[Nostoi]

I didn't get a chance to take the Bakoon/Hugo stack out for a walk today, but I did get a chance to move from my desk and have off-the-grid session on the couch, after Nostoi Jr was put to bed, with the WA8 and Bakoon HPA-21 combo.

Wow. The Bakoon HPA-21 is quite special. It has truly stunning dynamics, with outstanding transparency, and a level technical precision that leaves the listener - me - quite breathless. I did an extensive set of comparisons between the TT2 and the Hugo 2 & HPA-21 combo this afternoon, and I'm afraid to say the latter wipes the floor with the former. The amp section in the TT2 sounds positively sleepy in comparison to the HPA-21.

This thing is also *powerful.* Don't be fooled by the max power output of 1W, I don't know what kind of alchemical magic is going on with current amplification tech, but on dynamic headphones - even 600ohm Beyers - I don't even go beyond 10am low gain. It's clear this amp is meant for planar headphones. And, yes, my Kennerton Rognir sound absolutely exceptional. This is one of those magical pairings that I know will endure through whatever hype-trains lie ahead in the audio journey.

In any case, if you get a chance to demo/buy the HPA-21, please do. If you're a fan of hyper-revealing/transparent/resolving SS amps, you can't go wrong.

 

[jonathan c]

A true audiophile rubber band would have been cryogenically treated while still in molecular state, so the stretch won't be adversely affected. You must be talking about fake audiophile rubber bands?

The cryogenic rubber band would be made of cryogenic rubber from a cryogenic tree

 

[jonathan c]

A true quantum audiophile rubber band would have been cryogenically treated while still in molecular state, so the stretch won't be adversely affected. You must be talking about fake audiophile rubber bands?

FTFY…[Reg. TM; © bcowen: 2021]

 

[OctavianH]

FTFY…[Reg. TM; © bcowen: 2021]

Being a total ignorant I might ask: What is FTFY?

 

[msing539]

Being a total ignorant I might ask: What is FTFY?

Fixed That For You... FWIW

 

[linshu1992]

Listening station next to my work station. Thought the silver colors are quite nicely matched!

 

[fattycheesebeef]

What a view for a work station!

Listening station next to my work station. Thought the silver colors are quite nicely matched!

 

[gregadd]

Love those cables tell us more.

 

[mulveling]

Playing with headphones for the first time in a while and made a huge damn mess of my desktop today
Using my old Singepower SDS toaster amp and AKG K340 to listen-test my stash of vintage 6SN7 tubes (using V1 slot to test, V2 slots have 6BX7GT). Damn, this amp sounds sweet (standard Singlepower warning disclaimers apply). It makes the ancient K340 sound surprisingly good (I didn't have the right adapter for the PS1000). And holy crap the Tung-Sol black glass round plate tubes sound amazing. Thrilled that 6 out of the 7 round plates in my stash sound great. I though I had more dead ones than that, honestly. Now 4 of those tubes have gone into my big rig amps where they're doing amazing things to the sound.

Also the PS1000 are rocking it with reversed pads (I loathe how they sound with stock pads in standard configuration - reversing made all the difference) and a Headroom Balanced Max amplifier from 2006/7. DAC is an ECP Audio Mx (prototype?).

 

[Redcarmoose]

 

[jonathan c]

Listening station next to my work station. Thought the silver colors are quite nicely matched!

Oh oh… solid-state lisst?…

 

[jonathan c]

Being a total ignorant I might ask: What is FTFY?

 

[linshu1992]

Love those cables tell us more.

My picture? That's Norne Audio Drausk Silver, 16-wire (equiv. 4 x 19.0 awg silver occ litz per polarity). It's a new cable from Trevor

 

[linshu1992]

Oh oh… solid-state lisst?…

Yep, I don't think they are the best. But for my work station I don't care that much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[pspentax]

Love that Leica stand