[FooFighter]

Ferrum OOR

Luxman P750u can be another option, haven't heard it myself though

 

[adrianm]

Ferrum OOR

Honestly , while it does sound great, it's a bit too much power for the Elites and I feel only low gain works well. Mid and high stretch the image vertically and the background gets a bit noisy (not audibly).

 

[FooFighter]

Honestly , while it does sound great, it's a bit too much power for the Elites and I feel only low gain works well. Mid and high stretch the image vertically and the background gets a bit noisy (not audibly).

I get what you mean.
In general for all cans I recognize a change of sound signature going from low to high gain, no matter if Elite or Susvara from being more laid back and tube like in low gain to more reveiling and solid state like in high gain.
AFAIK only the mid gain is using the stock amplification without additional gain/attenuation and was told to perform best, also Poweramp mode is working in mid gain only.
Therefore I am on mid gain with fairly low volume Position with Elite.
To my ears that sounds better than even my former T&A-HA200 with Elite (Solitaire P was better on HA200)

 

[commtrd]

I love the GSX Mini with my Elite. You could probably find a warmer SS amp (IHA-6 for example) but the control and tight impact the Mini adds to Elite is sublime. Pair it with an R2R DAC and you got warmth too.

GSX Mini is crazy good with the Elites. R2R dac like DENAFRIPS Ares or Holo Spring or similar drives quite nice. Settled in for long haul listening with this combo works great.

 

[betula]

GSX Mini is crazy good with the Elites. R2R dac like DENAFRIPS Ares or Holo Spring or similar drives quite nice. Settled in for long haul listening with this combo works great.

I run a Pegasus with upgraded fuse (SR purple) with great results.

 

[FinHifi]

I got my Violectric V222 and it with RME-ADI FS is a perfect combo for me, but i do have to say that Elite sounds really good with cheaper gear also...it sounds just fine from RME amp, and almost perfect with Singxer SA-1. V222 just adds a touch of impact and clarity.
Also i aquired a Forza Noir cable, it is really an upgrade from stock when it comes to comfort. Have not tried to compare sound quality, but doupt there is much to say as Meze cable while stiff, still a quality cable.

 

[srkbear]

Would love some solid state amp suggestions to pair with the elite? I want a warm tube like sound, without going with a tube amp. I have a feliks euforia already.

I have the iFi Pro iCAN Signature, which I love. It has 14+ watts of balanced power output at 32 ohms, all Class A, with both solid state and tube amp stages (along with a “tube+” setting that filters the tube stage to eliminate negative feedback and emphasize even order harmonics, as a sort of balance between the two).

All three settings are fully discrete—when you switch between the three you choose a completely separate signal path. The tube setting uses NOS hand-matched GE5670s.

It has a built-in ASP bass boost with four settings, offering shelves at 20, 40, 80 and 160 hz. It also has 3 built-in 3D crossfeed-like imaging corrector settings. Three gain settings as well (0, +9db and +18db), and a choice of single ended 3.5mm, 4.4mm balanced, dual or single XLR, or dual or single 6.35mm headphone outputs. All the XLR options and the dual 6.35s are full-balanced as well.

It also has iFi’s ieMatch impedance matching tech on the 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs, which compensates for highly sensitive IEMs, significantly raising the SNR and dynamic range.

It’s really a jack of all trades, and it sounds fantastic with the Elites. I had no problem powering Susvaras with it, and with the gain settings and ieMatch it allows high sensitivity cans to shine as well. The bass boost has eliminated any need for PEQ for me.

I highly recommend it.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Would love some solid state amp suggestions to pair with the elite? I want a warm tube like sound, without going with a tube amp. I have a feliks euforia already.

Anything from Bakoon Japan. In my case I use PRE7610 MK3. Their "house sound" is balance tilt to warm side, but with very clean black background quality.

 

[FinHifi]

Would love some solid state amp suggestions to pair with the elite? I want a warm tube like sound, without going with a tube amp. I have a feliks euforia already.

I also find SA-1 without mod to be close to a tube sound. Mod makes it brighter, closer to the ssa amp sound that im used to

 

[srkbear]

Not sure if this is a repost, but I’ll go ahead and share it anyway!

https://www.stereophile.com/content/stereophiles-products-2022-headphone-product-year

 

[flea22]

Thanks for the amplifier suggestions guys, did some research on every suggestion. Going to try the bakoon amp or enleum.

Very interested in the current output on bakoon amps.

