devilboy
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Aug 2, 2011
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Unfortunately, my Verite Open is the only high impedance headphone I've used besides my 6xx. My only experience is on the HA-2A.
ZMF Bokeh - Open Back Headphones
- Thread starter JerseyD
- Start date
erics75
Headphoneus Supremus
Being in Europe have you considered Eufonika?
http://www.eufonika.pl/gal.html
They're gaining quite the reputation and might be worth a look.
I haven't heard the Valhalla 3 or Cayin, can't give any impressions there, sorry. If you could stretch the budget a bit the Icon Audio HP8 MKII is an incredible amp.
https://iconaudio.com/headphone-amplifier-hp8-mkii
"Better" is a difficult thing to quantify since everyone hears differently, and each of us has our own budget to contend with when buying gear too.
Personally, I haven't personally heard the Cayin nor the Valhalla 3 yet so I can't speak to that comparison specifically. However, I have heard and owned lots of tubes amps over the years.
For comparison, right now, for tube amps I have a wide range of them (in terms of cost): currently the Schiit Vali 3 ($149), Schiit Folkvangr (no longer available, priced at $1799 when I bought in '22), and the ZMF Aegis ($3499). It's always risky to assume that as you scale in price that things will sound automatically "better." For example, the Vali 3 with a nice NOS tube can sound really good, and with a good DAC (like a Schiit Modi Multibit), could be everything you'd ever want in a system for less than $500. Is the Aegis my best amp? Yes, it is; but a nice 300 ohm dynamic headphone on the Folkvangr is simply fantastic as well at half the price. Is Aegis twice as good as Folkvangr, or more than twenty times as good as the Vali 3? It's not that simple, such assessments are impossible to quantify. And as you climb the price ladder, the differences become smaller and smaller, and it's often a case of diminishing returns.
I will say that all three of these tube amps work wonderfully with my Bokehs, and that this headphone is extremely easy to drive, so, the good news is finding an amp to work well with it isn't difficult. I would say that tube amps are the way to go with it, versus solid-state, but I think you can say that about most ZMFs. (Confession: I'm also a tube bobo, so I might be a little bit biased.
)In the end, I think you could be perfectly happy with the Valhalla 3, and have some money leftover to get some tubes to roll, and be perfectly content with it. But that's what's fun about this hobby (and sometimes a little exasperating, exciting, and difficult)--finding what works "best" for your ears and wallet. It's a crazy journey for sure. Very best of luck finding something that sounds great to you. Let us know what you end up with!
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Toddy
100+ Head-Fier
Well, I bought an Eufonika amp (H22M) more or less specifically for my Bokeh Open. And while sonically it's a truly heavenly combo (the bass is pretty much the best I've ever heard), unfortunately I always hear a slight hum with the Bokeh Open. No matter what tubes I use. It is only audible between songs or if the music is playing very quietly, but other headphones don‘t have it or it is not as loud with them.
Perhaps some others can chime in with their experiences (with perhaps other Eufonika amps), because I don't want to dissuade anyone from Eufonika, especially because at least mine has a real symbiosis with the Bokeh Open in terms of sound.
@Toddy I haven't listened to a vast number of tube amps compared to some others, and haven't listened to any Eufonika amps unfortunately, but from my own experience the only dead silent tube amp I've ever heard (comparable to a very good black background on a quality solid state amp) is the ZMF Aegis.
Toddy
100+ Head-Fier
I could also throw the Loxjie P20 into the ring. Dead silent with everything I connected; and although very nice sounding for its price, the Eufonika sounds so much better.
Blotto80
500+ Head-Fier
Another option you may be able to find on the used market is the Woo Audio WA6. I’m running a 1st gen WA6 with the BOp and it’s sublime. Tons of tube rolling options for the 1st gen as well, so that may be preferred over the 2nd gen.
Toddy
100+ Head-Fier
Well, I didn‘t intend to buy another amp…
. Especially as I love the sonic quality of the Bokeh Open together with Eufonika. And I'm almost at the point where I can hardly hear the humming anymore if I just ignore it hard enough…
- Joined
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Hmm, just checked the Schiit website and it's showing "Ships 1-3 days" for both black and silver? Unless of course you're in Europe, then never mind...
andrewchoppa
1000+ Head-Fier
Wieslaw from @Eufonika owner makes fantastic tube amps. He does OTLs AND OTCs and makes to your requirements. A pleasure to deal with ands trust me, DAMN good value. I have one and am requesting a 2nd.
JackarlTwo
500+ Head-Fier
I use the H5-KPCU which is basically 1/2 of H22M and mine is completely silent with the Bokeh, it depends on the tubes though. Some are more noisy than others. Eufonika amps synergizes well with the Bokeh (or ZMF dynamics in general).
Toddy
100+ Head-Fier
Which tubes do you use? It‘s not that I haven‘t tried half a dozen yet, so one more try probably won't make a difference…
JackarlTwo
500+ Head-Fier
My most silent tubes are Svetlana 6H13C "Winged-C", NOS 1970, or a pair of GEC CV4079 (needs an adapter) as far as output tubes. They've been consistently silent for over a year. I had a Mullard 6080 that was dead silent but started making a ton of noise after no more than 80-100 hours.
Most input tubes are silent too, such as RCA 6SN7GT, RCA VT-231 smoked glass, Ken-Rad VT-231 / 6C5's, Apos new production tubes. I have a pair of National Union 6J5's that I love the sound of but I'm getting some strange hum with them.
Toddy
100+ Head-Fier
Well, it looks like I‘ll have to add some of these to my ‘collection‘…
idairyou
1000+ Head-Fier
Well after a few days of FedEx screw ups I got them today.
Will post better pictures later.
Will post better pictures later.
