A simple pre review warning:

If you read this review there could be real and present danger that you will buy the VSA-PM Crown. Once in your possession the Crown through tune and technicalities could in fact make many IEMs in your collection old-hat. And in fact the Planar IEMs will become looked at as inferior and dated, never to be placed in your ears again. This is the climate of the technology inside the hobby we take interest in. Just like the IEMs of 2019, this technology keeps getting improved upon and refined. The end results of the Crown are simply bigger images of vocals and instruments. Drawn in more detail, more realistic and holding all those wants and needs we strive for, yet one step more advanced. This could result in a stop game for some and guaranteed a pause game for many. There is simply no need to upgrade any longer as a paradigm of improvement into success is finally now available due to ribbon technology and an 11.4 Planar Magnetic build. EarAcoustic Audio spent a year in R&D to bring their dreams to life, so they could in-fact create a new standard by which all other Planar IEMs could be judged. This new level of sound means faster and more agile transients, extra levels of treble sculpturing and improved phase coherence resulting in blackness of background and perceived contrasts. This vividness is not presented through stark brightness but rather careful sculpturing and image situations. Through better pace and rhythm, through clearer sub-bass and a pulled mid-bass. That while vocals are front and center (the Crown is part of the VSA series after all) yet this magic happens through good old fashioned separation and 3D lift over the undercurrents of our sound abiding in the lower tone realms. Then also separated by the treble and ultra-treble stage which is traveling outwards into visibility. The down sides you ask. Well The Crown does play some files exorbitantly close to perfection and leaves other genres and files still great but slightly lesser. And yes at $849.00 the price of admission is high, especially in regards to regular Planar offerings. Yet the Crown could very well save you money as it stops the yearning for more, it stifles any intrest in any other IEM, and just like meeting a life partner provides the wholesome goods to encourage a long relationship. These words I speak are true, only now the riddle is if you will take the plunge, a plunge into a new and different IEM world, a place I can guarantee you have never visited. Unless you were at CANJAM SOCAL 2025 where a few lucky individuals got a chance to hear this phenomenon in action. Their words were “best Planar I have ever heard.” Yep, this is technology and a wonderful time to be alive and breathing in 2025-2026. This is just what a forward looking company does with their resources. That put them to use making a product that in the end will revolutionize the industry. Simply put the Crown is one of the single best IEMs I have ever had the chance to try. It is that good!

Back in 2019 while on vacation in Thailand with my Wife of 26 years I got a chance to hear The Fragrant Zither line of IEMs. This was not the event like now as the IEMs catered to a different price point. While introducing many to the China based IEM factories, the times 6 years ago were different, holding an innocence and naivety that was less sophisticated, pre-covid and not as technically advanced as today. To be truthful TFZ has incorporated a few names in this new venture. There is the blanket name of Silver Angel Series, then there are a few lines made up of STA, SPA and VSA. Each example of creativity gets launched with a few items of various sonic signatures, choices if you may. I have covered 13 IEMs, now 14 if you include today's write-up. This range of products can be confusing as to the choices, yet at the same time money talks a style of truth. That being the more money you spend the better sound reproduction you obtain. My prior favorite was the former TOTL Flagship, the $429.90 Limited Edition, part of the 11.4mm DD SPA line by EarAcoustic Audio. And sure there could be questions as to why make so many variations to place on the market. You want to sell your customers, not confuse them. Well all I have to say is there are levels of tone, with the prior Flagship SPA-Limited Edition simply offering better sculpturing and realism over the SPA downline. And this gives choices to those who don’t have as deep of pockets to climb to the Limited Edition's top. And there are close proximities that examples like the 8 gram each $289.90 EarAcoustic Audio SPA-Hi End MAX Universal IEM offer up for sale. But you may think a reviewer could start to not know what to write about such a selection. When in reality we as reviewers have ample time to get acquainted and formulate a review. Only nothing could prepare me for this coming VSA-PM Crown. And since I’m not doing any comparisons formally in this review, you probably are curious as to how the VSA-PM Crown compares to the previous Flagship Limited Edition? And all I can say is DDs can offer a slight added note density over Ribbon Planar Magnetics, they also are not able to offer the increased resolution and separation inside the treble and ultra-treble. These finite small perfect items of floating audio information that seems to live in a world all their own. Plus the bass of DDs holds more mid-bass antics, and generally the DDs offer-up a different style of timbre. Yet to get down and dirty the VSA-PM and SPA-Limited Edition come in basically the same shell and fit close to the same. Only the real difference besides what I mentioned is the DD inside of the Limited Edition can be easily driven to louder levels with a substantial amount of less juice. If I was to guess I would say 1/3 less electrons were needed for comparable levels when the LE DD was concerned. Is this a Crown issue for cardholders? Credit Card holders that is. Well, yes and no, in fact the Sony WM series is known for being weak in the power department. And while often with lower volume older tracks I was near the limits of power with the WM1A and WM1Z I still teetered on going a little lower than maximum volume. But if you were thinking about only using a common phone then you may be better off using the Limited Edition?

