[jeffarm13]

I'm glad to see we are keeping Justin busy. It's been the better part of a decade since I've posted, but recently I've had the privilege of owning a couple of amps from ampsandsound. First, the ZMF-branded Pendant SE, which was amazing in its own right. And, as of today, the Rockwell Rev 2. It is very early on, of course, but with about 3 hours in, the feeling that I get from the Rockwell is just that it is "more" than the Pendant SE - more depth of field, more realistic tone, more holographic. More of almost everything - perhaps the Pendant has just that slightest extra bit of slam, but the jury is out on that. This is, of course, very early in the process. What I can say is that this sounds phenomenal. I'll post more impressions as I settle in with the Rockwell, but this is amazing out of the gate on every level. It doesn't hurt that Justin is a top-notch guy, either.

Obligatory (bad) pictures:

 

[gonintendo]

I don't feel ready to post a full set of impressions yet, but so far the two most impressive aspects of the mogwai SE have been:
1. Just how deep the bass digs. More than any other headphone listening experience I've had, the Mogwai SE with my ZMF Aeolus and Verite Closed feels incredibly full and weighty in the bass. While I love my ZMFs, I always found myself wishing the bass on them was more like on my LCD-2s on solid state. With the Mogwai SE, they feel like they dig even deeper in to the sub bass!
2. The sense of dynamics and tactility. I'll be listening to a quiet passage, and know that an intense part is coming up, and usually it's like medium engaging (better on my ZMFs than any other cans I've heard, but not as good as a big speaker system), but on the Mogwai my ZMFs just slam like crazy. Also things like guitar strums sound super tactile and percussive, but without being fatiguing. On my VCs on solid state, this aspect could be a bit fatiguing, and on my Aeolus I sometimes wanted a bit more. Somehow both sets of cans have trended towards feeling more realistic on the Mogwai.

I have been finding myself enjoying the 300 ohm jack on my VCs and the 8 and 32 ohm jacks on my Aeolus the most.

 

[gonintendo]

Noise floor is impressively low for zero feedback, on my VCs I can barely hear it on the 300ohm tap at listening volumes, and it's not audible when actually playing audio. On my Aeolus it's inaudible on all taps

 

[DenverW]

Any recommendations for great synergy with a dac for the bigger Ben? I’m currently using a fantastic audio mirror tubadour iii se and love it, but may need to change due to a system issue (no fault of the dac). Yggdrasil? Morpheus? Holo spring 2? Usb functionality is key, I’m running from a pc.

 

[jeffarm13]

Any recommendations for great synergy with a dac for the bigger Ben? I’m currently using a fantastic audio mirror tubadour iii se and love it, but may need to change due to a system issue (no fault of the dac). Yggdrasil? Morpheus? Holo spring 2? Usb functionality is key, I’m running from a pc.

I don't have the Big Ben, but both A&S amps I do have sound great with the Yggy OG. I love my Morpheus, but I run it with the I2S module paired with the Hermes streamer, so cannot comment on its USB implementation. Have you run your Bifrost 2 in your setup? Assuming it is multibit, BF 2 will get you in the ballpark of the Yggy OG sound, perhaps a little warmer and less refined, but the family resemblance is there. It may give you an inkling as to whether that general sound works for you in that system, anyway.

 

[gonintendo]

Any recommendations for great synergy with a dac for the bigger Ben? I’m currently using a fantastic audio mirror tubadour iii se and love it, but may need to change due to a system issue (no fault of the dac). Yggdrasil? Morpheus? Holo spring 2? Usb functionality is key, I’m running from a pc.

I’ve only listened to my Mogwai on the Qutest and ADI-2, but I’d say out of the two of those the Qutest is a great match for Justin’s amps. Its strengths complement Justin’s amps and Justin’s amps’ strengths complement it IMO (it’s maybe lacking a bit of midrange weight, which Justin’s amps have gobs of, and its excellent spatialization kind of lets you have the best of both worlds, both intimate and huge staging)
It’s also the cheapest chord DAC that has galvanically isolated USB and I can’t tell any huge differences between my streamer and USB on it (there’s a slight improvement but not as big as on the RME).

 

[nwavesailor]

I went from a Qutest with the Pendant then a TT2 w/ m scaler. Upgraded to the BB and then added the Dave. I really liked the Qutest and TT2 but love the additional charity and detail with the Dave.

 

[DenverW]

I went from a Qutest with the Pendant then a TT2 w/ m scaler. Upgraded to the BB and then added the Dave. I really liked the Qutest and TT2 but love the additional charity and detail with the Dave.

