[JazzVinyl]

Got out of the ZMF ecosystem for a change of pace last night, and donned the grossly unknown and underrated Sennheiser HD250. Man these headphones scale like mad!
The VC is more technically proficient, but if you enjoy a punchy sound with other wordly sub bass, its an amazing headphone, especially for 75 bucks shipped, lol! Still the best bargain to date in this hobby

@mordy likes the Senn HD250's too.

For me, it is Focal Elear's when I want to get out of the ZMF ecosystem. The Focal's are very clear, high resolution / detail revealing cans. They also have impressive, solid bass.

Highly recommended.

 

[Zachik]

So something that comes to mind for me - this tester has a maximum 200V B+ supply. Many tubes in their datasheets give operating parameters at higher voltages, 250V or 275V is common. When testing, you may not have a reference value to compare the tube to since measurements will be done at lower voltages. The gm for a tube will be different at 200V vs. 250V for example. Practically, it's fine as you can say the tube's gm is "in the ballpark" of NOS in the datasheet and has appropriate gain, but you will not be able to use the datasheet measurement parameters directly if they are over 200V B+. Other than that, as long as it tests all of the tubes you want to test, it has a lot of great functionality that isn't included on many tube testers, like gain measurements, sine waveform, noise testing. Includes gas and shorts as well.

I wish I could find some reviews... I hate the thought of spending $1500-ish (including the 300B module) on any tube tester, unless it is absolutely amazing!
Amplitrex 1000 which MANY swear by, is selling at $3000 for reference

 

[Monsterzero]

Looks awesome, yeah I sort of regret selling mine now, they really are great headphones. I think I mentioned this before, but I had some difficulty getting a good seal with my pair, I was using ZMF universe pads at the time. I might give them another shot someday.

A few others mentioned having a hard time with getting a good seal. The key is finding a pair with the original pads intact and in good shape. Even with my space goggles, I get a great seal and all the bass one can ask for.

There's a pair in the classifieds right now, but its not in the greatest shape.

@mordy likes the Senn HD250's too.

For me, it is Focal Elear's when I want to get out of the ZMF ecosystem. The Focal's are very clear, high resolution / detail revealing cans. They also have impressive, solid bass.

Highly recommended.

I turned Mordy onto them way back when.

The Airmid is currently my only amp, so no low impedance headphones for me, but I hope to change that eventuaslly and add a second amp to the collection.

 

[ProLoL]

A few others mentioned having a hard time with getting a good seal. The key is finding a pair with the original pads intact and in good shape. Even with my space goggles, I get a great seal and all the bass one can ask for.

There's a pair in the classifieds right now, but its not in the greatest shape.

I turned Mordy onto them way back when.

The Airmid is currently my only amp, so no low impedance headphones for me, but I hope to change that eventuaslly and add a second amp to the collection.

I happen to own both pairs that are for sale, one as brand new, the other in used condition yet both have original pads and foam.
I appreciate that people recognize how good these are.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I wish I could find some reviews... I hate the thought of spending $1500-ish (including the 300B module) on any tube tester, unless it is absolutely amazing!
Amplitrex 1000 which MANY swear by, is selling at $3000 for reference

You could ask the maker if he can get you in contact with someone he has sold the tester to.

 

[whirlwind]

Got out of the ZMF ecosystem for a change of pace last night, and donned the grossly unknown and underrated Sennheiser HD250. Man these headphones scale like mad!
The VC is more technically proficient, but if you enjoy a punchy sound with other wordly sub bass, its an amazing headphone, especially for 75 bucks shipped, lol! Still the best bargain to date in this hobby.

Airmid- Ken Rad 6J5+Tung sol 5998
TRP-WWll era RCA 5R4GY+Sophia Electric EL34

I never owned this headphone, but I have heard it and it is very punchy indeed. The pair I listened to had very old beat up pads on them.

Nice pic!

Looks awesome, yeah I sort of regret selling mine now, they really are great headphones. I think I mentioned this before, but I had some difficulty getting a good seal with my pair, I was using ZMF universe pads at the time. I might give them another shot someday.