But to amp roll, Jude the founder of Head-Fi utilizes the legendary TA-ZH1ES desktop, and we will do the same with the TA and Crown later in the review! You see, my audiophile imagination goes wild thinking about the extra power and added note-weight so easily and nonchalantly reached with the TA as a source here. 

Oh and you may wonder why there are no cable rolls or IEM side-by-sides like my regular reviews here. Simply that I tried a few cables and liked the included cable best. Also if you are spending $849.00 on the IEM it should come with a special cable made for it. Right? But the side-by-sides are not needed as there is nothing like the Crown anyway, so I get a get out of jail free card in this review. Plus we are going to concentrate on music as that is the very reason you’re here in the first place, right? The ability to greet an IEM buffet in response to excitement, to literally have every album take you away with fun and new small things to go about noticing. 

EarAcoustic Audio VSA-PM Crown Universal IEM
Redcarmoose Labs September 24th, 2025

Music:
It hit me during this review process that truly reviews should be 95% about the music, especially if the IEM in question played music with flair and fit well. So that is why we have a slight restructuring over here at Redcarmoose Labs. But more than that I simply wanted to share my experience with the Crown, to write almost endlessly about the intrigue and romance obtained by this $849.00 IEM. That sure I will write review after review, yet this one review will be special as the EarAcoustic Audio Crown is a different IEM. Why? Because it displays a new and different way to listen, a way that just by the Crowns nature holds simply more detail. These small and big details start to pull on your heart strings and you slowly become infatuated by the simple joy of obtaining music playback for all that it contains………ad infinitum.

My gosh, ad infinitum is a big word as it describes for all time, forever and ever off into eternity, death…..whichever comes first. And I have spent almost a working week verifying this phenomenon, like it was destiny and real. What is real in this world? I’m not sure, but there can be a level of truth in art, there can be a consistent beauty in music. This shimmer of life can be reconfirmed if you place the Crown in your ears and it plays back with the same alternate musical reality day in and day out. I’m not going to fully describe what music is because I’m not sure what it is? Plus this is not the time or place for such questions to be wondered and talked about. What this place is about is sharing experiences with objects that place a sound field between your ears, such objects can become just as priceless as music if they transfer the magic and you felt the emotion of being alive on a new level. This level makes up for the pain and drama that can be simply a facet of life, because nothing (in life) is totally perfect no matter how far we delude ourselves to think it is.

Yet these Crown IEMs are an example of getting closer to the file, reaching that place where things can start to make more sense and start to take you away. Away like the vehicle all of us are searching for and cherishing when found. This paradigm is transfixing on beauty and connecting with songs on one step of a more personal basis, a clearer idea that maybe the artist had in mind when he or she created them. A connection to the expression and effort put out by the artist and record producers. Everyone in the signal chain is striving for perfection, but seldom reaching this goal. Only once an IEM is discovered and utilised along with the correct DAP and ear-tips a connection is arrived at……….and communication begins, communication with your soul, and the music maker's soul.

The music speaks to the soul!


Lustre
A Thirst for Summer Rain
Quiescence
44.1kHz - 24bit

Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.
Here I’m using the included cable, the Crown and the Sony WM1Z. My favorite donut wide-bores are getting maximum stage displacement. This piano gets us at 00:00. A tale of a theme that would take over not only this song, but find its way into later tracks. Yes this music may be judged as simplistic yet that is the magic, an investigation into concentrating on basic themes which still hold the imagination. The songs on the album have a feeling of purpose and you don’t want the songs to end, yet in another emotional moment you realise they are the perfect length. Such sounds at the start have the Crown’s name on them, the tonal name, and as such are projected into the listeners brain filling perception into the right and left hearing of musical elements. Because of the stage and thickness of projections, these simple process laden keystrokes start to gain a life of their own. What I’m saying is there is ever so slight Planar Magnetic timbre, yet it is on the best part of natural and pure. This is because every driver holds those qualities of only being true to construction and simply doing sound reproduction due to construction. And sure I’m going to write about a few more songs here and you will learn more about this tone, yet it is the stage and placement of this piano….this correctness and size feeling that is truly remarkable. That the piano is not just out to the sides but a thick and hearty piano that is glossed over with fast transient decays and delays…….once again seemingly greater than the sum of parts here.

