[Pharmaboy]

I am sure it has been said before but I really enjoy my Wa23 with my ZMF headphones (and non zmf). It is a nice warm and lush tube amp that really makes some of them sound smooth and good.

I just got a (Fr)Homage at Canjam and it is a nice amp when I tried it. Haven't used it at home due to it being in my luggage and American Airlines losing my luggage. Luckily did end up getting it back last night. I tried Bokeh Closed on it at Canjam and really enjoyed that HP on it. Fromage has a nice richness to it that some SS lack.

I heard the Homage at CanJam also (w/a Caldera Closed). Immediately liked that sound.

A lot of trash gets talked about opamps, how they suck, how they're bad for headphone amps (audio in general). But amps like the Homage and Sparkos' Aries are proving that "wisdom" wrong.

Besides, a few times when I rolled opamps in headphone amps I struck gold & got even better sound.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

Here’s my current setup with my new VC and Schiit Folkvangr.

The Folkvangr is a great pairing with my Auteur (not shown) but I feel like it’s possibly a little too warm with the VC, since the VC leans warmer than the Auteur. I’m still getting used to the VC sound though, and I’m using the Auteur Lambskin pads. I may pick up some suede Be2 pads and see if those brighten it up a bit.

I heard the VC with the new Sparkos Gemini tube hybrid amp at the Florida Audio Expo and found that her to be an amazing combo - super lively and engaging, so I’ve been tempted to try one of those out at home. I’m on the fence between the Gemini and the Schiit Lyr+ though. I’ve always had good luck with Schiit products, and it’s less money, but I really did love that Sparkos Gemini (for my money it sounded much better and more engaging than their flagship Aries amp).

Anyone have experience with both the Gemini and Lyr+?

 

[goldwerger]

Here’s my current setup with my new VC and Schiit Folkvangr.

That’s a beautiful VC…

 

[steve468]

Here’s my current setup with my new VC and Schiit Folkvangr.



The Folkvangr is a great pairing with my Auteur (not shown) but I feel like it’s possibly a little too warm with the VC, since the VC leans warmer than the Auteur. I’m still getting used to the VC sound though, and I’m using the Auteur Lambskin pads. I may pick up some suede Be2 pads and see if those brighten it up a bit.



I heard the VC with the new Sparkos Gemini tube hybrid amp at the Florida Audio Expo and found that her to be an amazing combo - super lively and engaging, so I’ve been tempted to try one of those out at home. I’m on the fence between the Gemini and the Schiit Lyr+ though. I’ve always had good luck with Schiit products, and it’s less money, but I really did love that Sparkos Gemini (for my money it sounded much better and more engaging than their flagship Aries amp).

Anyone have experience with both the Gemini and Lyr+?

As has been mentioned probably a lot in this thread, try the Auteur hybrids to massage the warmth of the VC, while being MUCH more comfortable than the BE2s.

 

[orbilius]

Interesting. I’m loving my Atrium so far with the Quicksilver Amp, but I’m in search of a good SS amp under $1,500 to drive them and my HE1000SE. Do you have any recommendations?

Sorry for the late reply. I think $1500 is extremely generous for a SS amp for a ZMF. Per my post, I don't think you have to go crazy to get everything out of them with SS. I think I higher end topping would be a great paring and compliment an OTL amp well.

 

[jonathan c]

Interesting. I’m loving my Atrium so far with the Quicksilver Amp, but I’m in search of a good SS amp under $1,500 to drive them and my HE1000SE. Do you have any recommendations?

Violectric HPA V222, Violectric HPA V202.

 

[AudioDuck]

Interesting. I’m loving my Atrium so far with the Quicksilver Amp, but I’m in search of a good SS amp under $1,500 to drive them and my HE1000SE. Do you have any recommendations?

- Ray Samuels Audio HR-2 (ideally The Apache if you want fully balanced, but that’s unfortunately above your budget)
- Violectric V200 or V202 (what @jonathan c said ).

I would also look closely at the Schiit Mjolnir 3 if it isn’t a turnoff that it’s big and runs hot.

The Vio V200 is so good I actually bought it twice. I only sold it because I wanted to get closer to certain aspects of my OTL tube amp and had a larger budget become available, so I got The Apache…

 

[raindownthunda]

Violectric HPA V222, Violectric HPA V202.

Used V280 is also worthy contender! It’s the amp-only version of the V281.

 

[djentbat]

Violectric HPA V222, Violectric HPA V202.

I have the V226 ( same as V222 just with a dac built in), and it a great pairing with all headphones I tried with. I bought it initially for my atriums, last can jam I was on a quest for the best sounding SS amp and this is what I left with….

One day I want the holo audio stack

 

[shwnwllms]

Rockna Wavelight (little bro of the wavedream)
Cen.Grand Silver Fox

Got to try this at a friend's place. This is the best SS I have heard (bar the Zahl, which I haven't heard)

The amp has a unique feature where not only you can change the impedance, but also change the topology of the amplification circuit with a push of a button.

I found the Calderas to be the best in Parallel mode. Atrium Open is best in Normal mode. I used Active G mode for relaxed listening in general. This feature ensures great sound for whatever headphones you have.

The DAC from Cen.Grand is also a top performer.

Damn I need to hear this - this thread is bad for the wallet!

My Cen.Grand Silver Fox will be here tomorrow. (I normally wouldn’t be this excited over solid state, but this isn’t your typical solid state and handles ZMF Dynamics and Caldera equally well)

 

[Thoven]

Had the opportunity to demo the LTA Z10e with my Aeolus this weekend at the Smithville meet, fantastic pairing

 

[jinxy245]

I'll tell you what, I briefly heard the ZMF Homage at CanJam and I definitely want to hear more. It was driving a Caldera Closed, and I'm not sure about the DAC but it had a great tonality IMO, warmth and detail. Piqued my interest.

 

[G8torbyte]

Had the opportunity to demo the LTA Z10e with my Aeolus this weekend at the Smithville meet, fantastic pairing

Also had a little time with it at CanJam NYC at the ZMF room and was enjoying it with the Caldera Closed. At the LTA table they had their Velo amp and Aero DAC pairing and it was impressive too. Had a nice chat with the LTA guys and I'm considering Velo/Aero as a future setup if I can clear out some items for space.

 

[djentbat]

Also had a little time with it at CanJam NYC at the ZMF room and was enjoying it with the Caldera Closed. At the LTA table they had their Velo amp and Aero DAC pairing and it was impressive too. Had a nice chat with the LTA guys and I'm considering Velo/Aero as a future setup if I can clear out some items for space.

How did you like the CC?

 

[G8torbyte]

How did you like the CC?

Loved it. ZMF had some excellent listening stations set up at CanJam.
Goldwerger started a thread on the Caldera Closed here for more upcoming reviews: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-caldera-closed.972056/
I'm not looking for another closed back, but for those who prefer closed planars, this is one to seriously consider.