[Badlands]

I absolutely love this combo too. Is that a Black Limba OG Auteur? I love the new Classics, but I had a pair just like that which I deeply miss!

Yes! That is a Black Limba Auteur. Contemplating my next ZMF purchase. Verite, Atrium or Caldera. Have read/heard that RAD-0 matches well with Kenzie 2 so hoping that may be the case with Caldera. Will keep reading this thread so I’m as informed as possible when I do make a decision in the coming months. Appreciate learning from and interacting with you all on this journey.

 

[Monsterzero]

A couple videos Zach recently did.

Cayin HA 3A



Cayin 300B MK ll

 

[Dawgfish]

Primaluna Prologue 4 paired with Cayin IDac-6 driving DCA Aeon Flow X. Sounds great with ZMFs though a little too much hiss with high Z cans.

 

[bigjako]

Atrium and OG Auteur with a Kenzie Encore Deluxe and BH Crack. Not pictured is a Shortest Way 51+ and an incoming DNA Stratus.

 

[Dawgfish]

Since vintage audio was brought up earlier here are 2 pieces that sound great with ZMFs; Sansui AU 719 and Marantz 2250B. Like @Monsterzero alluded to earlier, these sound great with all high Z cans but not so great with planars. Both are my solid state amps of choice for ZMFs.

 

[Pharmaboy]

This thread is going to be fun, ZMFs and tubes are like 99% of what I love in this hobby!

Here is my VC with the my OTL, last pic I took.

Are those blue cans gigantic capacitors? (I hope the answer is yes)

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Are those blue cans gigantic capacitors? (I hope the answer is yes)

Oh yeah, those are the output caps, 600uF / 450V polypropylene ClarityCaps. Biggest films I have ever used.

 

[AnyDave]

Oh yeah, those are the output caps, 600uF / 450V polypropylene ClarityCaps. Biggest films I have ever used.

Based on the shape, they look like Electrolytics. Those are some honkin poly caps.

 

[llamaluv]

The photos showing off systems with multiple tube amp setups disgust me.

Note to self: Buy second rack.

- VC "Commander"
- Cayin HA-300 OG w/ Duelund caps, KR HP 300B, Ken Rad 6SN7

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Here's a quick basic lesson in OTL output capacitance.

The output cap and the impedance of the load (i.e., headphone nominal impedance) form a high pass filter. The point at which the low frequency response is down -3dB is given by the formula:

f-3dB = 1/(2πRC)

Where R is the load impedance and C is the output capacitance in farads.

So, if you want to run a low impedance headphone out of an OTL, it needs sufficient output capacitance to extend the low frequency response below the audio band. It also needs sufficiently low output impedance for a usable damping ratio.

Let's take a 32ohm headphone headphone a 600uF for example. This amp has around a 13ohm output impedance, so it can in theory run 32ohm headphones.

f-3dB = 1/(2*3.14*32*(600*10^-6)) = 8.3Hz

Looks good

 

[Pharmaboy]

Oh yeah, those are the output caps, 600uF / 450V polypropylene ClarityCaps. Biggest films I have ever used.

"I like BIG CAPS and I cannot lie"

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Based on the shape, they look like Electrolytics. Those are some honkin poly caps.

Yeah this amp was an exercise in gross excess. I basically took my Airmid circuit, but replaced the 6AS7G outputs with 6528, which require double the heater current and double the bias current. A 6528 is equivalent to running 2-3 5998 in parallel. Each of the power tubes biases somewhere around 275mA, big time current for a tube stage. Given all the extra current, it necessitated humongous heat sinks as the output tubes are actively loaded. Output impedance gets down to 13ohms. It's very over-the-top and a nightmare in terms of amplifier efficiency, but it sounds great!

I fear for my appendages every time I move it though, its like carrying a guillotine.

 

[AnyDave]

It's very over-the-top and a nightmare in terms of amplifier efficiency, but it sounds great!

I fear for my appendages every time I move it though, its like carrying a guillotine.

A little slice of heaven, eh?

 

[Dawgfish]

The photos showing off systems with multiple tube amp setups disgust me.

Note to self: Buy second rack.



- VC "Commander"
- Cayin HA-300 OG w/ Duelund caps, KR HP 300B, Ken Rad 6SN7

With an amp like that no need for multiple setups! Very nice setup! I'm seriously looking at either the HA-3A or 6A.

 

[steve468]

The photos showing off systems with multiple tube amp setups disgust me.

Note to self: Buy second rack.



- VC "Commander"
- Cayin HA-300 OG w/ Duelund caps, KR HP 300B, Ken Rad 6SN7

How do you like the KR300B with your VC? It seems that the cult of Elrog and Western Electric get all of the mentions around here.