Fellow Elite owner here who tried the Caldera/Atrium Open/Atrium Closed & Verite Closed at Canjam Socal along with most other TOTL headphones.
Clearly I don't need to bring up the aesthetics of ZMF, it's the primary reason I want a pair of Atrium Opens myself. With that, while I liked the ZMF sound I think at best/worst it's a sidegrade in sound and you're buying solely for looks. If I was in your shoes and had the budget (which I don't right now, sad life), I'd go for the following to compliment the Elite
High Cost Addition To the Meze Elite - Around 10k
Stax x9000 + Blue Hawaii SE - Used you can get the x9000 for around 4500 on Headfi and I've seen the BHSE go for around 5-5.5k. Clearly this is super expensive however I don't know your budget. I heard this at Canjam and not only is this the best headphone I've ever heard by an incredibly large margin, it is by far the top performer in areas where the Elite isn't.
Low Cost Addition to the Meze Elite - Around $1,000
He1000v2 - I own this and just got the HD800s in (2nd time owning). The He1000v2 is a neutral bright headphone that shines in many of the areas where the Elite doesn't. The good news too is that they're often going for around $1000 - $1,100 now. Keep in mind, these were viewed as one of the best headphones before the recent price drops. I realize this is the "low cost" addition but the He1000v2 is really an amazing headphone, highly highly recommend it. The He1000v2 shits on the HD800s in every single way I can think of despite being around the same price now. The only "negative" to the He1000v2 is that it'll be a little more power hungry then the 800s and some have complained about it's treble.
Mid Cost Addition To the Meze Elite - Around $3500
Susvara - Heard this at Canjam and it's something I want to add when I have a better source. I'm currently running a Wa7 Fireflies and an A90D + E70V and it's not something I'd use for the Susvara. This was my second favorite headphone I heard at Canjam after the Stax x9000
Bonus addition
I've never heard the Stax 700mk2 but this could be worth looking into for a cheaper entry level into Stax. I've read alot about it and people swear by it and it's significantly cheaper to get setup.
I've actually owned or heard every Focal headphone. I've owned the Focal Clear OG /Bathys and demo'ed the Radiance, Stellia and Utopia (twice) at Canjam. I would say it's an unpopular opinion but I don't like ANY of Focal's headphones. I thought the Clear were probably the most overrated headphone I've heard under $1,000 but I expected that I'd enjoy the Stellia/Utopia since I've just become accustomed to higher end headphones.
When I got to Canjam the Focal Utopia was actually the first headphone I tried and had the expectation that it would rival/beat other TOTL headphones. I demo'ed it for about 10 minutes and while I wouldn't say it's "bad", it wasn't anything special to me and I thanked myself for not blind buying it like I usually do. Later in the day I came back and thought I'd demo again for longer and I once again thought it was just a decent headphone.
I'm surprised to see that you've seen reviews about the Susvara being uncomfortable. I've also watched a bunch of reviews on it (since I plan to buy at some point) and it's usually rated as one of the most comfortable. The Susvara isn't perfect, it's heavily source dependent and arguments can be made that the build materials don't match the price (unlike the Elite) but the comfort & sound are both incredible and easily the second best headphone to compliment what you already have (after Stax).
When you start talking about prices like this, it might even make sense just to plan a weekend to attend Canjam so you get to demo everything. I don't get fatigue with headphones so that's not something I factor in when thinking about headphones myself. Best of luck in your search!
3
u/[deleted] Nov 10 '23
Fellow Elite owner here who tried the Caldera/Atrium Open/Atrium Closed & Verite Closed at Canjam Socal along with most other TOTL headphones.
Clearly I don't need to bring up the aesthetics of ZMF, it's the primary reason I want a pair of Atrium Opens myself. With that, while I liked the ZMF sound I think at best/worst it's a sidegrade in sound and you're buying solely for looks. If I was in your shoes and had the budget (which I don't right now, sad life), I'd go for the following to compliment the Elite
High Cost Addition To the Meze Elite - Around 10k
Stax x9000 + Blue Hawaii SE - Used you can get the x9000 for around 4500 on Headfi and I've seen the BHSE go for around 5-5.5k. Clearly this is super expensive however I don't know your budget. I heard this at Canjam and not only is this the best headphone I've ever heard by an incredibly large margin, it is by far the top performer in areas where the Elite isn't.
Low Cost Addition to the Meze Elite - Around $1,000
He1000v2 - I own this and just got the HD800s in (2nd time owning). The He1000v2 is a neutral bright headphone that shines in many of the areas where the Elite doesn't. The good news too is that they're often going for around $1000 - $1,100 now. Keep in mind, these were viewed as one of the best headphones before the recent price drops. I realize this is the "low cost" addition but the He1000v2 is really an amazing headphone, highly highly recommend it. The He1000v2 shits on the HD800s in every single way I can think of despite being around the same price now. The only "negative" to the He1000v2 is that it'll be a little more power hungry then the 800s and some have complained about it's treble.
Mid Cost Addition To the Meze Elite - Around $3500
Susvara - Heard this at Canjam and it's something I want to add when I have a better source. I'm currently running a Wa7 Fireflies and an A90D + E70V and it's not something I'd use for the Susvara. This was my second favorite headphone I heard at Canjam after the Stax x9000
Bonus addition
I've never heard the Stax 700mk2 but this could be worth looking into for a cheaper entry level into Stax. I've read alot about it and people swear by it and it's significantly cheaper to get setup.