DAN CLARK AUDIO STEALTH Guide

Today we’ll be taking a thorough look at the new ‘Stealth’ – a $3,999 USD closed-back planar magnetic headphone from San Diego-based manufacturer Dan Clark Audio.



A review sample of the Stealth was kindly loaned to us by Brisbane-based audio retailer Indie Hi-fi, who we thank for their support. Australian readers can purchase the Stealth directly from them here.





A bit about Dan Clark Audio

Dan Clark Audio (formerly known as MrSpeakers) ought to be a familiar name to retuning Headfonia readers and aficionados of high-end personal audio. Hailing from San Diego, California, the boutique manufacturer led by former electrical engineer Dan Clark first made a name for themselves by modding Fostex headphones, and later for developing their own line of planar-magnetic (and later electrostatic) headphones.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Dan and his team at their Southern California HQ, and I’ve also enjoyed listening to and reviewing many of their headphones over the years – particularly their recent Aeon 2 Noire which is my go-to closed-back headphone for most listening (and gaming!) situations. Up until recently, their flagship planar model was the $2,299 USD open-backed Ether 2, which Linus had the pleasure of reviewing some while ago. You can check out some of our other reviews of their products here.

Underneath the radar

Like many school kids of the early 90’s I had a big old poster of the F-117 ‘Nighthawk’ on my bedroom wall (right around the time of Gulf War v1.0). Why? Well, I did have (unrealised) ambitions of flying jets when I grew up, but I also thought that it looked R A D. The Nighthawk, better known as the ‘Stealth Fighter’, made the word ‘Stealth’ synonymous with anything that was black, high-tech, and cool looking.

It was with some surprise that Dan Clark Audio announced a brand new flagship in August of this year. Being black, angular, and high-tech looking, it’s clear why they decided to call it the ‘Stealth’. Not only was this new offering firmly planted in ‘summit-fi’ territory thanks to an asking price of $3,999 USD, but it also happened to be a closed-back headphone. Many of you will know that engineering a closed-back design, let alone a flagship closed-back design isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. After all, the sound emanating from a headphone’s transducers not only goes forward towards your ears but also backward, meaning that there are reflections inside the earcups that need to be managed accordingly.

Closed-back headphones generally sound more, well, ‘closed’ than their open-back counterparts (no surprises there) and the trade-off for isolating yourself from the outside world is usually a more claustrophobic, intimate experience rather than the airy sensation of an open-back headphone. Dan Clark Audio must have cottoned onto something, however, because I’ve always experienced that their closed-back headphones tend to sound wider and more spacious than their open-back equivalents. With the new Dan Clark Audio Stealth, DCA purports to have a headphone that essentially has all the benefits of a closed-back design (isolation) with none of the drawbacks, and thereby being able to compete against high-end open-back cans.

Four grand ain’t cheap, but if the Stealth can tango against the finest open-back cans then it might actually make a convincing value proposition if you don’t need to have to switch between closed/open headphones depending on the occasion. But DCA made another claim when they launched the Stealth: that it can make you “Vanish into your music”. Stealth puns aside, this is an interesting claim and one that any headphone worth its mettle should be able to achieve. With a combination of comfort, tuning, and new technologies brought to bear, Dan Clark + Co have set about to make a headphone that makes you just want to dive into your music and forget that you’re wearing (a rather expensive) something on your head.