[TheMiddleSky]

Hello guys, I have a quick question. I am about to pull the trigger on a stock Caldera Open. I have two options:

a) brand new for a reasonable price
b) older (about 12+ months) in mint condition with a 300 Euro discount

I do not mind to go for the older piece but I would like you to ask / recommend which option would be better to go with as the price difference is not all that big but there might be revisions of the headphones during the time which would suggest going with the new one being a better option maybe? Thank you in advance for any tips here .

The answer can depend on which wood they are. If the newer one is standard wood and the 12 months old is resin stabilize, then you get a good deal to choose the second one (if you like the wood design of course).

Speakers (amplifiers) and headphones (amplifiers) are a bit of a different story, but yes, it depends.

Personally, they are different because even a little hiss (noise floor) in headphone can become annoying, but not in speaker. My problem with headphone amp as "power amp" is sometimes can lead to unnecessary noise floor. Example: Burson.

 

[Shenwulong]

Hello guys, I have a quick question. I am about to pull the trigger on a stock Caldera Open. I have two options:

a) brand new for a reasonable price
b) older (about 12+ months) in mint condition with a 300 Euro discount

I do not mind to go for the older piece but I would like you to ask / recommend which option would be better to go with as the price difference is not all that big but there might be revisions of the headphones during the time which would suggest going with the new one being a better option maybe? Thank you in advance for any tips here .

Hi,
I might go with what Themiddlesky said as well; it depends on the wood.
if the 300eur discount will get you a limited/ stabilized resin, I might suggest to check them out first.

 

[UseThe4s]

Hi,
I might go with what Themiddlesky said as well; it depends on the wood.
if the 300eur discount will get you a limited/ stabilized resin, I might suggest to check them out first.

Thank you buddy, both sets are stock wood.

 

[goldwerger]

Hello guys, I have a quick question. I am about to pull the trigger on a stock Caldera Open. I have two options:

a) brand new for a reasonable price
b) older (about 12+ months) in mint condition with a 300 Euro discount

I do not mind to go for the older piece but I would like you to ask / recommend which option would be better to go with as the price difference is not all that big but there might be revisions of the headphones during the time which would suggest going with the new one being a better option maybe? Thank you in advance for any tips here .

ZMF doesn’t do those constant revisions silently that some other companies annoyingly do, so you’re safe in that regard.

 

[rsbrsvp]

I wanted to speak out about my experience with the Cladera.



First- it is a headphone that has superb technical performance and also has a nice amount of colour. It is one of the most balanced headphones I have heard when weighing everything- detail, seperation, texture, weight, frequency response, soundstage, dynamic punch, etc....

I must say, I wasn't sure I was going to keep them and am still not sure due to the energy in the upper mid and treble frequencies. It took alot of pad playing, and some DSP adjustments, etc. I own 6 headphones: LCD-4Z, Elite, Caldera Closed, Expanse, Stealth. I am indeed a planar nut. The CO is the brightest of all of them to my ears. It is NOT the type of brightness that I associate with the HE1000 series at all. It is more of a "strong energy" or what others call "spice" in the upper frequencies which took me a while to adjust to. Thick Pads and Mesh Mantle took care of this to a large degree, but the mesh mantle crippled what I believe is the intended sound of the headphones by over rounding the sound. The thick pads did not have this result IMHO yet did help partially control the overly spicy sound IMHO. Nevertheless, the "spice" is still there, just better managed IMHO.

So much of liking and not liking headphones is based on what we are used to. I did not think I was going to get used to the spicier sound, but after around two weeks- I am appreciating it. Still- don't know if the overall brighter sound compared to what I am used to will make the cut long term- but I have spent so much time with them in these first days, that now the other headphones sound slightly dark when I swithch to them. My point is- for those that try this headphone, take the time to tune it with the pads, mesh, dsp, whatever it is- and dont judge the brighter nature until you have a few weeks to adjust. Their potential is incredible, but the "energy"/spice" will be an issue for many IMHO to some degree until there is an adjustment by the ear. The ear and the brain are tricky... Give it time. I have, after time, come to appreciate them, and I want to continue my evaluation for another few weeks before concluding if they are for me or not..

 

[betula]

I wanted to speak out about my experience with the Cladera.



First- it is a headphone that has superb technical performance and also has a nice amount of colour. It is one of the most balanced headphones I have heard when weighing everything- detail, seperation, texture, weight, frequency response, soundstage, dynamic punch, etc....

