[wkesquire]

This last purchase should complete my spending spree.

The times I used that line with my wife…

 

[NutritiousNoodles]

@zach915m when are the Caldera pads going to be listed on the pad section on your site? This last purchase should complete my spending spree.

If you don’t want to wait for it to get on the website, you can email Zach. He can sell you a pair directly.

 

[ColSaulTigh]

The times I used that line with my wife…

 

[iamoneagain]

The times I used that line with my wife…

Haha. Well I did have a 12 year stretch with the L3000 headphone and matching DA 3000 Dac/Amp. Only got back on head-fi to find simple replacement once had issue with the amp. Was going to get it fixed and that be that. Somehow end up selling the L3000 combo and ended up with a Focal Utopia and Chord Dave/mscaler. But now with Naim HE and Caldera, think I might be in it for the long stretch again. Prefer to only have one high end headphone.

 

[iamoneagain]

Just a few more comments about the 4.4mm Verite Silver over OFC cable. With the Verite the highs now have this nice shimmer. There is more sparkle. Electric guitar has more realistic metallic sound. With the suede pad the soundstage was always more wide than deep but now gives it some more depth making it more oval overall. The Caldera just feels more technical while not losing any if it’s fun. Better instrument placement and layering. None of this is night vs day but the differences come thru over time.

Now not sure if it’s the cable or the single end vs 4.4mm balanced on my Naim HE, but just moving from the stock single ended cable to the OFC 4.4mm made a big improvement in the soundstage. Open things up. Single was more center focus and more blended. The Verite 4.4mm has similar soundstage as the OFC 4.4mm but just improves on it slightly. The strange thing is the Naim HE is not a true balanced setup but said the balanced output should improve separation due to the wiring.

Edit: just wanted to add that finding classical more enjoyable with the Verite Silver. The slight improvement in separation, layering, and soundstage help bring out the finer details. Still might not be the perfect headphone for someone looking to just listen to classical but now makes the Caldera more of an all rounder but with most enjoyment in rock. At least for me.

 

[klyzon]

many thanks to the great guys at Zeppelin & Co! they contacted me as soon as it arrived. and because I'm down with the flu and couldn't make it to the shop to pick it up, they offered to arrange a same day courier to have it delivered to me instead.





the cups have a purplish tinge which is visible depending on the lighting condition. most apparent in natural light. lovely finishing on the cups and grilles!





mine came with caldera leather and thin caldera (? not entirely sure); maybe someone could help identify the following pads. would have liked a set of suede pads, so will get a set when Zepp gets them in stock.

wha when did you get the kingwood? I was trying to order but zepp said no more stock

 

[Roasty]

wha when did you get the kingwood? I was trying to order but zepp said no more stock

I placed my deposit sometime mid Dec iirc. the wait was worth it! the caldera is very good indeed. excellent all rounder from zmf!

 

[klyzon]

I placed my deposit sometime mid Dec iirc. the wait was worth it! the caldera is very good indeed. excellent all rounder from zmf!

ahhh, i ordered the coffee oak on the 31st

 

[shaylin3]

May I ask Caldeda users, do you need high-thrust ear amplifiers? Doesn’t the direct output effect of dave not know enough?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

May I ask Caldeda users, do you need high-thrust ear amplifiers? Doesn’t the direct output effect of dave not know enough?

Power wise Dave has zero problem to drive Caldera. Whether you like it or not is depend on your preference. Personally the balance-warm character of Caldera pair nicely with Dave.

Of course if you have another $10K for tube amp, that would be even better. Not a mandatory though.

 

[goldwerger]

May I ask Caldeda users, do you need high-thrust ear amplifiers? Doesn’t the direct output effect of dave not know enough?

I have found that the Caldera scales beautiful with quality amplification.

But, although a planar heapdhone, it is not particularly hard to drive and I've found it played beautifuly with both a power amp and OTL on both extremes, as well as TC and SS amps as expected.

So for the Caldera, my personal recommendation woudl be to focus less on the power requirement and more on specific sound synergy (i.e. how you like the voicing of the combination of the Caldera and a specific amp).

 

[Sharppain]

I have found that the Caldera scales beautiful with quality amplification.

But, although a planar heapdhone, it is not particularly hard to drive and I've found it played beautifuly with both a power amp and OTL on both extremes, as well as TC and SS amps as expected.

So for the Caldera, my personal recommendation woudl be to focus less on the power requirement and more on specific sound synergy (i.e. how you like the voicing of the combination of the Caldera and a specific amp).

Which OTL tube amps?

 

[goldwerger]

Which OTL tube amps?

model still in development, but it's a typical dual-triode based OTL with probably around ~50 ohm output impedance

 

[Sharppain]

model still in development, but it's a typical dual-triode based OTL with probably around ~50 ohm output impedance

!!!

 

[ChJL]

I enjoyed the Caldera pairing with the Soloist 3X GT a lot. The Caldera's lacked nothing from a sonic standpoint.

@Slim1970
Hi, did you actually add it to your collection? And could you compare it against your SoliP and D8Kpro? thanks