As consumers we are spoiled to have such musical documents for entertainment. It is hard to fathom that recorded music is a new phenomenon, that just a short time ago music was only heard played live or heard in the mind of a reader reading notated musical documentation. As such the stacks of media now sort of get found of lesser value. This gluttony of recordings starts to create a personal devaluation of sonic ideas. Bands now have to take to the road to make money than even a few years ago. Yet the Crown addresses this by making every song special and of value, yep those same songs that we heard on other IEMs get a polish and a clarity that just makes the listening event that much more personal and involving. This is due to connection with the musical world and the realism provided by the Crown. So what happened here at Redcarmoose Labs was I rediscovered older music. When I say older I'm talking about 2019 to 2023. Lol This Crown simply opened the details and created a room in which we were able to walk into the emotion, look around and connect on a new and unique level. This new level is based on the fundamentals of music replay, nothing new here except a $849.00 IEM gaining $2000.00 levels of immersion and emotion.

At 00:43 a distorted guitar takes hold. Now this would normally carry drama into how there is a new musical instrument used. Only the Crown fortifies this tone. That we are now gifted with a new thing to be transfixed about. Here are bar chords, only they are not the early guitar sound of Chuck Berry, or even the heavy blues of Led Zeppelin, no we are inside of a distortion paradise. I use the word paradise as this is an all enveloping “fuzz”. Now to be factual this is not only guitar, but drums being introduced as well as bass. And the main thing here is the Crown takes this dense matrix apart into hearing all of the constituents at hand. Yep…..cymbal crashes, that come off like flickering washes off to the distance, yet heard loud and separated into their very own cymbal stage function. Oh…….can you say layers? The word layer can not be overused in this review. Due to the tactile ability of this 11.4mm driver through technicalities and tune we are truly gifted with one of the best separations of tones I have ever heard. This simply adds to the involvement and places you in the centre of the tonal and imaging action. It is these fast transients and size of stage that makes the Crown valuable. The Crown is more like full-size headphones than any IEM I have tried, and I have been at this for a while. At 01:27 a new introduction of synth-piano takes form. And just like the musicians and producers wanted, the sound is only floating on top of 100X guitar tracks. This integration comes off as probably ordered up at the sonic buffet of mixing and post production, as sure this is clean, fast bass and again multi layer. Typically this style of music I have come to realize has the Devil in the details. Meaning soft slight almost unnoticeable movements across this sea of tones creates the loss of boredom found. That this in truth is an instrumental album in sound, though really it is Black Metal as noted at the Black Metal screeching at 02:12. That truly this must have been the idea here, that everything is heard all at once, very different from 1st wave Black Metal sounds. This is bordering on the New Age genre, and gets its originality from the song structure and additives, which make the music unique and refreshing, at least for me? This is the perfect opener to introduce the Crown’s charms, only you may guess that the charms are limited? And the limited abilities of the Crown do not really exist, as my next more traditional Hans Zimmer OST will prove.

The Crown naming:
I mean the King of England (this is an English band I’m talking about here) must have worn a nightcap upon sleeping, yet in public at times (in old paintings) the crown symbolises a leader and a style of ultimate place you can go! Here the Crown name signifies the IEM as the Flagship and the top-of-the-line.


Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight Rises OST
On Thin Ice
192kHz - 24bit
Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.

