I go back and forth between Caldera and Utopia, I swap back every other week lol

The atrium benefits from a warmer set of tubes that have good bass retrieval/texture

Are you selling it… I would interested lol

I like the apos ray when I match it with a warmer leaning headphone. But I do agree it can be very bright

What tubes do you have right now? When I had the empy II, I used fivre 6v6 and Baldwin 12AU7s and quite enjoyed it. I would say it’s neutral with a touch of warmth. I did find the empy II to have a similar tonality to Utopia but without detail and my fave Utopia pairing is Mazda 6v6G and E80CC...

Just wana mention I’m selling a Blackwood VC if is anyone interested!

Also fellow team stock pad, I decided to change my tubes around and try the thick’s again and I’m starting to enjoy them way more on than on the initial impressions I had. Running fivre 6v6 and E80CC Mullards and it’s such a relaxing pairing for a long day. I think what I like most about the...

This is similar to what happen with me. I was lucky to be part of loaner tour and received the unit twice. The first time I listened I thought they were great but my Blackwood VC got pretty close. It just didn’t have the same level of separation planars bring. But it’s also one of the least...

Would you say this leans neutral or more warm? Right now my current favorite pairing is the Mazda 6v6 G with E80CC Mullard for Utopia. And fivre 6v6 and E80CC mullard for Caldera

Are these 12AU7s? I debated getting a pair for a while and I’m glad to hear Utopia sounds great with them

How’s the cyan 2?

I even preferred the Atrium on the bliss lol the holo stack is my dream set up

Caldera on a warmer set of tubes is a blissful pairing. I prefer tubes on ZMFs over anything else

Is it the new or old drivers? I much prefer the OG so I’d be sad if I couldn’t get a one to one replacement

I will say that last time we had so much cool gear but not enough sources to test them all. I’ll be bringing my hugo2, and AK Kaan Cube so we have a few more sources on hand.

The balanced vs RCA connections I do not believe are equal on the Cayin. The chord dac is superior in almost every way but not being a direct balanced input hurts it on the HA-3A

I have the Hugo 2 which i believe is a very similar dac and I love it with Utopia it really brings out the dynamics. That said, I hesistate to recommend them with the HA-3A because they don’t run balanced. I did a test comparing the two, and I preferred the bifrost on the HA-3A. That said the...

I use the 2/64 with the HA-3A it’s a great pairing. But if you’re specifically pairing with Utopia you wouldn’t go wrong with a bit higher end dac.

Just confirming I will be going (already put yes in the poll) is anything in particular you all would like to see me bring? What I have in my signature is what I have on hand

I personally liked it. It’s a more holographic on this pad. But I enjoy stock the most so I find it very similar in sound just with less bass. I think the majority of the people in this thread enjoy the thick pads because of the bass increase and soundstage gains, which if you directly compare...

Interesting… I’ve only heard the 2022 with the stock cable

This is what I picked on when I compared the two, and felt like that the warmness ruined what I enjoyed about the OG. Mainly the detail retrieval felt much less.

An endless pit of thinking I’m good with what I have to then wanting to upgrade my complete rig lol I’m saving up for a holo audio stack…

Interesting comparison between DZ and Utopia.. I’m thinking the MR would be better for me then. Which has better subass? DZ or MR?

I like the pairing a lot with the green filter. But can only listen without fatigue for like three hours which is a usual listening session to me. Utopias detail retrieval with this pairing is insane.