THE DAN CLARK STEALTH - REVIEW
THE DAN CLARK STEALTH
It was Dan Clark’s VOCE electrostatic headphone that sent my mind into the past, reeling with my experiences with the Quad ESL-57s and then the Martin Logan CLS electrostatic speakers. These are experiences neatly frozen in time, that granted me my first peek into the beauty of electrostatics, their transparency, resolution, near-light-speed transients, and sublime midrange recreation. They certainly had their limitations—deep bass response, treble acrophobia—the fear of great treble heights—and the VOCE mirrored them in this manner as well, but what was there was beyond glorious.
Since then the VOCEs are ever-present beside the electrostatic headphone amplifier that is up for enjoyment or contemplation or review. And while I have not listened to or reviewed the breadth of the Dan Clark line, I could not imagine another headphone that would ‘bring’ an equal measure of the midrange magic. And then one fine day, the Dan Clark STEALTH planar headphones happened along.
This review then is about the Dan Clark STEALTH, and how often that which is not expected, can so casually show up to prove us, well, quite and demonstrably wrong. Let me count the ways.
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start with how the components actually sound and not the process of physically “undressing” them and/or laying out their various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Transcendence, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
The Dan Clark STEALTH is a chameleon with regard to the various headphone technologies that it embraces. Unlike the Dan Clark VOCE which was a mid-centric focused headphone, and beautifully so, the STEALTH is quite a bit more.
When I first attached the STEALTH for listening, after an extended burn-in, I thought with great confidence that this was a dynamic driver, as the foundational weight, the bass and sub bass reach were truly impressive. And on those tracks that required speed, expanded treble reach/response, and broad frequency resolution, the STEALTH was, indeed, planar, its ‘home planet’. But then the STEALTH went one step further and intruded upon the world of the electrostatic headphones. There are but a handful of headphones that can pull this off—ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC, ZMF Atrium, MEZE Empyrean Elite.
Given its ‘Tri-World’ bonafides, its daunting resolution and transparency, its ability to search out and free throngs of detail, and its compelling musicality, I found the STEALTH headphone very difficult to remove. Yes its sibling, the electrostatic VOCE, sported a wonderful midrange, good treble, and relatively decent bass. The STEALTH, however, exceeds its electrostatic sibling on all counts. Amazing!
Yet, the fact that the STEALTH is a closed-back planar magnetic headphone is a true conundrum! Closed-back headphones are not supposed to bring the voluminous breadth and depth of soundstage, the openness, the incredible ease, that open-backed headphones provide, and yet this one does. Well, mark this as yet another feather in the STEALTH’s cap of capabilities, so to speak.
The Dan Clark STEALTH’s volumetric cube—its soundstage—is exceptionally wide and deep, with very good height. Its staging—positioning, layering, relative spacing, and image stability—is likewise exceptional. The STEALTH, as mentioned above, is also incredibly natural and immersive and very refined.
The Dan Clark STEALTH was paired with the Grimm Audio MU1 and Silent Angel Rhein Z1 streamers, the Mola Mola Tambaqui, the Bricasti M1SE, the DENAFRIPS Pontus II DACs, and the NEODIO ORIGINE S2 CD player as well as its internal DAC. The various headphone amplifiers were the Aurorasound HEADA and the HeadAmp GS-X MkII (review coming) and the HeadAmp GS-X Mini. Cables and Power cord tasks were filled by the AntiCable, Audience FrontRow, and RSX Technologies. The TORUS RM20 handled all power requirements.