At just 00:00 we are met with bass drama. When in truth this is a continuation from the previous song. I love how these songs are mixed together. At 00:07 we are smack dab in the middle of a synth that actually sounds cold. And the slight cold tonality of our Crown both displays this synth way out to the sides, but creates a full-on natural display of images, that anyone would agree is the way IEMs of the best style do. This cohesiveness, this musical drama, besides the slight air of an ice box in tone. It is encapsulated into the whole, this both cleanness and tightness, and colder Planar tone. Leaving room for the musical event to become of importance. I would not be honest to not exclaim that the wood slaps at 00:48 were not borderline hot. In that sure upon continuation of the sound we are less startled and more comfortable. But that is the thing, this fully detailed bass, these extra treble layers can at rare moments be slightly challenging. I mean so what, not every song has a treble blast like this one, and I can get over it in style. Sure the VSA-PM Crown has had 100 hours of burn-in, yet normally I will do a little more. Still I don’t conceive of any major changes to occur later, maybe though. It is truly safe to say this is the best way to go about smooth treble and ultra treble details. EarAcoustic Audio has found that sweet spot between too hot and detailed. Before I received the Crown I was a little worried as I had just reviewed the VSA-V1 (which is a less detailed subtle V shape signature) with basically a fun and everyone accessible temperament, and that was fine. But what worried me was the $50.00 more VSA-MAX Universal IEM. Here it is sold as a vocal IEM, like the rest of the VSA series, only they boosted the treble into the heat zone. I reviewed it as a speciality IEM, you know for those special treble heads amongst us. Anyway, the moment I put the VSA-PM Crown in my ears I knew that I was home free, free from any worries about too much heat in the kitchen. Yet the tune really centers around key elements in the boosted treble layers, and while I still call it a vocal IEM, these vocal ideas are arrived at due to separation and not truly that much vocal Pinna Boost. In fact if you read the Crown reviews, the treble sensitive folks out there are finding a stylish home in what the Crown does 24/7.


Hans Zimmer
The Dark Knight Rises OST
Mind If I Cut In
192kHz - 24bit

Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.
This came on randomly as I was writing and I remembered how it is one of my past favorites on the album. So why not touch on it. The violins at the 00:02 start are played with remarkable timbre. At 00:32 we hear a pace device. A synth that is a metronome and due to the amazing dynamic range of the Crown it sits further back, and of almost little consequence. I mean this sound is a tool that Hans Zimmer uses to have you focus on the quieter ideas, only to be floored by the louder introductions. Because at 00:42 the main piano comes into focus, and does it ever. There is the use of reverbs and panning to the left and right that simply makes this effect laden piano become interesting. As you listen you come to the realization that this song was probably first created on the piano. Giving total freedom for the extras to be added in as the song goes along, and those extras are crazy fun with the Crown. Why? Full separation and full on differences in tonal character. At 01:14 an underlying set of synth keys follows the piano's every move. Finally at 02:06 the bass drops and what a drop it is. This is the kind of separation and distancing, call it clarity for no better word, that and contrasts that make my Crown experience. And Hans Zimmer knows this trick, waiting and calculating the drop for maximum cinema millage! Also at around 02:20 we realize that this is a constant bass additive creating pulsing tones that seem to be traveling around our stage like a lost dog. Better piano decays than BAs are capable of, cleaner and more pristine cohesiveness than Hybrids, yet slightly lower not-weight at times and in places. Yet that is where the speed of transients takes place, as there is everything set-up for fast clean notes, with nothing holding them back!


Dawn Of Solace
Waves
Lead Wings
44.1kHz - 16bit
Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.

A treble laden guitar starts us off at 00:00. Then what is about takes place. A second way farther outside in the stage guitar takes place. Here the producers are playing with our expectations, giving us more than we expected to occur. At 00:28 a lead guitar shows us the song's melody……….then at 00:54 the rhythm guitar bar style chords show us how the stage can enlarge a third time. This is probably how the song was written as a few good guitarists get together and trigger improvisation which finally flows into a whole album?

And…….the after 00:54 sequence is what the Crown is talking about. Though not exactly in words, yet layers and layers how each and every facet of the song gets emphasis and delineation abound. At 01:23 the true rhythm chords start to be introduced. Also we feel the silence of the drums holding back for a moment in time. The whole time there is a backdrop of crash cymbals taking a sequestered seat, yet not really splashy, but being their splashy self. So after 01:23 with this distorted guitar only heard, we start to get slightly closer to the mixing ideas and hear effects that have made the guitar distortions become 3D. This is the Crown in a nutshell that after layers and layers are introduced, just like the song, when a single guitar takes prominence we start to hear the 3D layers found in that single guitar track. Sure there is probably bass buried there too, only it is a composite and underneath the guitar. The other main enjoyment is the processed decays and echos found that the producers have used to make this single guitar (and possibly bass) fun and interesting. At 00:50 all the full intent of the song goes down. Then at 00:52 the vocals emerge. This as good as any place is correct to describe what the vocals are and how they are positioned. While not as forward and the VSA naming would have you guess beforehand. Here we still have the drums and guitar and bass take precedence. Only due to separation can we hear underneath and around the vocals creating a vocal experience despite the Crown not being an over the top vocal tuning (meaning Pinna Heat). And this style of vocal placement gets pretty much used 24/7………it is just the relaxed yet clear idea that EarAcoustic had for us.


