Here is what the Spirit Torino Mistral cable version sounds like:
Sound classifiable as balanced with very slight tendency to bright, from the mid-bass up (and up to audibility) the details are what you would expect in a headphone of its price but in my opinion beats competitors in tone quality and instrument separation. As true to reality as I have heard in this price range. In some binaural recordings you are simply present onstage, with your eyes closed nothing (and I really mean nothing) can make you suspect that you are anywhere else but onstage a few inches from the performance.
With this type of recording I performed a direct comparison with the Hifiman Arya, but the Mistral wins because of the type of approach to reproduction. The near V-Shape of the Hifiman and almost all competitors debases the feeling of physical presence. The feeling is reproduced even with good commercial recordings, for example in Ludovica Burtone’s attack on the Sinha track but they do justice to good recordings in general without the need to have to pick and choose tracks.
Made 10 for the 4,000/6,000 bracket the Mistrals deserve a full 8, to get that extra 15-20% you need deniers and not other brands, famous or not. One should, in short, go and play another league. Incidentally, Spirit is precisely in that other league that it plays, with Mistral they approach a wider audience of consumers by making them listen to their philosophy and music of absolute quality.
The Mistrals achieve excellence with vocals and great quality in the mid-bass, mid-high and treble. They do not win, however, in the bass: present and controlled but some competitors manage to go lower and with more powerful knocks. You don’t have to buy the Mistrals if you are looking for boom booms, others do it better unless you want to stay in the Spirit house and go up in price to hear perhaps the most powerful bass in existence in the headphone world, I say perhaps because I don’t know all the headphones in the world…. But not the Mistral, they have the bass you need. Not one less but not one more.
The Soundstage is large and of a higher category. The music is never in the head or even around but farther away still, and the separation of instruments is total. You may happen to instinctively turn around to look for the instrument. Soundstage is a 10 with honors and academic kissing in its category and a 9 overall. Along with vocals and averages it is their hallmark.
Last thoughts on comfort: the headband is moldable, once molded to one’s head the fit becomes ideal and will remain so making them very comfortable and lightweight even for long listening sessions.
I had clear ideas about what sound in headphones I wanted and how much money to devote, the Mistrals hit the mark and I ended my search with them. I consider the craftsmanship, professionalism and availability of its designer, Andrea Ricci, added values and I gladly take them home but had I had knowledge of how they sound I would have bought them online as well …