Tour: Vision Ears PHöNIX and EXT Flagships

Barra’s Quick Initial Impressions

The best part of managing tours is getting to hear all the great gear for myself. Here are some brief impressions from what I have heard so far between the tasks required to set up this tour:

• PHöNIX (3.500,- EUR): The Phonix has some big shoes to fill following the ERL as its replacement. While I don’t have the ERL in my hands currently, from memory, I can tell you that the Phoenix is very much like the ERL on switch 2 which was most people’s favorite. Now that the ERL is retired, the Phonix is likely to take the ERL’s place as one of our five GOD-Tier CIEMs. We are just waiting for confirmation from our members to ensure this is not just a honeymoon period. However, it is really that good.
• EXT (2.650,- EUR): To be clear, the VE EXT is not just an upgraded Elysium, it is at a whole new level with a different overall signature. It is now supporting two dynamic drivers which should be of interest to anyone that enjoys full-sized audiophile bass. The best-in-call mids that the Elysium offers are still there, but it is not the focus of the EXT. My full review can be found here: https://audiotiers.com/reviews-vision-ears-ext-taking-the-elysium-to-the-next-level/ 

Vision Ears has outdone themselves again hitting both the EXT and the Phonix out of the park. I cannot wait to hear our member’s thoughts as these go out to tour.

Rules and Responsibilities

Most of our tours are offering 7-day auditions which you are required to ship out to the next participant on day 8. Yes, you pay the shipping to the next participant, but we organize into logistically friendly orders to minimize the shipping expense.

The tour membership rules and responsibilities are described here. The key idea is that we must be communicative to participate and to keep the tour moving and interesting. It is our responsibility to follow these rules and to ensure the ability to ship out on day 8 when our turn is over.

UPDATE 5/26/22:

• New Member Address Verification: THERE IS NO NEED TO VERIFY ADDRESSES ON ESTABLISHED “US TOURS” or “US TOURS REVIEWER” MEMBERS – ONLY NEW “MEMBERS”. If the participant’s status shows “Member” and is indicated on the participant list, then please wait to ship until I verify the shipping address by responding to the provided address that we are verified and good to go.

Signing up for the Tour

To sign up for the tour, you must be a verified tour member and have joined our new AUDIOTIERs platform. The membership qualifications and requirements are described here if you are not already a member. Whether a HEADFI tour member that needs to transfer their membership to the new platform or you are a new member looking to apply for tour membership, please follow the instructions in the GETTING STARTED box below. We are now accepting applications from both US and Canadian citizens.