Katatonia
City Burials
Hearts Set to Divide
44.1kHz - 24bit

Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.
Now I almost was wrong. Meaning now we have a more forward placement of vocals. Maybe the different band, and different studio had something to do with this. But each recording is its own deal, each musical statement we come upon has a slightly different juxtaposition of images and a unique presentation. Only the Crown due to being an audio microscope moves forward just one more step to show and exclaim differences, for better or worse. That better or worse part is the recording I’m referring to. I took the Crown to a floating dining area for my Wife’s birthday and showed the family what was up here. This song they were totally surprised to hear the fast left and right changes to the vocal track. This phenomena is unique to us audiophiles, so you can imagine how it is 2X more unique to those normies on a listen. And once more the separation held inside of the vocal imaging and transients take place in a split second to encourage such vocal fireworks. There is also a closeness that despite the effects here seems to push through. The producers know this and find that balance, only rarely are we in for such a forward and vivid recording of vocal ideas, plus there is a Crown on the cover. I could have not planned this any better……….as all the material I come up with is audiophile happenstance only. 

At 00:04 these vocals of interest take place. That in fact these are multi-track festivities, no less. At 00:37 a drop takes place, way out to the sides. And again this surprise party is why we came, it is why we are friends with the Crown style of making music. If you are a S L U T for excitement you just found it, and there is no reason to read any more. At 00:52 the treble, actually an ultra treble hit takes place. I was waiting till now to find such an event, as I knew it would happen, I was just not sure when. And these ultra treble hits are continuous as part of the rhythm. I could go on and on, as you have probably guessed by now, yet you my reader have stuff to do as well as I do, so let’s move on.


Flowjob
Fall From Space (Original Mix)
Fall From Space
44.1kHz - 24bit

Timestamps only pertain to digital file, not video.
Look, I have all day to pull up songs. And the truth is I found 40 different songs to write about. Only no one wants to read a 40 song review, at least I hope you’re not down for the abuse. So it is a turn of events, I’m going to keep the song review section at only 6 song tests. Just keep in mind I went through an ungodly amount of file replay. And this was not just because I had a review to write but because I truly wanted to make this review a gift to the listening community. That if you are reading this audiophile partial nonsense it is because you have been chosen by the forces of Head-Fi and whatever else, maybe random to simply read these words. These ideas are not in any way made-up but inspired by the Crown IEM. Truly the EarAcoustic Audio VSA-PM plays it all. Though you must be warned that the EDM playback is best I think, then it is a toss-up if Rock or OSTs are best. But you can read why I’m beside myself with enthusiasm here……right?

Look I have secretly used this song often and probably used it on one of my 300 plus reviews. But I love it, and then the Crown came and separated and clarified the number into that much more of an IEM event, truly jonesing with the file to reach a level of supreme satisfaction. I mean that’s why we are here, right, to become satisfied with our sound. And maybe it is luck, or maybe it is destiny that we find our way around? I truly think the IEMs we have are destined for us to enjoy, to fill in a gap that was missing in our musical adventure. That for the most part all of us are on the very same quest, only taking slightly different roads to success. And what do I define as success in music? Life, the muckiest of IEMs fail and the success comes from interconnecting to the file event. This taking it all to the next level is simply learning if the IEM you have on both sides of your head is producing a wavelength that you can relate with. Sure there is subjectivity among this, but there is also a fair quota of real tuning expertise and technicalities that comes with a great IEM. Such ideas are not really subjective but objective and science based examples of reality being regenerated into entertainment. Look EarAcoustic Audio spent a whole year designing the Crown. You can read the marketing literature as I have included it inside a hidden file packet at the end of this review. Take what you want, believe what you want and be suspect of some ideas too. Only I’m on board due to this Crown communication network which has me transfixed. If there is anything about this review that you should remember is the single word and the word is transfixed illusion. The illusion that this is real music, as it is in fact a recording, only if the gates of communication takes place there is a flow of information in the form of frequencies that start to grab the emotion and help focus attention away from any distractions.