I could not get a great seal either, but the pads were pretty bad shape, the bass was fun.

Heading up to Cuyahoga to Blossom tonight to see the Black Keys....can't wait to hear Dan Auerbach's old fuzzy Guild Thunderbird guitar.
Should be fun.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I could not get a great seal either, but the pads were pretty bad shape, the bass was fun.

Heading up to Cuyahoga to Blossom tonight to see the Black Keys....can't wait to hear Dan Auerbach's old fuzzy Guild Thunderbird guitar.
Should be fun.

That'll be awesome, have fun! I love Blossom, I go there probably 5 or 6 times a year, mostly to see the Cleveland Orchestra they get some big acts through there too though!

 

[whirlwind]

That'll be awesome, have fun! I love Blossom, I go there probably 5 or 6 times a year, mostly to see the Cleveland Orchestra they get some big acts through there too though!

Thanks.

That is a beautiful piece of property...what a great place to hear the Cleveland Orchestra.....bet that sound's surreal there.

 

[jgwtriode]

Saw an intereting post on Facebook at ZMF Headphones about the ZMF Caldara Planar Magnetic. Apparently it will be at the
SoCal Can Jam.

Is this a new flagship. Very Curious. My last planar was LFF Slants, so I am very curious to hear about these, especially in comparison
to the Atrium.

jgwtriode

 

[Monsterzero]

Saw an intereting post on Facebook at ZMF Headphones about the ZMF Caldara Planar Magnetic. Apparently it will be at the
SoCal Can Jam.

Is this a new flagship. Very Curious. My last planar was LFF Slants, so I am very curious to hear about these, especially in comparison
to the Atrium.

jgwtriode

We're drooling over it over in the VC thread. As far as pricing goes, no word yet from ZMF

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Saw an intereting post on Facebook at ZMF Headphones about the ZMF Caldara Planar Magnetic. Apparently it will be at the
SoCal Can Jam.

Is this a new flagship. Very Curious. My last planar was LFF Slants, so I am very curious to hear about these, especially in comparison
to the Atrium.

jgwtriode

Yup, that's right, it will be at CanJam SoCal. I haven't heard it yet but Zach is very excited to release it. I will be looking forward to reading impressions!

Unfortunately my pentode headphone amplifier will NOT be at CanJam SoCal. Something happened to the IEC inlet during shipping, or perhaps there was an issue before shipping that I didn't realize. In either case, the amp is on its way back to me. We talked about shipping it directly to SoCal after I make the repair, but the logistics of that are pretty complex and the ZMF team is already going to have a lot on their plate at such a big event.

So no impressions of that amplifier. Ultimately, I think it is for the best as I am uncertain it is complete and it felt somewhat rushed coming back from a vacation, putting in the last part, and shipping it off. I've started to feel a transitor-based approach would make the amplifier more viable as a commercial product. While I prioritized simplicity for the "old school" approach, the tradeoff was cost of inductors, some of which are only made by Lundahl, which limits options.

So I am likely going to investigate a "new school" version of this amp while maintaining the basic topology of the "old school" version. Essentially three chokes will be replaced with transistor circuits, and the performance may be further improved.

But today I am reading about winding transformers I will have the amp back tomorrow.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Saw an intereting post on Facebook at ZMF Headphones about the ZMF Caldara Planar Magnetic. Apparently it will be at the
SoCal Can Jam.

Is this a new flagship. Very Curious. My last planar was LFF Slants, so I am very curious to hear about these, especially in comparison
to the Atrium.

jgwtriode

Is this an original driver design, kind of like when MrSpeakers/DCA made the jump from Fostex modding to full design?

 

[Monsterzero]

Is this an original driver design, kind of like when MrSpeakers/DCA made the jump from Fostex modding to full design?

Yes

 

[Xcalibur255]

Yes

Can't wait to see what tuning approach Zach takes with it then.

 

[jgwtriode]

This should be a pretty amazing headphone considering what Zach was able to do in the past with Fostex drivers. This should be really be something remarkable. I really like the slightly more technical look of the grille on the Caldera!

Happy listening,

jgwtriode