[znev777]

Ok, so you piqued my curiosity and I've gone and hooked-up my AFO's to my Bottlehead Crack + Speedball. I *think* the 5998 power tube lowers the output-Z slightly (usually 120 ohms), but think it's still somewhere around the 100 ohm mark.

You know what? It actually sounds pretty bloody good. The volume-pot is around the 9:30 mark on the clock, and playing some bass-heavy music ("Show You the Way" by Thundercat), the frequency response doesn't sound at all loopy, or loose.

Thanks for doing that! If its sibling sounds good out of an otl amp I doubt I'll have a problem. I've had my eye on one for a while, I was just never sure if it'd be compatible, electronics are confusing. Thank goodness I know at least not to stick forks in sockets


Lol I just realized this was the afo thread, not the afc thread

 

[Mr B1]

I can definitely see where you’re coming from. I’ve thought a couple of times of getting a pair of LCD2Cs because of how just plain glorious the lower end is.

If the AFC isn’t your cup of tea I’m not surprised the Clear isn’t either. Have you listened to the Elear / Elex? I’ve got a pair with Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin pads that deliver a lot of what makes the LCD2C great while also delivering excellent soundstage and good detail. The detail isn’t in the same league as the AFC (which can be a detail microscope), but it’s much more dynamic and it achieves a high degree of realism.

No I haven't - and thank you for the tip; I'll keep an eye out. I mainly got the Clears as it was on a flash sale for less than the Elear goes for usually..

Anyone have any expertise with the AFC and tube amps? My elekit tu8200 amp delivers 8W @ 32Ω so I'm not worried about power, but it does have an output impedance of 90Ω. This hasn't caused any perceptible problems with my fostex t50rp mods however. They do share the same sensitivity of 92dB/mW, but where the t50's have 50Ω impedance, the AFC only has 13Ω. My knowledge of planar distortion is poor, from what reading I've done it seems planars usually tend to have pretty flat distortion over their whole frequency range, so even when fed less than clean power it generally won't have an effect huge on the sound of the headphone. But I do wonder if the floor noise would be higher? The t50's don't seem to have any perceptible floor noise, but would the afc's lower impedance mean that I might get an earful of tube hiss?

I've ran the AFC (and AFO) via my locally build single ended tube amp (6FD7 or 6EM7 tubes - directly coupled + output transformer). The output impedance is of this amp is about 1.4 ohms, power probably about 0.5W. This sounded really good - aka easily better than the Gilmore, and in detail resolve just bit less than my Violectric HPA V220..but I prefer the tube's character, it's low end and the improved depth and spaciousness in the soundstage. There's no hum or hiss. Judging on Dan Clark's and other's comments here, the MrSpeakers headphones generally do very well on tube amps with low output impedance and hybrid amps.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Does anyone have experience with the AFO paired with an Asgard 2? Not exactly a high end amp, but it's what I have to work with right now.

I should have an AFO soon, and an amp/dac upgrade will be coming down the line at some point so I'm not super concerned, just wondering about the pairing in the mean time.

 

[Rick T.]

Anyone have any expertise with the AFC and tube amps? My elekit tu8200 amp delivers 8W @ 32Ω so I'm not worried about power, but it does have an output impedance of 90Ω. This hasn't caused any perceptible problems with my fostex t50rp mods however. They do share the same sensitivity of 92dB/mW, but where the t50's have 50Ω impedance, the AFC only has 13Ω. My knowledge of planar distortion is poor, from what reading I've done it seems planars usually tend to have pretty flat distortion over their whole frequency range, so even when fed less than clean power it generally won't have an effect huge on the sound of the headphone. But I do wonder if the floor noise would be higher? The t50's don't seem to have any perceptible floor noise, but would the afc's lower impedance mean that I might get an earful of tube hiss?

