[kumar402]

Although betula's impressions and feedback are great, i feel like the MJ3 may have been the only amp of the 3 that really scales (which im sure he knows as well), so while his comparison's seem spot on, i have take his actual ratings with a grain of salt as the eversolo and cyan dacs wont bring the MJ3 to its top tier performance. The MJ3 is said to be alot more dac picky than either of the other 2 amps. I wish he was able to do his testing with an yggdrasil or better, but regardless of the dac used it was a fantastic write up and very much appreciated. again, well done my friend.

Is Cyan the new Holo DAC ?

 

[quawn0418]

I have almost the same gear as you. Only differences are the headphones (I'm using Arya v2) and I got the Freya N in between the Pontus 2 and MJ3. If I recall, my MJ3 settled in around 150 hours of play time and hasn't drastically change thereafter. But I also feel my MJ3 sounds a bit better after being on for 2 hours vs cold start. It gets really hot to the touch measuring about 145 to 149 degrees fahrenheit where the transformers are.

Are you using balance ins and outs , tieing everything together?

good question, and to be fair he did say that if he had to choose either the mj3 or mentor long term he'd take the MJ3. however, you are right about the burn in, its real.

 

[quawn0418]

Is Cyan the new Holo DAC ?

It is, but its there lower end model, i havent heard it personally but i would assume that its maybe Bifrost 2/64 level. i say this because passion for sound felt like the yggdrasil is better than the spring but not better than the may, where as the cyan sits beneath both. so id compare it to bifrost. also, i run a bifrost with my mj3 and i know its my weak link, the mj3 let me know it pretty easily.

 

[commtrd]

Great review and writeup. On my MJ3, the treble seems really nice, perhaps just very slightly rolled off but then again I know I have some hearing loss in the highest registers unfortunately so take that with a grain of salt. I looked at the alcantara pads included with my Elite, they do not look angled at all. Finally, I would REALLY like to hear the Aegis amp someday. Maybe ZMF will have one at Can Jam in Dallas. I have never heard a tube amp, hopefully then I can aim for the next wallet abuser after the Caldera. LOL For now, the MJ3 is pretty good I think.

 

[ckhirnigs113]

Great review and writeup. On my MJ3, the treble seems really nice, perhaps just very slightly rolled off but then again I know I have some hearing loss in the highest registers unfortunately so take that with a grain of salt. I looked at the alcantara pads included with my Elite, they do not look angled at all. Finally, I would REALLY like to hear the Aegis amp someday. Maybe ZMF will have one at Can Jam in Dallas. I have never heard a tube amp, hopefully then I can aim for the next wallet abuser after the Caldera. LOL For now, the MJ3 is pretty good I think.

Do you have the new tungsten Elite or the original aluminum version? I’m pretty sure the tungsten version came stock with the Angled Alcantara pads along with the Hybrids. My aluminum version from a while back came with the non-angled Alcantara pads. I decided to purchase the Angled version when they came out and started getting all the good reviews from Elite/Empyrean owners.

If you don’t have the Angled Alcantara pads yet, I highly recommend them. They are the only pad I use with my Elite these days.

 

[PopZeus]

If there’s any flaw to the Mj3, i think there’s maybe a bit of grain to the treble. I noticed it with the Empyrean before I sold it. Though my reaction to the grain was more about the Empy’s peaky upper treble. With more subdued treble, I find it’s easier to spot with feedback on, which is why I tend to just leave it off.

 

[commtrd]

I have the aluminum version of Elite, with the regular alcantara pads. I plan on purchasing the Caldera, and keeping the Elites for a backup to the Caldera. I really love the Elites a lot, and kind of scratching my head about reading the "veiled" stuff about them. But the Caldera is calling my name, those stabilized cans just look so amazing. True works of art, and all the hundreds of reviews and impressions just add to that. It would be a lot cheaper to just get the new angled pads for Elite and call it good, but I really wanted to try a Caldera on my stack. This hobby is something else.

 

[kumar402]

I’m currently listening to MJ3 with Sonnet Pasithea and Atrium. MJ3 is fully burned in and has good headstage and layering. When I did A-B between MJ3 and Bliss, I didn’t feel any shrinkage or collapse in headstage with MJ3 . May be tiny bit here and there.

 

[kumar402]

If there’s any flaw to the Mj3, i think there’s maybe a bit of grain to the treble. I noticed it with the Empyrean before I sold it. Though my reaction to the grain was more about the Empy’s peaky upper treble. With more subdued treble, I find it’s easier to spot with feedback on, which is why I tend to just leave it off.

Empy OG has high D3 above 10K

 

[commtrd]

So Atrium works well with MJ3?

 

[PopZeus]

Empy OG has high D3 above 10K

I’m not up on my lingo haha. Is that supposed to mean 3rd order harmonic distortion or something?

 

[ckhirnigs113]

So Atrium works well with MJ3?

My Atrium Closed sounds great with the MJ3 in my setup, though I might just prefer it with my SW51+ tube amp despite it being much cheaper. I got to try the Atrium Open last year for a week, but unfortunately it was before I had the MJ3.

 

[kumar402]

I’m not up on my lingo haha. Is that supposed to mean 3rd order harmonic distortion or something?

Sorry about that…I’m no expert either. I meant 3rd harmonic

 

[Barnstormer13]

If there’s any flaw to the Mj3, i think there’s maybe a bit of grain to the treble. I noticed it with the Empyrean before I sold it. Though my reaction to the grain was more about the Empy’s peaky upper treble. With more subdued treble, I find it’s easier to spot with feedback on, which is why I tend to just leave it off.

Will be interesting to hear how it compares to my tube amps. I went to tubes because of a distaste for metallic, grainy highs. That said, I figure with an LIM Yggy the MJ3 should be pretty smooth.

 

[commtrd]

I got my LiM morphed into a MiB before the MJ3 arrived, so did not get to listen to the LiM / MJ3 combo. However, I can say the MiB / MJ3 stack sounds really nice, similar to the LiM, just more detailed but retaining the inky black background and musicality of the LiM. There is zero grainy or strident treble with my stack at all. The LiM has a slight dark tilt, but the MJ3 might well pair OK with it. All genres I have heard on my stack have been incredible to my ears. YMMV as usual...