[bobelton]

The Aegis has landed.
The Chinese sure love there plastic wraps

Ah man, I don’t even have a shipping notice yet. Hopefully that comes soon.

 

[RoThe]

Here we go!
Just started with my Atrium, Hotel California sounds amazing, this is gonna be a long evening.
On my unit the volume knob has a bit of resistance in some spots, which doesn't give such a nice haptic feel tbh, but maybe this becomes better over time.
EDIT: The knob was just pressed a bit too far on the poti, pulled it out just a liiittle bit, everything smooth now!

 

[ng5921]

Jealous of all the Aegis (Aegii?) recipients! Looking forward to hearing more thoughts on the amp and pairings with headphones.

 

[RazQ]

Ah man, I don’t even have a shipping notice yet. Hopefully that comes soon.

Fingers crossed. We got ours from Cayin maybe that’s why we got it sooner.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I have a RAD-0 and a Mod House Argon, an ZMF Aeolus and Bokeh, a T1 1st Gen. And a DT880 from Beyerdynamic, HD650 and 660S with ZMF Pads.

Very nice, definitely some great pairings there. I haven't heard the RAD-0 but that's one I've been interested in demoing for a little while.

 

[RazQ]

Jealous of all the Aegis (Aegii?) recipients! Looking forward to hearing more thoughts on the amp and pairings with headphones.

We have a birthday party for my son going on right now. Will be able to post Impressions over the weekend.
Hope I find some time tonight to fire it on.

 

[RoThe]

How are you guys with multiple amps dealing with the, well, multiple amps btw?
I have my Topping D30 which usually goes to my Genelecs and to my Cayin IHA-6.
Now with the Aegis I'll have to switch cables between the two amps if I want to listen to the other one. Is there a smart way to setup multiple amps and easily switch between them?

 

[g0ldl10n]

We have a birthday party for my son going on right now. Will be able to post Impressions over the weekend.
Hope I find some time tonight to fire it on.

Seems like you may have gotten the best present today though!

 

[mattiastomas]

How are you guys with multiple amps dealing with the, well, multiple amps btw?
I have my Topping D30 which usually goes to my Genelecs and to my Cayin IHA-6.
Now with the Aegis I'll have to switch cables between the two amps if I want to listen to the other one. Is there a smart way to setup multiple amps and easily switch between them?

Use a DAC that has multiple outputs. I've used a Schiit Bifrost 2/64 that has balanced XLR outputs (that goes to my SS Amp) and RCA outputs (that goes to my Aegis).
Recently I upgraded to a Schiit Yggy. That has one balanced XLR outputs and 2 RCA outputs.
The benefit it that all outputs are active at the same time. So you can use both amps at the same time.

 

[ng5921]

How are you guys with multiple amps dealing with the, well, multiple amps btw?
I have my Topping D30 which usually goes to my Genelecs and to my Cayin IHA-6.
Now with the Aegis I'll have to switch cables between the two amps if I want to listen to the other one. Is there a smart way to setup multiple amps and easily switch between them?

Consider getting a preamp! I use my Freya S to connect my Lampizator (which only has 1 RCA output) to 3 amps (GS-X mini, Pendant SE, and soon the Aegis)

 

[erics75]

How are you guys with multiple amps dealing with the, well, multiple amps btw?
I have my Topping D30 which usually goes to my Genelecs and to my Cayin IHA-6.
Now with the Aegis I'll have to switch cables between the two amps if I want to listen to the other one. Is there a smart way to setup multiple amps and easily switch between them?

I run splitter cables from my dac to my two amps. depending on your inputs/outputs you can get 4 amps on one dac. in my most elaborate setup using a Schiit Bifrost 2 i ran xlr splitters to two amps, and rca splitters to two more amps. i tried to limit the load on the dac by only having on the amps i was currently testing. but it seemed to work fine, sound quality was good all around.

 

[Alenotta]

Do you have experience comparing the tonality of the ZMF Aegis amp versus the Cayin HA300Mk2 amp?