At 00:12 there is a wash of white noise and a mumble of words right after what sounds like a can opening? I mean dance numbers have used a plethora of found sounds before the beat grabs hold, and it is these sounds that act as confusing and make the added beat mean so much more. Like adding structure, and some anti EDM folks hear too much structure and not enough humanity in the genre. I don’t know, I have spent too much time in nightclubs to make a call on that? This is simply another form of mankind making music, and as technology changes these tools allow for more ways to explore recorded sound. At 00:26 a flange effect is put into use. This flange was named this way as due to the early days of recording a finger was placed to slow-down two tape decks playing the exact same sound. The finger on the reel-to-reel is the flange. At 00:42 the beat kicks in. Then at 00:55 the real beat hits, this is accented by bell keys. This is now the Crown coming into its own, taking flight so to speak. This super deep bass, combined with an added 00:55 start-up of the main rhythm sequence. This beat is also accented with a…………wait this air sound at 01:00 made me lose my train of thought. So we have ultra treble, clean and sent into clarity up in the highest part of the treble. This white noise is also phased to be changing and altering our moods, not like an FM or AM radio between stations.

Finally at 01:23 we get the added utilitarian results of an electronic hi-hat. At 02:41 there is a pitter pat of multi hi-hats into one long sound, almost like an accent. A hyper activation into extra speed. No I’m not on drugs, music is my drug! At 03:20 we find ourselves into the hands of silence, well not total silence, but you get the idea here. This breakdown has consequences in that EDM is adding and subtracting at just the right places gives the story drama. At 03:26 the heavy beat is once more upon us. And the Crown is somehow able to convey this feeling of a kick drum clearer and cleaner than I have ever heard. It is the 11.4mm Planar Magnetic taking charge, showing us that heavy bass can be clean and detailed, yet flowing and careful, big in the stage! At 03:40 the hi-hat is showcasing a help to the pace, yet all this time we as listeners are truly keying in on the background synth. At 4:48 there is the sweetest and greatest cymbal splash, that it takes precedence and is of character, and that much more character is held in the reflections of contrasts. And just like looking out at a sunset, these ideas of sound production have lightness and darkness, only with the Crown it really feels like we are inside of a synthetic living world with a tad more treble imaging coming about, and a tad extra bass contrasting it. Then the layers in the middle which are of value to complete the panorama in sight at the inner mind's eye!


Build:
While much like the Limited Edition, the Limited Edition weighs 8 grams each and the Crown 9 grams each. Also they put a hard resin over all the rhinestones into a pave for the Pimped-Out looks. So we still have beauty, but more subdued in style and not as bling-laden. The results of fitment happen due to the correct nozzle length and nozzle diameter. The crinkles in the aluminum shell actually make small air-pockets of comfort, at least for me they do? The included set of ear-tips are donuts in one form and much like my favorite maximum stage ear-tips I always put to use. And sure I tried other ear-tips but the pure stage size I found with my donuts was the ticket, and it even cleaned the bass and itemized it into a place in the stage. The important part here is the shape of the Crown is allowing me to use my favorite ear-tips, and that’s money! The flush 2Pins enable easy cable change-outs and seem sturdy. There is a single small vent near the nozzles and a giant round vent off to the sides, this must be what is creating the stage size. This vent is also covered with nozzle screens, so they use 4 screens for the set, not normally two like other manufactures do. Each set has a serial number on the left side, as well as VSA placed in writing on the right.


Package:
This is only a partial example of the Crown package. Note Penon Audio for a full photograph.



Wonderful little magnets that strap your IEMs in for travel!

The TA:
Well what can I say? Here we are met with pure excellence. If a darker source is around, and if an unlimited power output is near-by you would be crazy to not try it. The best way I can describe it is with none of the power holdbacks from the handheld series. Just big, dense and fluid, OH and open, this is one of the biggest stages obtained today. Where the excitement exists in how the stage in the ultra trebles becomes even bigger and more while not holding the treble energies of the WM1Z, the gift is an easily more likable and accessible journey into playback. Yes, a true winner here. Now I did hear a slight Planar buzz that was probably a grounding issue. It went away to about only 10% of what it was due to me putting my hand onto the top of the amp and holding it there. Though once the music started I could take my hand away and not notice it at all. This has to do with the grounding issue at my house, and is subsequently brought to light by an extremely sensitive and transparent IEM.