THE SYSTEM(s)
SYSTEM 1
Grimm Audio MU1
Mola Mola Tambaqui
Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch
HeadAmp GS-X MkII HPA
Dan Clark STEALTH
Meze EMPYREAN & ELITE
ZMF Atrium
AntiCable, Audience, RSX Cables & Wires
TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner
SYSTEM 2
Silent Angel Z1 Music Streamer & Forester F2 Power Supply
Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch
Bricasti Design M1SE DAC
Aurorasound HEADA HPA
Dan Clark STEALTH
Meze EMPYREAN & ELITE
ZMF Atrium
AntiCable, Audience, RSX Cables & Wires
TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner
BASS
As Eiji Oue’s “V. Infernal Dance of King Kashchey” (Stravinsky, Reference Recording) plays, the detail even within the earliest moments is exceptional. The buried cough that precedes the very first mallet strike, not often heard, is pristine in its clarity. One thing that you will notice time and again is the outstanding clarity and resolution across the frequency spectrum with the STEALTHs in play. And when the seven tympani assembled for this movement come to mark their thunderous entrance, the subterranean, Holy-Bass-Head-Grail is easily pierced and one imagines things rattling. You will, however, need power, given the STEALTH’s marginal efficiency (86-89dB), to make this happen. The Aurorasound HEADA rose to the occasion though the ‘speedometer’ was pressing 2 o’clock. The HeadAmp GS-X MkII at six watts had little issue and drove the STEALTHs beautifully and well at around the 12:30 to 1 o’clock mark. Christian McBride’s and Regina Carter’s “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversations with Christian, Mack Avenue Records), with its near reckless abandon as it skirts between classical and jazz, is deftly captured by the Dan Clark STEALTHs without ever missing a beat. The STEALTHs are a chameleon, certainly so in this respect, as one can imagine both dynamic driver and planar magnetic spilling out the lowest of Hertz.
Midrange
There’s that chameleon-like thing again as the STEALTH handles with electrostatic ease, resolution, and transparency Voces8's “Prayer to a Guardian Angel” (Lux, Decca). This is a song, and an album, one of a number of Voces8 albums and choral albums in fact, that I save solely for electrostatic reproduction, as very few non-electrostatic headphones can match them. The STEALTH, however, performs beautifully in this genre of music and across this album, by bringing the ambiance, air, volume, and that incredible electrostatic transparency to the sound. Staging as well is exceptional. Patricia Barber’s “The Moon” (Verse, Koch Records) cues, and the calm, followed by the dissonance portrayed by the piano and assorted instruments, are given distinction and air and space by the STEALTH. Sibilance has been banished to an unattached dimension and that is saying something on a Patricia Barber track. Patricia’s voice is textured and real and her presence palpable. Yes, it is as if I’m listening to several headphone technologies at once, in a closed-back design (!), and the STEALTH has melded them all together harmoniously. Wow!
TREBLE+
Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” (Time Out) enters so beautifully: it is alive and resolved and air-infused, yet with a smooth and relaxed voice. Perhaps the STEALTH is now trying its hand at mimicking vinyl! The stage is wide, Joe Morello’s drum kit dimensional, the balance of the instruments at relative, layered depths. In truth, with rare exceptions, only the electrostatics can so clearly resolve Joe Morello’s cymbals and provide the requisite air that says “Real, nothing frying/sizzling here, man.” Jordi Savall’s “Les Pleurs, for 2 basse de viole” (Tous les matins du monde, Alia Vox) is sublime in the naturalness of tone/timbre and texture of the bowed Viola da Gamba strings. The STEALTH is again both planar magnetic and electrostatic as it teases out nuance and detail and micro detail. Here is a rare instance when what I wanted to review with the STEALTH is replaced by what I am listening to and can not take myself away from. The jaded reviewer crumbles to passions. Bravo!
The Wrappings and Accessories
The Dan Clark STEALTH headphones come in a thick, black, rectangular, cardboard box, minimally printed—the STEALTH logo on its top face, the Dan Clark logo on a side face, directly beneath the STEALTH logo.
Taking the box’s top off gives way to a beautifully sculptured, black interior, with a die-cut recess that holds securely the STEALTH’s small, black mesh, ‘chrysalis-like’ carrying case. It is from this rather small ‘chrysalis’ that the STEALTHs unfold into the beautifully designed, Nickel-Titanium, Carbon Fiber, Synthetic Suede/Leather, planar magnetic headphones. This in and of itself is a rather charming introduction.
