This is very interesting to me. What "admittedly affordable tubed pre-amp" do you use between your DAC and SS amp?

Here we have a working definition of infinity....

(hoping that comment is metaphorical)

Yup. On the other hand, I can't think of another tube amplifier whose faceplate design--including the painted transformer housings, the teak faceplate, the meter backlighting and the wooden on/off & volume knob--is so well integrated visually. The ZMF Aegis is an amp with its own "look" that...

It's only madness if/when your family leaves you & the sheriff tacks the FORECLOSED PROPERTY notice on your door. (right up to that point it's glorious)

"Think I'll get high and groove on my DAC"

My VO sounds/sounded at least very good (and often amazing) on every amp I tried it on except for one: the Monoprice Liquid Gold X (that SS amp really only liked planars). The VO is the least picky headphone I've ever had

The original Norne Audio Drausk. Pretty sure this model is still sold, but apparently has fewer strands of copper.

FYI, your high level of organization & tidiness puts certain other Head-Fi members* (whose work space looks like the Augean stables) to shame. *they shall remain nameless

"Today's audio blessing & homily by the right reverend @heliosphann"

Wow! What kind of workplace is that, that you can keep a whopper/beautiful amp like this in plain sight w/o it getting swiped?

That's actually damned good sonic shorthand, my friend.

Probably not. Just took the picture below. Never noticed the left earcup is lighter in tone than the left. I rarely look at these headphones closely in good light (my office is quite dim & this headphone never gets sunlight). The sound of this headphone is so good I wouldn't care if the earcups...

I had roughly the same perceptions about VO woods as @Tchoupitoulas, but from an inverse perspective. I heard blackwood & other hard wood VOs at shows. To the extent one can hear anything at shows, I thought these VOs had a bit more impact in the lowest & highest notes, maybe also snappier...

Every time I see that beautiful amp, I'm filled with envy (not a pun).

I never got to hear a pheasantwood VO. If memory serves, it was the first stock wood, but was phased out relatively quickly. I've read more than once that this wood, despite its somewhat plain appearance, has the best tone of any stocks ZMF ever used on the VO. That makes me curious, especially...

Two of the surprises I got in all the listening to the Aegis vs other amps here prior to reviewing it: How close the Icon Audio HP8 (1/2 the size and <1/2 the price of the Aegis) comes to the Aegis. And how close the V281 gets to both these wonderful tube amps. And IMO, it's precisely those...

I found the CC to also sound very good on 3 other amps, though the Aegis did pull ahead by a nose: OG V281 (because everything sounds good on it) Icon Audio HP8 Wells Audio Milo IMHO the CC just plain nsounds good.

I saw this group not long after this LP launched. I was in HS at the time ... acid trips were years away. Still, that show put me in outer space.

I humbly suggest a correction. The correct answer should be:

Not completely. There are treatment programs & medications for crack addiction.

Screwing up is easy: Left side of brain reads sticker Right side of brain ignores sticker, wreaks havoc It's a feast of human frailty....

Damn! That stabilized Homage is so trippy, it's giving me an acid flashback.

Wow! What a beautiful headphone! The chatoyance of that wood comes through so strongly.

Couldn't agree more. My silkwood VO is easily my favorite dynamic driver headphone ever. Every time I listen to it I'm amazed all over again. And it provides a fascinating contrast with the Caldera Open, my favorite planar. Have done head-to-head listening with both countless times. Always...