AP80 PRO MAX DAP in 4.4mm:
Here I spent 4 hours of a night playing with the Crown and the AP80 PRO MAX DAP in 4.4mm. Where really most of the joy here is in alternative contrasting abilities and the perceived changes in the testing field. Meaning after a long challenge of the Planar Crown and the AP80, I was fully surprised that it powers it well even on high gain I was not able to fully max the listening power obtained. Though low cost and convenient the AP80 was not able to replicate the WM series of DAPs. And truly this is how it should be, you spend more for a bigger and more powerful DAP and it utilizes a bigger stage and different personality. And while most of my EDM tracks were on the 32GB card inside the AP80, I did find the sculpted and crisp bass to be satisfying and fun. It was just after hours and hours of use I then switched to the 1Z for the very first time. Interestingly enough it was not until after a few more songs did I realize the sheer size of the bass girth and stage the 1Z did.



Included cable:






Conclusion:

After a few days with the Crown I have been won over. The review here is just the consequences of my enjoyment and satisfaction. Sure I normally like Hybrids best, yet this Planar Magnetic of 11.4mm in size is something else all together. But to be honest the bass is not truly for bass heads, as it is missing mid bass authority and romancing the sub-bass. There is also the tell-tale truth a slight Planar tinge, yet if this would keep you from buying the Crown, you would be missing the party. Note I was best served with the Crown playing EDM with heavy sub-bass as well as Rock tracks utilizing sub. Even crazy pushed OSTs like Batman by Hans Zimmer held out a little of the mid bass, only the subs were careful and fun, fully guaranteeing a night of personal audio enjoyment. Truth to be told, this is one of the very best IEMs I have ever heard. There is a level of musicality and technicalities that are fresh and new to me. So much so that I spent sleepless nights going through all my music, as just like a kid in a candy store I was curious as to how each one tasted, only because each new one was better than the last, and I could not believe how good this sound was. Sure the shells may seem a little strange at first, yet after putting them in your ears they work totally. At a weight of only 9 grams each, and a universal database shape, there is absolutely nothing wrong with how they feel in your ear. The cable is different from a regular cable, but it is a flagship level IEM, and the cable had a mid-bass warming affair that just made it work-out in the end. The case totally works and has magnetic clasps to hold the Crown in place during travel. And the results you get wherever you go are unstoppable. Pristine detail held in layers of stratifications of tone. Enough correctness to play all genres with still a personality to centre on EDM, Metal and Rock, OSTs are also world-class. What can I say other than if this is the new direction for IEMs I’m happy to still be above ground in 2025. There is just so much musical interaction and involvement, amounts which were unexpected and a surprise. If you like the Planar sound I can promise you this is the very best sounding Planar I have ever heard. But more than than it has a detailed yet smooth treble, and a stage to put most new IEMs to shame. EarAcoustic Audio spent a year creating the Crown, yet it will last you a lifetime. I know you can read between the lines here, and you can feel my enthusiasm……..there is a reason it is the Flagship of the Silver Angel line. There are reasons why it is my most favorite Silver Angel Series IEM. Weighing one gram a piece more than the Limited Edition, there must be one extra amount of magic here for the taking…………at least I would sell my LE to be able to step into the Crown, as once you have arrived, there is no going back!

$849.00 (You would have to hear it to believe it) (As never has an IEM sound like this existed before)
https://penonaudio.com/EarAcoustic-VSA-PM-Crown

Disclaimer:
The EarAcoustic Audio VSA- PM Crown Universal IEM has had a full 4 days of burn-in.

Disclaimer:
I want to thank Penon Audio for the love and for the EarAcoustic Audio VSA- PM Crown Universal IEM review sample.

Disclaimer:
These are one person's ideas and concepts, your results may vary.

Equipment Used:
Sony WM1A Walkman DAP MrWalkman Firmware 4.4mm and 3.5mm single-ended
Sony WM1Z Walkman DAP MrWalkman Firmware 4.4mm
AP80 PRO MAX DAP 4.4mm
Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC/AMP Firmware 1.03
Electra Glide Audio Reference Glide-Reference Standard "Fatboy" Power Cord
Sony Walkman Cradle BCR-NWH10
AudioQuest Carbon USB
ifi GO bar Dongle 4.4mm