Chord is getting some love, thank you both for the suggestion. The TT2 and Dave are a bit more than I'm looking for atm, but the qutest is an option. Appreciate it, and open to other comments .

 

[bdh]

Chord is getting some love, thank you both for the suggestion. The TT2 and Dave are a bit more than I'm looking for atm, but the qutest is an option. Appreciate it, and open to other comments .

I just sold my TT2, as there was no point in listening to it anymore since I got the Merason Frerot. It, with the matching linear power supply, costs just over what the Qutest does.

 

[gugges]

Has people seen this? Western Electric is looking into expanding their tube production beyond the 300B. Make sure to fill it out if you're interested so they can gauge demand!
https://www.westernelectric.com/expand

 

[DenverW]

Has people seen this? Western Electric is looking into expanding their tube production beyond the 300B. Make sure to fill it out if you're interested so they can gauge demand!
https://www.westernelectric.com/expand

Filled out! Thanks for the heads up .

 

[WillieB]

Filled out! Thanks for the heads up

Yeah they put that out there a couple days after New Sensor announced that production was being shut down until further notice. They got a good response from what I hear so they are well underway at this point, at least I hope.

 

[DenverW]

Yeah they put that out there a couple days after New Sensor announced that production was being shut down until further notice. They got a good response from what I hear so they are well underway at this point, at least I hope.

Seeing kt88, 6l6, and 12ax7 on the list makes me a bit slobbery with greed.

 

[WillieB]

Seeing kt88, 6l6, and 12ax7 on the list makes me a bit slobbery with greed.

It will be nice to have some modern, American made varieties of these tubes. I would also like to see a KT77 and 6550. Kinkless tetrodes are definitely right up my alley for non-triode power stages. Of course I hope they bring back all of the big triodes too.

 

[jurumal]

I had the pleasure of stopping at the Ampsandsound table at T.H.E. Show this weekend and have detailed some quick impressions below.


LeeLoo

LeeLoo is a product of the latest collab with Headphones.com and it was paired with the HD 800S. The pairing sounded neutral to my ears and it was notably inoffensive in anyway. During previous listens, I found the treble on the 800S offensive at times, but paired with the LeeLoo I didn't have that issue. It was incredibly detailed but added a touch fun (a descriptor I don't often find associated with 800S).


Forge and LeeLoo. A&S x Headphones.com collab amps.

I love the Forge. So much so that I purchased one shortly after I heard the 32/300 variant at CanJam SoCal last year. It's just a wonderfully dynamic amp that reaches to soul of the music and is able to deliver it to you with all the microdetails. It seemed to have more soundstage width to my ears compared to LeeLoo but I was also using an HE-6 (OG 4-screw EP) which @Netforce graciously provided for demo. Yes, Forge can drive it. And yes, it can do it to satisfaction. One last thing I want to mention is that I've had my fiancé listen to some of the latest by "T-Sweezy" on the Forge using my VO. She told me it was creepy how realistic Taylor sounded on it.


Kenzie Ovation

Ampsandsound Chief Mensch Justin described it perfectly when he compared the synergy of ZMF and Ovation to peanut butter and jelly. Indeed, hands down the Ovation was the best pairing with my VO. Compared to the Forge, it brought more density/body to the images without clouding anything up while focusing the image even further for greater detail. It's doing this while delivering macrodynamics galore. This one's a must-hear for ZMF owners.


Jinx

Jinx features the ability to drive 6V6 tubes which makes this a great amp for NOS tube enthusiasts. I got to pair it with the VO and the HE6SE. The Hilton hotel unfortunately had dirty power which was audible when I was listening to the Jinx. Fortunately, as soon as I hit play, the dirty mains noise was quickly forgotten. "Rich" is the word that comes to mind when listening to this headphone. It was absolutely rich in tonality and macrodynamics. And yes, these descriptors came to mind when listening with the HE6SE. This amp was the black sheep (sonically) of the lineup for me due to the overt richness. If the LeeLoo prioritizes detail with added fun, the Jinx does slam (*ahem*, I mean fun) with added detail.


Bigger Ben

Any description I provide won't do the Bigger Ben any justice since I wasn't able to get a good impression due to the hotel mains noise.


Nautilus

The word "rich" comes to mind. Alright jokes aside, it was undeniably the most detailed and natural sounding amp in the ENTIRE room. Not sure what else to add here. It's a must-hear.

Thanks to @Netforce, @Sebastien Chiu, and Chief Mensch @ampsandsound Justin for hosting the tables. Hope to get some 300B love at CanJam SoCal later this year