[JerseyD]

That's a good question. I don't think they've provided that spec in the manual or on the website. Personally, I've got my Atrium set to Medium and my Grado on Low. This amp is pretty powerful, someone told me it's great for the Caldera too. It's definitely the best amp I've tried with my Atrium so far!

Love the HP8 with the Atrium and Verite. I prefer the High z setting, although Medium also sounds great.

 

[goldwerger]

How does the Aegis compare to the Decware OTL? Im debating between the two (ahead of the Aegis release) and wondering how similar the sound signatures are. Would primarily use with AO, VC, and potentially Tungsten (if I go with an OTC with enough power)

You couldn't have picked better two amps for your shortlist. I own both and they are both great. And they are quite different, including in their intended use case.

The most important distinction, right off the bat, is your intended use case, which can immediately impact your choice:

• The Decware has a preamp - in you want this functionality (to drive a speaker amp, or to add a tube stage before another SS headphone amp)
• The Aegis is transformer coupled - in case you want the ability to drive low impedance and/or hard to drive planar headphones.

If the amp needs to drive the Tugnsten, you must rule out the Decware. And, in the same breath, the Aegis is one of the best best amps for the Tungsten available today (more details on synery in my Tungsten review). The Aegis offers an incredibly expansive sound stage and a very refined presentation. It works really well wtih all ZMF headphones, dyanmic and planar. It is one of the best tube all-rounder at this price bracket.

The Decware OTL has superb synergy with ZMF's dynamic heapdhones, as well as other high-impedance dynamic headphones (I've beed usiung it with the AO, AC, VO, ADX5000, HD800S). It offers an addictively lush, sweet and pristine sound signature, the best of any OTL I've tried to date (more in my Decware OTL review).

Great choices! I'd recommend determining which use case is more important to you, and you will have a wonderufl experience either way as long as it's used for what you need it for.

 

[trackrunner]

You couldn't have picked better two amps for your shortlist. I own both and they are both great. And they are quite different, including in their intended use case.

The most important distinction, right off the bat, is your intended use case, which can immediately impact your choice:

• The Decware has a preamp - in you want this functionality (to drive a speaker amp, or to add a tube stage before another SS headphone amp)
• The Aegis is transformer coupled - in case you want the ability to drive low impedance and/or hard to drive planar headphones.

If the amp needs to drive the Tugnsten, you must rule out the Decware. And, in the same breath, the Aegis is one of the best best amps for the Tungsten available today (more details on synery in my Tungsten review). The Aegis offers an incredibly expansive sound stage and a very refined presentation. It works really well wtih all ZMF headphones, dyanmic and planar. It is one of the best tube all-rounder at this price bracket.

The Decware OTL has superb synergy with ZMF's dynamic heapdhones, as well as other high-impedance dynamic headphones (I've beed usiung it with the AO, AC, VO, ADX5000, HD800S). It offers an addictively lush, sweet and pristine sound signature, the best of any OTL I've tried to date (more in my Decware OTL review).

Great choices! I'd recommend determining which use case is more important to you, and you will have a wonderufl experience either way as long as it's used for what you need it for.

Thanks for the guidance - very helpful!

 

[Honeypot]

My atrium open zebra has arrived.
Preliminary impressions are sweet, rich and spacious. Vocals and strings are out of this world.
Tried on echo otl and cayin ha-3a.
Using we 396a and foton 6n6p for the echo and Mullard 12au7 10m and Mullard 6v6g kt61 st for the cayin.
On the echo it's a lil bit better experience, but didn't have much time to try.

 

[betula]

My atrium open zebra has arrived.
Preliminary impressions are sweet, rich and spacious. Vocals and strings are out of this world.
Tried on echo otl and cayin ha-3a.
Using we 396a and foton 6n6p for the echo and Mullard 12au7 10m and Mullard 6v6g kt61 st for the cayin.
On the echo it's a lil bit better experience, but didn't have much time to try.

Very pretty set. Enjoy!

 

[awesomenatorrad]

Hey guys, I have a set of ZMF atriums coming in soon and it comes with the original mesh installed. Anyone know what that might be and what is the recommended mesh that works best?

 

[robo24]

Hey guys, I have a set of ZMF atriums coming in soon and it comes with the original mesh installed. Anyone know what that might be and what is the recommended mesh that works best?

The stock mesh is the recommended one. There is a different mesh which tames treble some and you can also take the mesh off. I prefer stock over the optional one which reduces treble. Start with stock and go from there.

 

[mjstealey]

Hey guys, I have a set of ZMF atriums coming in soon and it comes with the original mesh installed. Anyone know what that might be and what is the recommended mesh that works best?

The stock Atrium mesh isn't listed on the ZMF website, but looks like the attached photo.
There is also a solid mesh for taming the treble if you find the stock mesh a bit too hot.
If these are brand new Atrium's then give the drivers time to settle in as their character will evolve over the first 20, 50, 100-ish hours - it's not an exact science but the sound will change early on

 

[kali77]

The stock Atrium mesh isn't listed on the ZMF website, but looks like the attached photo.
There is also a solid mesh for taming the treble if you find the stock mesh a bit too hot.
If these are brand new Atrium's then give the drivers time to settle in as their character will evolve over the first 20, 50, 100-ish hours - it's not an exact science but the sound will change early on

Let’s see a pic of those cups

 

[mjstealey]

Let’s see a pic of those cups

LOL, quick shot attached - stabilized Maple

 

[awesomenatorrad]

Wow, those are gorgeous, might grab a pair of stabilized atrium closed or caldera later this year

 

[Orange5o]

There are some coming Friday

 

[kali77]

LOL, quick shot attached - stabilized Maple

Beautiful and thanks

 

[bokononista]

The stock mesh is the recommended one. There is a different mesh which tames treble some and you can also take the mesh off. I prefer stock over the optional one which reduces treble. Start with stock and go from there.

The stock Atrium mesh isn't listed on the ZMF website, but looks like the attached photo.
There is also a solid mesh for taming the treble if you find the stock mesh a bit too hot.

There is also Radial vented mesh, which is more open than stock mesh.

 

[JackarlTwo]

It's been way too long since I used the Be2 pads. Such a good sound, especially for singer-songwriter and folk stuff.