AR3000

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Tahoe 26), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Gustard U26 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp: Hattor Audio ARP-S; Active filter: spl Audio Crossover MkII; Power amplifiers: Vinshine/Kinki Dazzle & Audiophonics NCx500 on subwoofer; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan]; Subwoofer: sound|kaos D15; Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
1st upstairs speaker system: Source: Shanling EM7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio iCon 4SE & Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox3awf; Subwoofer: sound|kaos D12 on twin Nord Acoustic NC500 monos; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
1st upstairs headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 workstation Win11/64; USB isolator: LHY UIP; LAN distributors: LHY AS6 Pro & SW6-SFP; Ethernet reclocker: Stack SmoothLAN; DACs: Gustard R26II & U26; Preamp: Topping A900; Speaker amps: Topping B200 monos; Loudspeakers: Virtual Hifi Viper; Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000, FiiO FT7, HifiMan Susvara Unveiled
2nd upstairs headfi system: Shanling EM5; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, HifiMan HE1000 Unveiled
2nd upstairs speaker system: Source: smsl PL200T CD transport; DAC: Shanling EM5 w. 1TB microSD; Crossover: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box II; Amplifiers: LAIV Crescendo Chorus; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini with Dynaudio S18 subwoofer
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx; Subwoofer: 2 x Zu Method; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail in EU: €239

Numerology. In aune's full-size headphone catalogue, the €369 AR5000 MkII and €639 SR7000 represent the open- and close-backed centre. We simply didn't know this until the €1'499 AR9000 flagship raised the ceiling earlier this year; and the €239 AR3000 became the new entrance on October 27th. For its other numbers, make it 27Ω, 50mm, 300g, 115dB/Vrms and 5Hz-40kHz. As shown, its neodymium-powered well-vented driver with aluminium voice coil tilts aggressively inside its oval dish as the inside of the open-backed earcup. With its angled baffle, that fires more directly into our ear canal for better imagining. From its siblings, the AR3000 inherits styling and ergonomics for equally comfortable wear. Included are 1.5m cables terminated 3.5mm and 4.4mm plus a 3.5⇒6.3mm adaptor. My shipment from Wuhan also included an AR9000 sample; and this unexpected request: "As each of our headphones has its own positioning and design goals, we would prefer them not to be evaluated directly against each other. Of course comparisons with other brands are absolutely welcome." This hit my inbox once the shipment was in transit already. Had it arrived prior, I'd have rejected the request; or assignment. Prospective buyers will most certainly want to know how aune's very different price points communicate to the ears—especially when I had three at hand. Given timing, I simply thought it rude to accept the shipment then defy aune's request. In 24 years on the lunar beat, this was a first. Going forward, I'll know to clarify the point beforehand. It never occurred to me that a maker wouldn't want such comparisons. I'll leave you to speculate on why.

aune's response graphs here overlaid: AR3000 white, AR9000 green. Though I wasn't authorized to publish it, aune had also sent me a white paper for reviewers who take their own measurements. This paper included three curves each for four of aune's headphone models. These curves showed surprising deviations above 4kHz as a function of millimetre offsets between the dummy head and headphone; of insufficient seals and more. Often one curve's dip reversed to a peak in an alternate curve. In short, such measurements are extremely sensitive to setup procedure and may not at all mean what they seem to suggest.

My 6-page AR9000 review triggered a John Darko short-form re:mix. It kicked off like so: "Landscape or portrait? Meze; arguably the best industrial designs in this biz. HifiMan; a stacked portfolio whose top models price in increasingly disproportionate steps. Grado; still here but rarely in the news. In this headfi landscape, what's your portrait of aune? Until now, their ambitions didn't stick to hefty stickers. You know the tactic. Price high for instant respectability; at least in circles which can afford to react this way. Not so for aune's electronics either. All of them priced below €1K. The brand positioned themselves for Jill and Jack. No more. Now it's Sir Julian and Lady Jessica. aune's latest 11.5wpc/32Ω head/preamp banks €2'500; considerably more than even the headphone flagship. New landscape, new portrait? Yes to landscape, maybe for portrait."

