Lime Ears Maris VS Empire Ears Raven

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Lime Ears Maris is a flagship 12-driver quad-brid with branded components, combining multiple BAs for lows/mids, dual Sonion ESTs for air, and a dual Sonion bone conductor for full-range weight. At $2,700 (“Ensemble”), it brings a thin-walled but comfortably large shell, flat 2-pin sockets, and an excellent leather puck case; build and fit feel deliberately premium, with only a minor faceplate edge that can snag. Overall presentation and ergonomics signal a top-tier, tour-worthy piece.

Sonically it’s a fun, impactful tuning: bass hits hard with tactile BC rumble, treble/air are pristine, and resolution is high with an open, spacious stage. The upper-mids are slightly restrained (a touch of ~4 kHz dip) which softens attack—less “incisive” than the graph might suggest—but the set remains clean, coherent, and easy to listen to for treble-sensitive listeners. Think “inoffensive but exceptional”: refined energy up top, big physical slam down low, and clarity that holds together complex mixes.

Context against peers: Terra is exciting but the 5–6 kHz energy can fatigue; Incognita tracks a preferred curve better as a one-and-done at a lower price. Annihilator offers more bite in upper-mids/treble, yet Maris will suit those sensitive to that region; versus Grand Maestro, Maris wins on comfort and bass quality. Compared with Europa, Cadenza 12, Omnium, and Visioner’s 10, trade-offs shift—some deliver sharper treble “spark” or smaller shells—but the Maris’s bone-conducted bass, comfort, and safe-refined balance make it a strong recommend to demo at a show before choosing.

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Empire Ears Raven delivers the flagship gloss without pretending to be a value king. Expect deep sub-bass rumble, clean driver control, and a warmer mid-bass emphasis that puts extra weight behind kick drums and bass guitars. That tilt makes Raven a better fit for rock, metal, and live band mixes—grooves hit with authority and instruments carry more body, while treble stays extended without getting spicy or fatiguing.

Against strong $1K contenders, the step up is more refinement than revolution: a roughly 10–15% lift in resolution and texture, not a night-and-day transformation. For pure hip-hop subwoofer thrills, sets with stronger sub-bass focus edge it out; Raven trades some of that in-your-face thump for fuller mid-bass punch and an all-rounder presentation that scales well but isn’t about flexing quantity. Stunning set if the budget is open and rock-first bass weight is the priority; otherwise, mid-tier heavy hitters already capture most of the experience.