I must say, I wasn't sure I was going to keep them and am still not sure due to the energy in the upper mid and treble frequencies. It took alot of pad playing, and some DSP adjustments, etc. I own 6 headphones: LCD-4Z, Elite, Caldera Closed, Expanse, Stealth. I am indeed a planar nut. The CO is the brightest of all of them to my ears. It is NOT the type of brightness that I associate with the HE1000 series at all. It is more of a "strong energy" or what others call "spice" in the upper frequencies which took me a while to adjust to. Thick Pads and Mesh Mantle took care of this to a large degree, but the mesh mantle crippled what I believe is the intended sound of the headphones by over rounding the sound. The thick pads did not have this result IMHO yet did help partially control the overly spicy sound IMHO. Nevertheless, the "spice" is still there, just better managed IMHO.

So much of liking and not liking headphones is based on what we are used to. I did not think I was going to get used to the spicier sound, but after around two weeks- I am appreciating it. Still- don't know if the overall brighter sound compared to what I am used to will make the cut long term- but I have spent so much time with them in these first days, that now the other headphones sound slightly dark when I swithch to them. My point is- for those that try this headphone, take the time to tune it with the pads, mesh, dsp, whatever it is- and dont judge the brighter nature until you have a few weeks to adjust. Their potential is incredible, but the "energy"/spice" will be an issue for many IMHO to some degree until there is an adjustment by the ear. The ear and the brain are tricky... Give it time. I have, after time, come to appreciate them, and I want to continue my evaluation for another few weeks before concluding if they are for me or not..

I agree with you regarding the earpads/mesh and spiciness. Some people will love this spiciness and for others it will be too much. Luckily there are many ways to tame it if necessary. I noticed that all your other headphones are a bit more relaxed and not on the bright side at all. 4Z are lovely, thick sounding, but with quite a dark and subdued treble. Elite are also lovely, but one of the most laid-back/easy-listening tuning you can get. I am not so keen on the DCAs, but those also have a very different presentation. To me they are over-dampened lacking dynamics, but definitely don't have a bothering treble.
Calderas are certainly livelier, but very 'organic', energetic and lifelike.
To your observations and experimenting I would like to add that the Calderas sound fantastic on tubes. There is this notion that you have to listen to planars on SS amps and dynamic driver headphones on tubes. IMO as long as you pick the right transformer coupled tube amp with the right tubes planars can sing on tubes too. Furthermore, the Calderas are not your regular planars, they have the ZMF DNA which is a lush and organic sound but in the Caldera's case with great planar technicalities. With the correct tube amps and tubes, I don't feel I am losing anything with the Caldera, on the contrary I am just gaining even more 'life'. In my HA-3A I had to roll some special tubes to give a little more punch to that bass and improve dynamics, but the Aegis even in its stock form offers SS level technicalities but with the 'liquidity' of tube sound.
The reason I shared all this is because tubes can easily further mellow that spiciness and depending on what tubes you roll in you can achieve similar effects to the mantle mesh but without the cons of direct front dampening.

 

[rsbrsvp]

I think the summary of my previous post is: These are lively, energetic, spicy headphones and that energy can be managed, but if one overdoes the taming process, it ruins what they were built to do. My experience says- manage it- carefully, but more importantly, learn to adjust to the difference with listening periods over time- because over dulling the headphone just sounds wrong and one is better off in this case with a headphone which was built to be less "spicy".

I agree on equipment. I have all solid state ultra lively equipment- and it really wakes up my darker headphones, but with the Cladera the combination is just overspiced. Now I'm not changing equipment for one headphone, but I tried some digital filters to mellow thing out a bit with wonderful success so far, and without cripeling them for how they were ment to sound.

Those coming from darker headphones need to know what to expect and how to handel the reality so they dont give up to quickly.- so this is why I threw in my experience.

 

[GarlicBiscuit]

I own 6 headphones: LCD-4Z, Elite, Caldera Closed, Expanse, Stealth. I am indeed a planar nut. The CO is the brightest of all of them to my ears. It is NOT the type of brightness that I associate with the HE1000 series at all. It is more of a "strong energy" or what others call "spice" in the upper frequencies which took me a while to adjust to. Thick Pads and Mesh Mantle took care of this to a large degree, but the mesh mantle crippled what I believe is the intended sound of the headphones by over rounding the sound. The thick pads did not have this result IMHO yet did help partially control the overly spicy sound IMHO. Nevertheless, the "spice" is still there, just better managed IMHO.

My experiences over time have resulted in a fascinating discovery about how my HRTF corresponds with the Caldera's treble. With thick pads and without the mesh, I don't think I hear energy from the upper mids and lower treble, but I do from the upper treble. Unlike the 2021 LCD-X I owned, which had a notable 12-14k peak that lent a more aggressive character to a lot of music, the Caldera pulls back there to my ears and starts an elevation afterward (15-17k).

