OK, there's an idea: slot machines that gush pricey NOS tubes when you hit the jackpot. (I'd work that machine like a gummint mule)

This comment will probably be self-indicting, but when I tried all 3 impedance settings with my VO, I couldn't really distinguish their sound in any real way except volume. The fact that volume varied with the 3 settings may have obscured differences between their sound for me...? I just don't...

Great write-up! Welcome to the very select HP8 club (not really ... I just like typing that). Brimar CV455s are among the best 12AT7s I've tried. I have a couple of Mullards -- I've never heard a NOS Mullard input tube I couldn't like. I didn't care for any 12AX7s until a friend sent me an...

Never thought of it this way, but you're absolutely right. The Caldera lets in the sound of music (music comes first), also other components, even passive things like cables. This is not a headphone that imposes a steady-state sound profile on music or anything else.

LG C8/77" owner here. Mine is 6 years old. Newer LG OLEDS can get brighter, but I don't even use all the brightness mine has. The picture on this flatscreen is mind-blowing. Anyone who visits & watches a film on it comes away very impressed.

In my experience, the very best of inexpensive ChiFi audio are the "clones" of the original ISK MDH9000 closed back headphone. There are at least 6 clones I know of: these are identical designs that have somewhat different color schemes and branding. I owned 3 of these clones; gave away 2 and...

Very nice! What model/size of flatscreen is that? The base looks like LG....

I prefer mantle mesh + lambskin thicks

A real busman's holiday in progress!

Love the tune. This version is nice. 1st time I heard it was on this 1958 recording of Billie Holiday, just a year before she died. Her voice was ravaged, but it didn't matter. She swung like crazy at all times:

You must have the extremely rare ZMF "gene editing" AC....

$$ is a factor, no doubt. I reviewed Jupiter Lee's reimagining of the HD650 several years ago, comparing it to a stock HD650, which I hadn't heard until then. I liked the stock model a lot, but the JAR650 was on an entirely different level. The man really knows what he's doing.

I also abandoned closed backs for similar reasons (primarily, migraine; secondarily, tinnitus). That meant selling my Eikon, a sad day. That was a mind-blowing headphone. Not without its little flaws, but great sound. Anyway, I couldn't bring myself to sell the Ori. Now I'm very glad I didn't...

Effect ... and cause.

I don't much like them, either--but they don't really qualify for an exorcism.

FYI, anything dismembered can be reattached--or replaced. (don't ask me how I know)

I love the top cover of that amp. LOVE IT!

Hoping to hear that combo tonight. So far heard the CC on 3 different amps. It's really superb. So naturally a pilgrimage to headphone amp Mecca (Aegis) is now in order.

My first ZMF headphone was the Ori (purchased ~7.5 yrs ago). At that time, the business model included multiple wood options for each headphone purchased (Ori, Blackwood, X Vibro). That model was already starting to fade when I bought the Ori. Never discussed this w/Zach, but I imagine ZMF had...

The HP8 can't best the Aegis, a true endgame amp, but it comes surprisingly close in SQ. I compared the HP8 head-to-head w/the Aegis in my review of the Aegis. I expected the Aegis to walk all over the HP8, but it didn't play out that way. I'm listening to the HP8 right now. I just love this amp.

I would also give a shout-out for one of the great sonic overachievers, the humble Woo WA3. It's compact, has just 3 tubes (2 input tubes and 1 power tubes), and on paper has a modest power output. But IRL use, the WA3 has way more than enough power for anything I try with it. With the right...

Listening to the Caldera Closed with stock pads on my HP8. Before this, spent 1/2 and hour with the CC on the V281, switching between the CC & Caldera Open in a largely futile attempt to find any real differences between these headphones (sonic twins). Then I plugged the CC into the HP8, and...

exactly right IMO

Damn, this amp is knockout pretty. The sound is just as pretty as the looks.

"The Nightfly" was on my TT for years. A master class in writing, composing, and studio mastery. A treasured memory: my wife and I went to Italy on our honeymoon in '84. The Italian lira was incredibly weak & the USD very strong, so we did a lot of shopping. Practically every store in Rome and...