 

[srkbear]

Thanks for the amplifier suggestions guys, did some research on every suggestion. Going to try the bakoon amp or enleum.

Very interested in the current output on bakoon amps.

For the Meze Elites, pay close attention to the output impedance of your amp. The Meze impedance is 32 ohms, so you want a headphone amp with an output impedance at maximum 1/8th of 32–meaning 4 ohms or less. This will ensure that you optimize the SNR of the pair. The preponderance of amps should suffice, although there are quite a few amps with higher output impedance than you’d expect.

It looks like the bakoon options I searched for fit the bill, but this is an underrecognized issue that leads to a lot of folks being surprised by the amount of distortion, sibilance and hiss they achieve with otherwise flagship products.

Make sure to let us know the results of your final choice!

 

[betula]

Are there any Elite owners who love their flagship Meze and auditioned the ZMF Caldera? I am asking here because in the ZMF threads everyone would say even the Verité is much better than the Elite. ZMF cans have a strong and ever-growing fan base due to the hard work of Zach; and it is all well-deserved. As we know though, TOTL headphones come down to personal taste and I couldn't really click with the ZMF cans I tried so far (Atticus, Eikon, Aeolus, Verité open). I acknowledge the Verité as great headphones, they are just not quite for me. I am very much of a planar guy.

And here comes the Caldera into the picture. In all threads there is obvious love to the given headphones and that is alright. I admit, perhaps I subjectively love the Elite more than an objective reasoning would allow. The case might be the same in the Caldera thread, hence I am asking here.
I personally prefer the Elite to the LCD5, Susvara, HE1000V2, HE1000SE, HD800S, LCD4, Empyrean, D8000, D8000pro, even to the Solitaire P, but that one only by a hair.
In the light of the above, is there an Elite fan who listened to the Caldera and happy to share some thoughts? Thanks!

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Are there any Elite owners who love their flagship Meze and auditioned the ZMF Caldera? I am asking here because in the ZMF threads everyone would say even the Verité is much better than the Elite. ZMF cans have a strong and ever-growing fan base due to the hard work of Zach; and it is all well-deserved. As we know though, TOTL headphones come down to personal taste and I couldn't really click with the ZMF cans I tried so far (Atticus, Eikon, Aeolus, Verité open). I acknowledge the Verité as great headphones, they are just not quite for me. I am very much of a planar guy.

And here comes the Caldera into the picture. In all threads there is obvious love to the given headphones and that is alright. I admit, perhaps I subjectively love the Elite more than an objective reasoning would allow. The case might be the same in the Caldera thread, hence I am asking here.
I personally prefer the Elite to the LCD5, Susvara, HE1000V2, HE1000SE, HD800S, LCD4, Empyrean, D8000, D8000pro, even to the Solitaire P, but that one only by a hair.
In the light of the above, is there an Elite fan who listened to the Caldera and happy to share some thoughts? Thanks!

I'm waiting on my Caldera to ship, so I can chime in in a week or two.

I have both Empyrean and Elite, and am looking for the Calderas too be different than, not better than, either of those two. Enhance the collection, not supplant it

 

[betula]

I reached a similar conclusion to you with regards to the 2 Meze upgrade cables. Silver-plated was definitely clearer (particularly in the treble region) and more balanced, although I overall preferred the Copper for the bottom end.

A shout out to @incredulousity who I believe earlier in the thread suggested the Wywires platinum upgrade cable. I took a punt and ordered blind a few months back, and was\am seriously impressed. It's clearly a step up from both Meze upgrade cables in the sound department, though undoubtedly not as nice looking (apologies for the not great pics).

To me it combines the strength of both the bottom end & body of the Meze Copper whilst retaining and perhaps even surpassing the clarity provided by the silver-plated. Also, not crazy money (I believe there's a 40% off sale at the moment). I don't post much but found your contributions to this thread really helpful in making a decision to pick up the Elites, so hopefully this is useful.

At the moment, really enjoying the combination with my Sony NW-WM1A, but am looking for a better portable\transportable solution for around the house use. Really keen to try the Elites on the HiBy RS8 or the A&ultima SP3000. Any other suggestions for a potentially high-end portable pairing for the Elites?

Thanks for the suggestion, I have ordered a WyWires cable for my Elite. I expect it to sound better than the Meze upgrade cables. All the reviews I found are very positive, positioning this cable above other very popular choices like the Silver Dragon. Hopefully it will arrive soon and then I can report back.
If anyone else is considering this cable, the 40% anniversary discount is available until the end of this year.