[DenverW]

Guys I love my crack OTL with bs650, atticus and hd800S. The warm smooth, euphonic sound with very full mids. I prefer her to audio gd he9, elekit ut8600S and even my ARC pre into pass power amp.

Is the Kenzie or mogwai an evolution of that euphonic sound? Is it as euphonic and warm in the mids as the Crack OTL but better? I have heard mixed things about that.

Thanks!

Hey man! I have to give the disclaimer that I can only half answer this.

I love Bottlehead! I’ve had and built pretty much every headphone amp they carry, and my favorite of the bunch was a crackatwoa with some souped up capacitors.

So here is where the disclosure comes: I haven’t heard a kenzie or mogwai; I have a bigger Ben Rev 1. That being said, the BB was much more impactful. The sound is powerful! It made me put the c2a to the side, as it bested it on pretty much every level. And it’s not limited to high impedance cans so planars were back in the equation. My thought is that the mogwai should be investigated for sure. I’ve heard the kenzie compared to the mainline, and the mainline is great but c2a was my preference.

If you can snag a mogwai se or such I think you would be happy in the comparison, as it has a lot of the tech and quality of the BB1.

Hope this helps a little!

Quick edit: are you prespeedball? If so, that’s about as euphoric as you can get. A change is going to drop that as a trade off. If you’re speedball I stand by above .

 

[daddyo1973]

Joined the ampsandsound club today!

I just took delivery of my Mogwai SE Rev 2 earlier today and so far everything is exceeding expectations. The custom flight case the amp ships in is just ridiculous. The classic design is great and the build quality and attention to detail is excellent. Even my first listen, which was only 15 minutes after first power up, was an absolute joy. I am really looking forward to spending more time with this amp in my system.

 

[ardbeg1975]

NOS TS are very nice tubes. There are three variants. 3 hole, solid grey plate, and black plate. The solid grey plate is the best of the three IMO.

If you are looking for a pair feel free to DM I have a few. No worries if not, either way they are great tubes.

I had a pair of NOS Tung Sols on order. Just got them today. They are excellent but need to recheck in the morning which variant they are as they are at my office. I need a bit more listening time but I think I prefer them to the NOS 6L6GC RCA blackplates.

 

[TDinCali]

Guess that amp…

 

[daddyo1973]

Guess that amp…

Bigger Ben?

 

[me2621a]

Guess that amp…

Bigger Ben Rev 2

 

[ardbeg1975]

I had a pair of NOS Tung Sols on order. Just got them today. They are excellent but need to recheck in the morning which variant they are as they are at my office. I need a bit more listening time but I think I prefer them to the NOS 6L6GC RCA blackplates.

@me2621a hooked me up with some TT21s and in addition to looking pretty cool, I prefer them to the NOS or reissue KT88s. I’d swear they sound a bit bigger and the treble handling is slightly smoother.

 

[me2621a]

@me2621a hooked me up with some TT21s and in addition to looking pretty cool, I prefer them to the NOS or reissue KT88s. I’d swear they sound a bit bigger and the treble handling is slightly smoother.

Happy you like them, they are great tubes.

 

[Jenerics]

Love my TT-21's!

Quick question with regards to favorite planar headphones with the Mogwai SE - I've owned several over the 2 years I've had the Mogwai SE (Sundara, LCD-X, LCD-5), but I ultimately end up listening mostly to dynamics and have sold all of them. What are some of your favorite planars that you enjoy that may not make ears bleed with poorly recorded 80's music?

Pics for clicks:

 

[TDinCali]

For me Susvara. If my susvara crapped out after warranty, I’d run out and buy another pair immediately. I don’t think I’d say that about any other pair I’ve owned but you know how it is, this is all personal preference.

 

[ardbeg1975]

For me Susvara. If my susvara crapped out after warranty, I’d run out and buy another pair immediately. I don’t think I’d say that about any other pair I’ve owned but you know how it is, this is all personal preference.

I second the Susvaras and would add D8000 Pros.

 

[erics75]

Love my TT-21's!

Quick question with regards to favorite planar headphones with the Mogwai SE - I've owned several over the 2 years I've had the Mogwai SE (Sundara, LCD-X, LCD-5), but I ultimately end up listening mostly to dynamics and have sold all of them. What are some of your favorite planars that you enjoy that may not make ears bleed with poorly recorded 80's music?