"Though its grill differs to be far busier than the stablemates, the actual build of the AR9000 floods up from my SR7000—and yes, floods up not trickles; as in, gets wholly inherited. For wear comfort and weight, that signature mix of metal and plastic was always a brilliant thing. It truly wanted no reinvention. No break no fix. Only relative to more than twice the tariff could perception insist otherwise. I appreciate the theoretical math of more moolah equals heavier build. Still, I'd much rather wear the existing 430g, already 40g higher than the SR7000's 390g, than replace plastic ear cups with metal whilst adding 100 gramdamnations or more." The AR3000 undercuts both with a fabulously light 300g. It also drops the zippered hard case with handle and snazzier packaging. €1'499 ÷ €239 = 6.27. The AR3000 asks six times less than the flagship yet still nets us the same overall build including the now signature lateral vents around the ear-cup circumference. Those undercut chamber resonances, congestion and compression for optimal airflow control. Here the aune builds exceed most others.

My Darko feature concluded thus: "As to AR3000 sonics, until the release embargo lifts, nobody will believe that it could possibly deserve mention in the same breath as the AR9000. Exactly what portrait aune are working on I'm not quite sure. Whatever it might be, it's clearly working though because the headfi landscape can no longer afford to give them short shrift. They're making too much noise to be overlooked; or denigrated for not costing enough. Landscape or portrait? I'd say both. It just—cough—depends; on how you look at it!" How I look at it is simple. Despite what for the brand was quite the price jump, aune's AR9000 remained highly competitive given what I put it up against. That makes today's brand-new AR3000 a fantastic find; an über value; or any other superlative you care to throw at it. So play bull's eye darts champ.

The lite conundrum. It could be the same car; with a smaller engine and fewer creature comforts. It could be a food serving on a smaller plate; same chef, smaller appetite. It could be the three-day excursion not 3-month immersion; a first taste, not the full experience. Either way, the subtext is less delight. Even the phonetic spelling is a letter short; not quite the real thing. Versus its elder siblings, is the AR3000 an aune lite? On sticker shock it's obviously lowliest. Check. On weight too it's least of the bunch. It comes last. Check. But already here reality yanks our leash. My close inspection on where and how the grams shave off came up – er, conundrumical. Even though archaic, that's a real word. Could it be really down to just drive units and magnets? That didn't read right even to me who wrote it. Yet I couldn't say what else made up the difference. I suspect that identical-looking parts that were metal are now plastic. The AR3000's build is obviously lighter but none the lesser. If its sonics were to be a pale facsimile, our gambit would enjoy a neat conclusion: the aune lite—a tidy pay-off for a much reduced buy-in. But no, here our gambit throws a game of fit. We're back to my earlier line: as to AR3000 sonics, nobody will believe that it could possibly deserve mention in the same breath as the AR9000. Yet it does. Of course HifiMan have done it all along; issue models far apart on price yet surprisingly similar in concept, build and optics. Deeper pockets now look at magnet strengths, nano coatings, sensitivity ratings and outer bandwidth limits for the real difference makers. Then they plug their Unveiled treasures into price-matched ancillaries to translate those differences into sonic gains. Happy days? If idiot reviewers jack lesser loads into the same premium ancillaries as the top lot, not necessarily. Or, change perspective for emphatically blissful days when results space out far less than deep pockets would fancy. They'd simply never replicate the apparent mismatches to find out. Happy days; again. Since I am a proudly idiotic reviewer whose hardware collection has risen past the point where AR3000 target customers tend to shop, just what kind of top-heavy results might we net? For nuts lite I had a €1'089 Topping A900 of 14wpc/32Ω; for gonzo coconuts a $6.5K Enleum AMP-23R. For sanity of peanuts, a Shanling €369 M3-Ultra DAP represented mobile calisthenics, an Audalytic €349 HP70 stationary exercise. The last two guaranteed real-world results which anyone shopping this league could replicate. The gratuitous kit chased ultimate potential though bought precious little extra.