My Diamond Perfection award goes to the Thieaudio Oracle MKIII aka Ikaris. To nobody surprise, really. I mean does it shock you that such a great IEM finds its way to my Perfection award? It shouldn’t! This is a$589 IEM that comes close to the performance of the greatest, the Monarch Mk2. The signature of its sound reminds you of the power, dynamics, and imaging of the Monarch in almost every way. Even the vocal timbre and separation is on par with it. And no need to bring up the impact2 bass system of the Oracle Mk3 almost matching the Monarch Mk2s. They truly have outdid themselves.
They fit better than the Monarch Mk2’s and yet still have the same cable and interchangeable connection port system. The treble Est system is on par with the Monarch as well giving that clarity pinpoint details when needed without doing too much. And finally we all know there is no brand better at the mid range than Thieaudio with the signature ruler like mid frequency response that delivers realism.
There is not one single thing that this IEM doesn’t master. From Asmr, audio books, from Future to Boris Brejcha, to Metallica to Enya, even holographic imaging, basically it is audio perfection. You never find yourself wishing for more in anything that it does. Even the very look of the IEM is living art. The beautiful colors and rich glimmer to its details, all stick out. The look, sound, and price met this perfect balance that you don’t find yourself thinking you spent too much on something that doesn’t prove it in its sound or looks, nor do you find yourself listening and thinking to yourself, you wish you had a little more of this or that. I’m well past my honeymoon stage and there hasn’t been a single time I didn’t pick this up and feel blown away with the quality of sound.
It was like this with the Monarch Mk2 eventually but when it did take hold, the cost difference still outweighed its advantage in sound over lower cost IEM’s in the $599 range. But this doesn’t happen with the Oracle MKIII for me. No regrets whatsoever. I wish for nothing more in sound quality from sound equipment, unless you can find me an IEM that can break the law of diminishing returns and deliver the same sound quality over this as their price. If it’s $1000, show me the $500 difference in sound. If not then, move along. But if the Monarch and U12T’s can’t do it against the Sa6 MK2, I know for sure that it can’t do against the 2024 and 2025 award winning Thieaudio Oracle MKIII. GAME OVER… ENDGAME SET MATCH, DIAMOND AWARD
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