Pics for clicks:

The easiest listening planar I have is the Audeze LCD2 Closed. That's of the readily available models. If you can get your hands on one of ZMFs old Fostex mods, the Ori, that's also incredibly fatigue free and easy to listen to. I mostly listen to dynamic drivers and tubes, so those are my main planars when I want to mix things up. I also have an HE6 SE2 but I wouldn't call that one easy listening. and definitely doesn't like my tube gear (too weak).

great looking amp! I've owned a few of Justin's amps, they're awesome. I currently have a Kenzie OG R2 and love it. I've toyed with getting one of his more powerful units, but I just don't need it for most of my headphones. other than the HE6, all the others do just fine on the Kenzie or Stratus I have. If anything i wish they were a bit less powerful as I'm barely using the volume knob on either with all my dynamics, and nowhere near noon the planars (HE6 excluded).

 

[Jenerics]

The easiest listening planar I have is the Audeze LCD2 Closed. That's of the readily available models. If you can get your hands on one of ZMFs old Fostex mods, the Ori, that's also incredibly fatigue free and easy to listen to. I mostly listen to dynamic drivers and tubes, so those are my main planars when I want to mix things up. I also have an HE6 SE2 but I wouldn't call that one easy listening. and definitely doesn't like my tube gear (too weak).

great looking amp! I've owned a few of Justin's amps, they're awesome. I currently have a Kenzie OG R2 and love it. I've toyed with getting one of his more powerful units, but I just don't need it for most of my headphones. other than the HE6, all the others do just fine on the Kenzie or Stratus I have. If anything i wish they were a bit less powerful as I'm barely using the volume knob on either with all my dynamics, and nowhere near noon the planars (HE6 excluded).

I've debated the HE6 SE2 and will probably give them a try if they come back on sale as I think the Mogwai with KT88 or equivalent could do them justice. I've also owned the Modhouse Mk2 and agree with the Fostex recommendation but I still haven't found a closed back I like long term.

The HE1000V2 at the sale price of $1399 is so tempting as I don't think I want to stretch to the Susvara this year and I think an MM-500 may scratch my Audeze itch as I loved the LCD-X but didn't enjoy the weight.

The usual suspects keep coming to mind and I appreciate any off the wall suggestions.

 

[erics75]

I've debated the HE6 SE2 and will probably give them a try if they come back on sale as I think the Mogwai with KT88 or equivalent could do them justice. I've also owned the Modhouse Mk2 and agree with the Fostex recommendation but I still haven't found a closed back I like long term.

The HE1000V2 at the sale price of $1399 is so tempting as I don't think I want to stretch to the Susvara this year and I think an MM-500 may scratch my Audeze itch as I loved the LCD-X but didn't enjoy the weight.

The usual suspects keep coming to mind and I appreciate any off the wall suggestions.

i'm really excited to try the new MM-100, can't beat the price. i also thought about the 1000k but hifiman qc just bothers me. i just deleted my raging paragraph as to why and will just say they're just not for me anymore

you know what the surprise of year has been for me? the lowly Sennheiser HD569. I got them at black friday last year and have been constantly impressed with them. they're not great from a technical perspective. but man are they overall just fun and agreeable to listen to. light on the head and easy to power. they like tubes, and just about anything you plug them into. color me impressed!

 

[me2621a]

The Susvara is in a totally different league than most headphones (IMO). I have owned two of them and both times I was reminded how great they were. Nothing in the Audeze range can touch them in terms of comfort and weight. Sound wise they are one of the most balanced and articulate headphones I have heard. All the space of an HD800, all the resolution of a Grado, the smoothness of the audeze, and the dynamic slam of the abyss. Its only draw back is the need for driving power which Mogwai SE has plenty of (especially on the 8 ohm tap which was always my preferred presentation).

I currently have an LCD 5, and it sounds really good, but it’s not a Susvara by any stretch. The HE1000SE was a great sounding headphone but it’s more like a LCD 5 in terms of performance then a Susvara, the HE1000v2 was a cool headphone and at that price is worth purchasing, but I personally would by an HD 800S over it. With the exception of the Susvara it is the only headphone that I have listened to that really wowed me. It’s not perfect but it’s really excellent and performs better than most headphones 2x the cost in my opinion.