For those who have low powered tube (SE or PP) amps *without* headphone jacks, and want to use them with the AFO or AFC (if with output transformers use the 8 Ohm taps).. Here is a post on how to go about it:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/connect-headphones-to-amp-w-o-phone-jack.347539/#post-14981714

Disclaimer: This entails some DIY (cable adapters with optional resistor network) for most peeeps, so all the usual caveats, risk of damage, etc. apply..

 

[441879]

Thanks for doing that! If its sibling sounds good out of an otl amp I doubt I'll have a problem. I've had my eye on one for a while, I was just never sure if it'd be compatible, electronics are confusing. Thank goodness I know at least not to stick forks in sockets


Lol I just realized this was the afo thread, not the afc thread

Planar headphones generally have pretty plat impedance curves, which means your amp’s high output impedance is less likely to do the kind of weird things it would with a low impedance dynamic headphone. If your amp delivers 8W at 32 ohms, it should be able to deliver at least 3W at 13 ohms which is more than enough. As long as the noise and distortion don’t go crazy, it should work.

 

[muckyfingers]

Does anyone have experience with the AFO paired with an Asgard 2? Not exactly a high end amp, but it's what I have to work with right now.

I should have an AFO soon, and an amp/dac upgrade will be coming down the line at some point so I'm not super concerned, just wondering about the pairing in the mean time.

I have, it drives them very well with plenty of power to spare. Most importantly, it sounds wonderful out of the Asgard 2.

 

[Mani ATH 87]

I have, it drives them very well with plenty of power to spare. Most importantly, it sounds wonderful out of the Asgard 2.

Thanks for that info

 

[mrspeakers]

People seeking great pairing amps should definitely add the Cavalli amps through Massdrop to the mix. The Carbon X is great piece of kit for the price.

 

[Odin412]

People seeking great pairing amps should definitely add the Cavalli amps through Massdrop to the mix. The Carbon X is great piece of kit for the price.

Amen, brother. I have the original Liquid Carbon, and it is a fabulous amp. It pairs very well with both the Aeon Flow Open and Closed.

 

[Focux]

People seeking great pairing amps should definitely add the Cavalli amps through Massdrop to the mix. The Carbon X is great piece of kit for the price.

By any chance have u tried Feliks Echo w Aeon series?

 

[onslash]

Sounds right. When I bought my AFO, I messaged Mr. Speakers here and asked for recommendations. The recommendations were all out of my budget and I got the impression that they believed a higher end amp was needed. Nothing wrong with that of course but it might be something to consider in purchasing an AFO.

The JDS lab atom is amazing with the AFO. its in amazing amp in any price point imo, just sad it feels cheap being plastic. I didn't like the magni 3 at all , to me the high end sounded very artificial and harsh.

 

[onslash]

AFO is indeed polarizing. On a first hour of listening I changed my mind about it multiple times. It's definately not an headphone one can just audition quickly and make up ones mind based just on a few test tracks.

I auditioned for 6 hours LOL , only to end up not buying it and buying it 1 week after

 

[KESM]

I’ve gone back n forth with my impressions on the AFOs as well. I have a pair for sale if anyone’s interested. Great HPs; I’ve just decided to sell ‘em as I haven’t put much mileage on ‘em.


https://www.head-fi.org/threads/for-sale-mr-speakers-aeon-flow-open-price-reduced.901617/

 

[mrspeakers]

By any chance have u tried Feliks Echo w Aeon series?

No, haven't heard it.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I love this thing...already after what 10 hours?
Admittedly I would’ve sold it off if I’d stopped listening to it after the first 30 minutes. I went from hearing a somewhat warm and closed in headphone to one that sounded naturally detailed with great extension in both ends of the frequency response.
Feels like one of those cans that plays well with anything you care to throw at them be that jazz, polka or progressive klezmer tunes.
The comfort and lack of weight is something that every other planar manufacturor should take notice of. Who cares if the headphone sounds wonderful if it feels like wearing a birdhouse?

Reminds me of the love child between the 650, Nighthawk and the original he400.
Great job Dan the man. All I need now is velour pads that don’t inflate the bass response.