For me, music doesn't really come off peaky when energy pops up there, and it's probably because the elevation is consistent and not bumpy. Coupled with a smooth lower treble and relatively linear mid treble, treble timbre is essentially perfect to my ears. I don't really need to do EQ past 5k besides an audible dip around 9k, which I may not need to mess with.

 

[krude]

I agree with you regarding the earpads/mesh and spiciness. Some people will love this spiciness and for others it will be too much. Luckily there are many ways to tame it if necessary. I noticed that all your other headphones are a bit more relaxed and not on the bright side at all. 4Z are lovely, thick sounding, but with quite a dark and subdued treble. Elite are also lovely, but one of the most laid-back/easy-listening tuning you can get. I am not so keen on the DCAs, but those also have a very different presentation. To me they are over-dampened lacking dynamics, but definitely don't have a bothering treble.
Calderas are certainly livelier, but very 'organic', energetic and lifelike.
To your observations and experimenting I would like to add that the Calderas sound fantastic on tubes. There is this notion that you have to listen to planars on SS amps and dynamic driver headphones on tubes. IMO as long as you pick the right transformer coupled tube amp with the right tubes planars can sing on tubes too. Furthermore, the Calderas are not your regular planars, they have the ZMF DNA which is a lush and organic sound but in the Caldera's case with great planar technicalities. With the correct tube amps and tubes, I don't feel I am losing anything with the Caldera, on the contrary I am just gaining even more 'life'. In my HA-3A I had to roll some special tubes to give a little more punch to that bass and improve dynamics, but the Aegis even in its stock form offers SS level technicalities but with the 'liquidity' of tube sound.
The reason I shared all this is because tubes can easily further mellow that spiciness and depending on what tubes you roll in you can achieve similar effects to the mantle mesh but without the cons of direct front dampening.

+1 for tubes. They sound great on WE 300B and 6S5S quads (or similar). Still need to do some rolling of driver tubes to see if I can make it even more liquid.

These demand a very refined sounding system. I think Bliss KTE paired with a more laid back R2R could be a good SS option.

 

[krude]

I would like to suggest a different perspective. Caldera is not spicy and uncontrolled / uneven in the treble ... it's unforgiving.

The higher we go with performance of transducers the better we need to build and tune the system for said transducers. I owned Susvara for almost 2 years, I own 1266 TC for 3 years, Caldera swings in the same league. It has certain aspects of both TC and Susvara, with the ZMF wooden twist, but make no mistake, this is a sharp as a razon totl planar and as with Susvara and TC it needs a system built and tuned for it. The fact that you can run it from lower end gear and it will sound "ok" doesn't mean it is meant to be ran like this, and I don't think what most people experience are deficiencies or intended character of the headphone ... it's the fact that most people don't have a system of the high enough calibre built and tuned for it ... yet : )

I'm lucky because taming wild treble is what I've been doing for the past 3 years so I pretty much have my system ready to maximise Caldera, and when maximised it trades blows with TC no problem :>

 

[chrisnyc75]

I wanted to speak out about my experience with the Cladera.



First- it is a headphone that has superb technical performance and also has a nice amount of colour. It is one of the most balanced headphones I have heard when weighing everything- detail, seperation, texture, weight, frequency response, soundstage, dynamic punch, etc....

I must say, I wasn't sure I was going to keep them and am still not sure due to the energy in the upper mid and treble frequencies. It took alot of pad playing, and some DSP adjustments, etc. I own 6 headphones: LCD-4Z, Elite, Caldera Closed, Expanse, Stealth. I am indeed a planar nut. The CO is the brightest of all of them to my ears. It is NOT the type of brightness that I associate with the HE1000 series at all. It is more of a "strong energy" or what others call "spice" in the upper frequencies which took me a while to adjust to. Thick Pads and Mesh Mantle took care of this to a large degree, but the mesh mantle crippled what I believe is the intended sound of the headphones by over rounding the sound. The thick pads did not have this result IMHO yet did help partially control the overly spicy sound IMHO. Nevertheless, the "spice" is still there, just better managed IMHO.

So much of liking and not liking headphones is based on what we are used to. I did not think I was going to get used to the spicier sound, but after around two weeks- I am appreciating it. Still- don't know if the overall brighter sound compared to what I am used to will make the cut long term- but I have spent so much time with them in these first days, that now the other headphones sound slightly dark when I swithch to them. My point is- for those that try this headphone, take the time to tune it with the pads, mesh, dsp, whatever it is- and dont judge the brighter nature until you have a few weeks to adjust. Their potential is incredible, but the "energy"/spice" will be an issue for many IMHO to some degree until there is an adjustment by the ear. The ear and the brain are tricky... Give it time. I have, after time, come to appreciate them, and I want to continue my evaluation for another few weeks before concluding if they are for me or not..