Inside the box one finds:
1 - A small mesh carrying case
1 - The STEALTH planar dynamic headphones
1 - A headphone cable (selectable at purchase)
1 - A Certificate of Authenticity
1 - An Instructions/specifications manual
The STEALTH’s wrappings, as a result of a precise, artistic, and well executed graphic and industrial design regime, are handsomely executed and speak well to the luxury component ‘transforming’ therein. Bravo!
Design—Look, Feel, and Technology
The Dan Clark STEALTH headphone is beautifully executed! The tear-shaped ear cups, the half-gimbal connectors, the sumptuous ear-pads, the wide, protein-leather, flexible, headband arch, are all impeccably designed.
And the flexible, miniaturizing way in which the STEALTH finds itself encased in a small, black mesh case brings smiles of incredulity. Here is a full-sized headphone of substance and style that fits in a relatively small carrying case—chrysalis—and weighs less than 420 grams. It is one of the most comfortable headphones that I have ever worn.
The STEALTH incorporates two technological developments—its 4th generation planar magnetic driver and what it calls an Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System (AMTS)—that together enable it in a ‘Chameleon-like’ way, or so I believe, to bring the best of each headphone technology to the forefront when needed.
Without getting into a long-winded technical explanation, the combination of these two elements enables the STEALTH to recreate a rather cavernous soundstage when called for, that is imbued with electrostatic-like transparency, resolution, detail and speed. And, additionally, the combination of these two technologies also gives weight to the entire breadth of the STEALTH’s frequency response and greatly diminished distortion. This, in turn, facilitates the STEALTH’s easy ability to pierce the sub-bass strata, while providing for a soaring, sibilance free and beautifully resolved treble. The midrange, a story on its own merits, is sublime beyond measure in its musicality, its way with tone and timbre, its selfsame ability to excavate detail, and its ease reminiscent of analog’s best. Technology, certainly in this iteration, has come a very long way.
The STEALTH then is truly an exceptionally designed headphone from the perspectives of industrial design, functionality/performance, and comfort. Bravo!
The specifications for the Dan Clark STEALTH:
Driver Type: Planar magnetic
Driver Size: 51mm x 76mm single-sided planar magnetic
Weight: 415 grams
Ear Pad Material: Japanese Synthetic Protein Leather, Titanium
Sensitivity: 87-90dB/Wm (approximation)
Carrying Case: included
Drivability
The Dan Clark STEALTHs were not too difficult to drive, but they were not that easy either. While their sensitivity is not a ‘shared’ measure, it would seem, based upon the dial settings of the various headphone amplifiers used, that a possible range would be 86-88dB. You’ll need a bit of power to get the STEALTH to sound its best, but when you do, nirvana.
Conclusion
The Dan Clark STEALTH planar-dynamic headphone is a revelation. It exceeds its prescribed edict—to excel in planar magnetic duties—and goes on to become exceedingly familiar with, if not master of the edicts of the other headphone worlds and technologies. Again, there are very few headphones capable of doing this and fewer still with such compelling musicality. You and your music, regardless of genre, will be well served.
Please note that to date, I have listened to a great many headphones, and these days it takes a great deal to move me. Suffice to say, that a number have been sent back as they did not rise to the occasion regardless of their technology (though electrostatics may all be pardoned on this point).
The STEALTH easily wins our DIAMOND AWARD for technical excellence and sublime musicality. Bravo!
Pros: Technical excellence—resolution, transparency, detail, spatiality—and sublime musicality. Exceptionally well made, beautifully designed, easy to transport.
Cons: Efficiency. One will need power above that which resides in most DAPs.
The Company
DAN CLARK
STEALTH ($3999.99)
3366 Kurtz Street,
San Diego, CA 92110 USA
+1.619.501.6313
info@danclarkaudio.com
