hecrews
New Head-Fier
Thank you for your comments. Love to read them as they update my list of need to hear.
CanJam London 2024 Impressions Thread (July 20-21, 2024)
- Thread starter AxelCloris
- Start date
My belated impressions of my first CanJam in London, 2024:
After visiting the High End Munich that was an enormous exhibition with over 1000 brands in 4 exhibition halls, several rooms on 30.000 square meters of space is anything but an intimate experience. High End Munich is an event to impress and indulge with product launches and a large variety of hi-fi products from all over the world.
On the other hand CanJam London 2024 was a more intimate event in a luxury hotel’s event room with similarly high end products, but the focus was on the listening chains, great pairings of the different gears with the amazing headphones and IEMs, Also, as the event took place in a much smaller place, the 2 days is a reasonable timeframe to process the whole exhibition vs in Munich where the task is almost impossible.
The pinnacle of the event in London (for me at least) were the section rooms where some manufacturers and retailers had the opportunity to exhibit their whole lineup or their very special products.
One of these was ZMF Headphones. In Europe it’s easier to spot a Unicorn than to be able to audition any of their headphones. Last year I had the chance to hear some of Zach’s headphones in Vienna, but this time there were all their headphones, amps together with Zach Mehrbach himself, Bevin and their amazing team who were super helpful and knowledgeable.
At CanJam in London I managed to hear all their models - first on a dCS Lina stack - to hear them the least colored, least altered manner, but driven to their fullest potential on a solid state. Later also heard them on various tube amps and their own high-end Aegis amp - on which they really shine.
As most audiophiles know, ZMF started in 2011 with Zach modding Fostex t50rps. Although those were planar headphones, ZMF recently is more known for their high impedance dynamic headphones and rightfully so.
My all time favorite is the Atrium Open back. Its lush, full, warm, open, relaxed sound signature embodies the essence of an audiophile headphone. Recently they announced their limited run of their stabilized resin flake headphones and one of the most beautiful one is the Atrium Open. It was on display in London with its matching headphone stand and cable. Maybe it’s not the most expensive, nor the - objectively - best sounding headphone at the show, but definitely the best holistic experience where the physical appearance, the sound, the comfort and that extra attention to detail and care you only get from a smaller, boutique manufacturer. These headphones have their soul, they sing.
Recently they announced their most affordable models the Bokeh Closed and in London they showed their Open back model as well. Both models are of lower impedance than their flagship models. Although they always emphasize that they don’t have flagships, but headphones of different flavors, that is more or less true. The Bokeh series is surprisingly similar to their high impedance models, but easier to drive and are of a slightly lesser build quality and use less fancy connection of 3.5 jack vs the mini XLR. Both models have the unmistakable ZMF house sound, but slightly less dyanmic. There is however a limited edition stabilized version of the Bokeh Closed that looks and feels just as amazing as their higher end and more expensive models.
The older, but equally remarkable product, the Auteur Classic was a shocking value as well, especially because the retuned version got the same atrium damping system of the Atrium open backs, so the similarities are understandable, but its more neutral character could be appealing to a wider audience.
And at tast, but not least, as they started modding the Fostex planars those were the stars of the show and it’s no different with their Caldera Open and Closed models either. Obviously their in house large driver and their amazing woodwork, comfortable (and sonically great) eearpads make wonders with the open back Calderas. One of the first thing that struck me is how organic, natural timbre they have for a planar. Also very spacious sounding. As a full package, the sound, the design, the comfort makes them one of the best open back planars out there.
If I say the open back Caldera is a great headphone, I have to say the closed back Caldera is one of the best closed back planars. There’s an amazing bass performance to start with, topped with a lot of detail. They have similar timbral qualities as the open back, so they have very organic, natural timbre and has a great dynamic sound to them with the usual planar speed. Killer closed back headphones.
After all this praise one could think I’m a shrill for ZMF, but the experience is really that amazing, the only downside is the availability in Europe and the price, but overcoming these, they even offer lifetime warranty for the drivers (for the original owner), so these products can be considered as safe investment. ZMF, Zach, Bevin and their whole team offer TOTL product line, exceptional service for the audio enthusiasts with pure sonic, design and ergonomic bliss.