I think that "spice" is precisely why I love Caldera so much over other ZMFs. As you said, it's not bright, it just has a little more sparkle & detail up top. It's a warm lush sound that doesn't mask detail in the mids & highs. To me, that's its magic.

 

[idairyou]

+1 for tubes. They sound great on WE 300B and 6S5S quads (or similar). Still need to do some rolling of driver tubes to see if I can make it even more liquid.

These demand a very refined sounding system. I think Bliss KTE paired with a more laid back R2R could be a good SS option.

I will also say the Caldera sounds great on 300B tubes. I ran my COs on the 300MKII with Elrog's and Takatsuki's but preferred the CO on the Bliss running the Spring 3 as the DAC.

These days I swapped out the 300B for the Aegis, and I say it's a tie between the Aegis and the Bliss, different sounds that I like equally.

 

[Pharmaboy]

I'm lucky because taming wild treble is what I've been doing for the past 3 years so I pretty much have my system ready to maximise Caldera, and when maximised it trades blows with TC no problem :>

Not lucky--smart. Tuning your entire system to tame wild treble (something we've both done) pays all kinds of dividends in day to day listening. It also helped me figure out the Caldera Open.

Even with the mantle mesh pre-installed, with the stock pads I heard a bit more energy in the upper mids & low treble than I'm comfortable with. Swapping to the lambskin thick pads made relatively minor sonic changes, but the changes were transformative, pushing the CO over the finish line into great sound. Rather than just sanding off a bunch of treble frequencies, the mantle mesh + lambskin thicks they allowed me to fully appreciate the beautiful tonal rightness of this driver, as well as the unprecedented (for a planar) soundstaging, courtesy of the ADS.

I completed the sonic dial-in of my CO by acquiring the largest diameter OCC copper cable I could find. The result was sound of such high quality that I keep returning to it. The Caldera Open is a true high-end planar headphone, and like most high-end audio gear, it benefits greatly from some informed experimentation & accommodation.

Both systems in this office were already optimized for best sound before the CO showed up. Much of it was done by NOS DACs + DDcs + known musical amps (V281, Icon Audio HP-8, Milo, etc) + heavy copper interconnects. That all got me to the "Goldilocks" stage faster w/the CO than would have been possible if either system had brightness/edginess problems.

 

[chrisnyc75]

I will also say the Caldera sounds great on 300B tubes. I ran my COs on the 300MKII with Elrog's and Takatsuki's but preferred the CO on the Bliss running the Spring 3 as the DAC.

These days I swapped out the 300B for the Aegis, and I say it's a tie between the Aegis and the Bliss, different sounds that I like equally.

CO sounds great on 2A3 tubes, too.

 

[Lyssky]

I wanted to speak out about my experience with the Cladera.



First- it is a headphone that has superb technical performance and also has a nice amount of colour. It is one of the most balanced headphones I have heard when weighing everything- detail, seperation, texture, weight, frequency response, soundstage, dynamic punch, etc....

I must say, I wasn't sure I was going to keep them and am still not sure due to the energy in the upper mid and treble frequencies. It took alot of pad playing, and some DSP adjustments, etc. I own 6 headphones: LCD-4Z, Elite, Caldera Closed, Expanse, Stealth. I am indeed a planar nut. The CO is the brightest of all of them to my ears. It is NOT the type of brightness that I associate with the HE1000 series at all. It is more of a "strong energy" or what others call "spice" in the upper frequencies which took me a while to adjust to. Thick Pads and Mesh Mantle took care of this to a large degree, but the mesh mantle crippled what I believe is the intended sound of the headphones by over rounding the sound. The thick pads did not have this result IMHO yet did help partially control the overly spicy sound IMHO. Nevertheless, the "spice" is still there, just better managed IMHO.

So much of liking and not liking headphones is based on what we are used to. I did not think I was going to get used to the spicier sound, but after around two weeks- I am appreciating it. Still- don't know if the overall brighter sound compared to what I am used to will make the cut long term- but I have spent so much time with them in these first days, that now the other headphones sound slightly dark when I swithch to them. My point is- for those that try this headphone, take the time to tune it with the pads, mesh, dsp, whatever it is- and dont judge the brighter nature until you have a few weeks to adjust. Their potential is incredible, but the "energy"/spice" will be an issue for many IMHO to some degree until there is an adjustment by the ear. The ear and the brain are tricky... Give it time. I have, after time, come to appreciate them, and I want to continue my evaluation for another few weeks before concluding if they are for me or not..

Funny how we all have relative senses. Coming from the LCD-XC, Caldera was dark for me. Though my brain adjusted like yours but from the opposite direction.
Also, why no photos?