I realize that the question is complicated by the fact that each amp's tonality will be greatly affected by the choices made when tube rolling. However, can one come to a reasonably valid conclusion? I own the Cayin HA300Mk2amp - as did Wes, but he only quoted improved clarity (and not better tonality) for preferring the Aegis amp. I am more interested in knowing how these two amps differ in terms of musical tone/timbre because I gravitate towards a warmer and more full-bodied sound especially in the mid-upper bass and lower midrange.

Jeff.

This is complicated for me of course. The Aegis sounds good with all my headphones, but I think I still slightly prefer the Caldera Open on the HA-300mk ii for that increased mid bass oomf from the 300b. I think you obviously wouldn't be disappointed with the warmth and full body sound of the Aegis, but depending on your headphone pairing the HA-300mk ii may have a touch more of that lower mid /mid bass slam. I'm speaking from a place of not having tried a large variety of tubes on the Aegis yet so I could be very wrong in the end. With the Caldera Open I think the 300mk ii has a bit more front and back depth and layer whereas the Aegis has a bit more side to side. The 300b also kind of softens a lot of notes with a touch more decay and time smearing. That can make certain things feel a bit more euphonic, but it also comes across a bit slower. The Aegis is tighter and cleaner feeling in that way. And don't get me wrong, the Aegis is still sweet and euphonic. The Aegis seems to be way more flexible with impedance pairings. For example the new Caldera closed works much better with the Aegis in my opinion. The HA-300mk ii can be too warm with certain pairings. Both these amps are total end game worthy. Just build a new room for your amp collection and you'll be straight.

 

[Wes S]

This is complicated for me of course. The Aegis sounds good with all my headphones, but I think I still slightly prefer the Caldera Open on the HA-300mk ii for that increased mid bass oomf from the 300b. I think you obviously wouldn't be disappointed with the warmth and full body sound of the Aegis, but depending on your headphone pairing the HA-300mk ii may have a touch more of that lower mid /mid bass slam. I'm speaking from a place of not having tried a large variety of tubes on the Aegis yet so I could be very wrong in the end. With the Caldera Open I think the 300mk ii has a bit more front and back depth and layer whereas the Aegis has a bit more side to side. The 300b also kind of softens a lot of notes with a touch more decay and time smearing. That can make certain things feel a bit more euphonic, but it also comes across a bit slower. The Aegis is tighter and cleaner feeling in that way. And don't get me wrong, the Aegis is still sweet and euphonic. The Aegis seems to be way more flexible with impedance pairings. For example the new Caldera closed works much better with the Aegis in my opinion. The HA-300mk ii can be too warm with certain pairings. Both these amps are total end game worthy. Just build a new room for your amp collection and you'll be straight.

With the right tubes, I have gotten the Aegis to stage better (more open in all directions) than the HA300MK2. I actually think due to the better balance, clarity and speed of the Aegis, that you can get bigger changes with tube rolls.

 

[Alenotta]

With the right tubes, I have gotten the Aegis to stage better (more open in all directions) than the HA300MK2. I actually think due to the better balance, clarity and speed of the Aegis, that you can get bigger changes with tube rolls.

I always trust Wes too haha. He and I were HA-300mk ii buds and we are rolling over to Aegis buds.

 

[bigjako]

The HA300MK2 has more lower mids emphasis, of which creates a bit of haze. This is only obvious after hearing the Aegis directly after. The Aegis still has good lower mid warmth and weight, but it's not overdone and blown out like with the HA300MK2. You can certainly use tubes to get the Aegis to have more lower mid bloom, but you just can't remove any from the HA300MK2. So, I think the Aegis is just a better sounding amp overall. When I listen to live music it's definitely warm, but not hazy.

The Aegis has better tonal balance top to bottom, and nothing overshadows anything else in the FR, or causes any haze. It's kind of hard to put into words, but once you hear both amps back to back, it's apparent that the Aegis just sounds more right and real, or one might say more lifelike.

As a non-Aegis owner, I can't compare between the units, but I found that swapping out my mains fuse to a Synergistic Purple stretched the stage vertically and that opened up some clarity in those murky lower mids you referred to in the HA-300. I know you sued the model up from the Purple and that's in play too. I have an Audio Magic M-1 in the Stratus and that actually made the bottom end more hefty in the Stratus, unexpectedly, while also stretching the stage vertically. So there's hope for you @JeffMann.