I have run out of superlatives to describe how good they are, but I'll try...

I am running them with the Cayin Soul HA170 headphone amp (also purchased from Bloom). The sound quality is astonishingly good. Unbelievably good. Like, otherworldly. I am not an audio reviewer nor do I have the technical chops to discuss the imaging, resolution, soundstage, etc., in any kind of scientific manner. But I do have a deep appreciation of music and also have experience with much high-end audio gear. As a frame of reference, my own 2-channel system is a VPI HW-40 Anniversary Edition turntable; a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica III floorstanding speakers; a Fosgate Signature phono amp; and a McIntosh MA2275 intergrated amp. I've also listened to many other high-end systems, some of them many multiples of the price of my own; and I also have Focal Utopia headphones, which are extremely impressive in their own right. I'm not going to claim that the Magna has the physicality of the bass from my large Sonus floostanders with a subwoofer -- that's not possible, because of the physics involved (there's not as much soundwave-filled air being pushed at your overall body, among other things). I will say, however, that even as compared to this equipment and other equipment that I've heard, the Magna has absolutely blown me away. The bass does indeed go quite deep; the midtones are exquisite; the highs shimmer but are controlled; the decay of, say, piano notes, drum cymbals, and guitar notes is extraordinary; and each instrument is distinct but part of a coherent whole.

The soundstage is also very good; but I guess I would describe it as "intimate." It's not at all congested or closed in, but the Magna presents like a headphone. Granted, the best headphone I've ever heard; but still like a headphone. (I'm told that the Raal Immanis, by contrast presents more like a pair of speakers, in terms of soundstage breadth and depth; but I haven't yet heard the Immanis myself). I've often heard such headphones described as sounding like you're "in the recording studio" with the musicians, and I guess that's how I'd describe my Focal Utopias. (Which again, really are very good). With the Magna, though, the vocals are more like "Norah Jones or Sarah Maclachlan are sitting in your lap singing to you (a very pleasant image, I admit :)) but their vocals are still perfectly balanced in relation to the instruments and overall soundstage."

Even if you don't buy one, you really just have to hear the Magna. It's that good.