To be continued...
After visiting the High End Munich that was an enormous exhibition with over 1000 brands in 4 exhibition halls, several rooms on 30.000 square meters of space is anything but an intimate experience. High End Munich is an event to impress and indulge with product launches and a large variety of hi-fi products from all over the world.
On the other hand CanJam London 2024 was a more intimate event in a luxury hotel’s event room with similarly high end products, but the focus was on the listening chains, great pairings of the different gears with the amazing headphones and IEMs, Also, as the event took place in a much smaller place, the 2 days is a reasonable timeframe to process the whole exhibition vs in Munich where the task is almost impossible.
The pinnacle of the event in London (for me at least) were the section rooms where some manufacturers and retailers had the opportunity to exhibit their whole lineup or their very special products.
One of these was ZMF Headphones. In Europe it’s easier to spot a Unicorn than to be able to audition any of their headphones. Last year I had the chance to hear some of Zach’s headphones in Vienna, but this time there were all their headphones, amps together with Zach Mehrbach himself, Bevin and their amazing team who were super helpful and knowledgeable.
At CanJam in London I managed to hear all their models - first on a dCS Lina stack - to hear them the least colored, least altered manner, but driven to their fullest potential on a solid state. Later also heard them on various tube amps and their own high-end Aegis amp - on which they really shine.
As most audiophiles know, ZMF started in 2011 with Zach modding Fostex t50rps. Although those were planar headphones, ZMF recently is more known for their high impedance dynamic headphones and rightfully so.
My all time favorite is the Atrium Open back. Its lush, full, warm, open, relaxed sound signature embodies the essence of an audiophile headphone. Recently they announced their limited run of their stabilized resin flake headphones and one of the most beautiful one is the Atrium Open. It was on display in London with its matching headphone stand and cable. Maybe it’s not the most expensive, nor the - objectively - best sounding headphone at the show, but definitely the best holistic experience where the physical appearance, the sound, the comfort and that extra attention to detail and care you only get from a smaller, boutique manufacturer. These headphones have their soul, they sing.
Recently they announced their most affordable models the Bokeh Closed and in London they showed their Open back model as well. Both models are of lower impedance than their flagship models. Although they always emphasize that they don’t have flagships, but headphones of different flavors, that is more or less true. The Bokeh series is surprisingly similar to their high impedance models, but easier to drive and are of a slightly lesser build quality and use less fancy connection of 3.5 jack vs the mini XLR. Both models have the unmistakable ZMF house sound, but slightly less dyanmic. There is however a limited edition stabilized version of the Bokeh Closed that looks and feels just as amazing as their higher end and more expensive models.
The older, but equally remarkable product, the Auteur Classic was a shocking value as well, especially because the retuned version got the same atrium damping system of the Atrium open backs, so the similarities are understandable, but its more neutral character could be appealing to a wider audience.
And at tast, but not least, as they started modding the Fostex planars those were the stars of the show and it’s no different with their Caldera Open and Closed models either. Obviously their in house large driver and their amazing woodwork, comfortable (and sonically great) eearpads make wonders with the open back Calderas. One of the first thing that struck me is how organic, natural timbre they have for a planar. Also very spacious sounding. As a full package, the sound, the design, the comfort makes them one of the best open back planars out there.
If I say the open back Caldera is a great headphone, I have to say the closed back Caldera is one of the best closed back planars. There’s an amazing bass performance to start with, topped with a lot of detail. They have similar timbral qualities as the open back, so they have very organic, natural timbre and has a great dynamic sound to them with the usual planar speed. Killer closed back headphones.
After all this praise one could think I’m a shrill for ZMF, but the experience is really that amazing, the only downside is the availability in Europe and the price, but overcoming these, they even offer lifetime warranty for the drivers (for the original owner), so these products can be considered as safe investment. ZMF, Zach, Bevin and their whole team offer TOTL product line, exceptional service for the audio enthusiasts with pure sonic, design and ergonomic bliss.
To be continued...
Users who are viewing this thread
