After nearly 6 years of ownership, my camphor Atticus still smells like camphor. Not as strongly as it did when it was new, but you could still identify those headphones by scent alone. It's quite a lovely attribute of the Atticus IMO.

I finally tried out my LCD-5 on my WA22 and it's a great combo! The tubes take the edge off the mids and round out the bass for more relaxing listen, but still maintain a lot of resolution. I still prefer the super clean solid state amp I have, especially with some EQ, but this pairing will...

Which tubes are you using in the WA22? I've got a WA22 and LCD-5 myself, but never tried them together. I kind of figured my tubes would heighten the mids presence a bit too much.

I just bought my first pair of 5998 and was shocked by how much of an improvement they offered over even some pretty good NOS 6080s. Killer tubes. GLWYS!

A DAP will definitely improve the sound over a phone. Which DAP is best for you will depend upon lots of factors (features, size, battery life, OS, etc.), but for the best sound quality you should look for a DAP with an output impedance of less than 1 Ohm. Ideally, as low as possible. Past 1...

One thing that might be stopping you is if you do not have two-factor authentication enabled. That is now required in order to post on the classifieds. Hope that helps.

I'll quote my full comparison below, but the very short version is that the Benchmark stack has a slight edge in sound quality, but I'd recommend the 2/4 on every other metric. I could even see preferring the 2/4 on sound quality too in some use cases.

Well, Benchmark would disagree. They managed to reach pretty damn optimal sound quality with a switching mode PSU in their HPA4.

If I could only pick one, it would be the XC, not the 5. Taking price out of it entirely, the XC is just much easier to drive, more comfortable, more isolating, much easier to listen to in the background, and far, far less prone to making me worry about it getting damaged in transit.

Explain how to objectively quantify my listening experience and I'll get back to you.

I own the XC, used to own the X, and own the 5. The X and XC don't compete against the 5. They're great headphones, don't get me wrong. The XC is still my favorite closedback. But, the 5 is at a whole other level, especially in resolution, imaging, and separation.

It took me a minute to get there, but this post made me realize that a bigger volume knob means turning the knob a greater distance to cover the same degree of rotation, meaning finer control of the volume. It seems so obvious now, I feel dumb for not realizing it earlier. I thought it was...

GLWYS! This DAC/amp is absolutely a killer! I can’t recommend it highly enough. BTW, XLR outs on the back are combo jacks, and you just need a pair of adapters to run RCA out of them. Monoprice sells a pair for 2 bucks. Silly that RME doesn't include those in the box. I hope that helps you...

Perfect transaction! Great communication, fast shipping, secure packing, and tubes exactly as described. No nonsense, no drama. Fantastic seller!

The figuring in that Zebrano is crazy! What a beautiful pair!

The ADI-2/4 Pro Se has a completely redesigned amp section with a lot more power and better resolution. It's a step up from the earlier RME DAC/amps for sure. I haven't heard those earlier iterations specifically with the LCD-5, but I've heard the 2 with many other headphones and doubt it would...

The LCD-5 and RME 2/4 is quickly becoming my favorite combo. Ridiculous resolution in whatever flavor of sound I want makes it my go-to for work and travel.

The closest direct upgrade I've encountered is the JM Audio XTC^2.5. You can get it tuned to taste, within a range, but the general "warm, but detailed" tuning hits exactly the same itch as the NightOwls for me. Not in the same price range, sadly, but it's something.

Is there any way I could keep the tuning, but you officially give it a bad-ass name like Wolf Hawk too? "Hybrid Near Scalpel Tuning With Defined Detail and Bass" is a great tuning, but the name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I kinda wish it was called Shadowblade or something... :sunglasses:

USAF Mighty 596 for the rectifier, Sylvania Bad Boy 6SN7GTs from 1952 for the drivers, and RCA 6AS7Gs from the '50s for the power tubes. Still burning in the NOS RCAs, which are the weak link, but pretty wonderful sound as a whole so far.

Night shots of my new glass!

Hard to say if the HPA4 would drive that well, given listening levels and all that, but MacedonianHero paired those phones with that amp so maybe search that thread for his take. Good to know that the WA22 handles the 1266 though! I read about some people driving the Tungsten with the WA22 and...

Thanks! I'll be adding a section for tubes next, now that I have a few interesting ones. I'd still probably try to talk you into the RME, but yeah, they're not exactly the same. The most basic way to put it is: the 2/4 is a little richer, the HPA4 is a little clearer. On many things, the...