[iamoneagain]

Yeah I absolutely love the Envy - it's amazing with Caldera, or really anything we throw at it. I have swapped the tubes out and all that, FWIW.

So my problem with the Envy, at least the configuration at CanJam, is it made the Atrium Open sound so much better than my Caldera I really think the Envy / Atrium Open combo was my favorite setup at CanJam. This was my first chance to hear any other ZMF headphones besides my Caldera, which I bought blind almost a year ago . With tubes, I hear a lot of talk about liquid mids and the Atrium Open just shined. So amazing. The Caldera still sounded great out of the Envy too but it was more technical sounding just in comparison to the Atrium open.

So if I had the money, I would have bought one of the natural rare November Atrium Opens and I’d start looking at tube amps as well. I don’t like the rabbit hole the Envy put my mind in. But the Caldera is so great on solid state that my Naim HE / Caldera combo leaves me completely satisfied. I kind of wish I liked the Atrium Closed so I could sort of tell myself having a closed model makes sense at certain times. But I have no real reason for another open headphone and can’t really get a tube amp because of my cat. Sometimes he sits right on top of the Naim. He also likes to play with water, so even a tube amp with a cage wouldn’t work. And I’m not getting rid of my cat.

Also needed another reason to post a cat pic.

 

[zach915m]

So my problem with the Envy, at least the configuration at CanJam, is it made the Atrium Open sound so much better than my Caldera I really think the Envy / Atrium Open combo was my favorite setup at CanJam. This was my first chance to hear any other ZMF headphones besides my Caldera, which I bought blind almost a year ago . With tubes, I hear a lot of talk about liquid mids and the Atrium Open just shined. So amazing. The Caldera still sounded great out of the Envy too but it was more technical sounding just in comparison to the Atrium open.

So if I had the money, I would have bought one of the natural rare November Atrium Opens and I’d start looking at tube amps as well. I don’t like the rabbit hole the Envy put my mind in. But the Caldera is so great on solid state that my Naim HE / Caldera combo leaves me completely satisfied. I kind of wish I liked the Atrium Closed so I could sort of tell myself having a closed model makes sense at certain times. But I have no real reason for another open headphone and can’t really get a tube amp because of my cat. Sometimes he sits right on top of the Naim. He also likes to play with water, so even a tube amp with a cage wouldn’t work. And I’m not getting rid of my cat.

Also needed another reason to post a cat pic.

That is a good choice that's a great cat!

The dynamics (high ohm) can play tricks in your mind because they do scale so much more than planars. While the Caldera will sound very different on different amps the actual scalability is less whereas the Atrium can sound like a different headphone out of a lesser and greater setup.

 

[iamoneagain]

That is a good choice that's a great cat!

The dynamics (high ohm) can play tricks in your mind because they do scale so much more than planars. While the Caldera will sound very different on different amps the actual scalability is less whereas the Atrium can sound like a different headphone out of a lesser and greater setup.

I think that helps explain it. When I tested the Caldera on all these setups, the general sound stayed the same for the most part. With the Atrium open, I just listened to the dcs stack and then moved to the Envy and the Atirum open completely changed for the better. The Caldera also improved but more subtle.

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

But I have no real reason for another open headphone and can’t really get a tube amp because of my cat. Sometimes he sits right on top of the Naim. He also likes to play with water, so even a tube amp with a cage wouldn’t work. And I’m not getting rid of my cat.

I use two tall sheets of clear, rigid plastic, with adhesive, insulating foam strips, placed on either side of the amp to keep my cats safe (I don't keep the amp on unattended):

 

[DAPpower]

Something for you guys to listen to on your Calderas,

 

[BrainSalat]

Other solution. Get a gaming XXXXL mouse pad. Chimuela loves it

 

[iamoneagain]

Not sure if that would work for my giant Maine Coon cat. Maybe some kind of acrylic box that could be placed over it but would sort of ruin the looks. But good to know others have tube amps and cats and make it work. This should be in a separate thread or at very least the ZMF amp thread.

 

[goldwerger]

I use two tall sheets of clear, rigid plastic, with adhesive, insulating foam strips, placed on either side of the amp to keep my cats safe (I don't keep the amp on unattended):

Brilliant solution, keeping this transparent..

I think that helps explain it. When I tested the Caldera on all these setups, the general sound stayed the same for the most part. With the Atrium open, I just listened to the dcs stack and then moved to the Envy and the Atirum open completely changed for the better. The Caldera also improved but more subtle.

Like Zach said, the Atriums (both) scale magnificently with amps. My favorite is the Decware/ZMF OTL. My friend @HiFiHawaii808 heard it a CanJam Dallas with the AC and was blown away by the synergy and just ordered one too. These headphones sound differently (sometimes also great but quite different) on some of my other amps. They really get a massive lift from a good tube amp and roll.

 

[LXMc]

I use two tall sheets of clear, rigid plastic, with adhesive, insulating foam strips, placed on either side of the amp to keep my cats safe (I don't keep the amp on unattended):

I always see classified listings saying 'comes from a smoke and pet free house' but never any that say 'this was slept on by my cat, daily'. I have to assume if they don't say the former, the latter is true

 

[iamoneagain]

I don’t have a pic of Theo on my equipment but I have this pic showing the eventual damage he’d cause to any hot tubes. For some reason this breed loves water.

 

[Lyssky]

Ooh so we are sharing cat pictures yet again. In that case there you go:

Aaand here's a bonus one:

And I keep my equipment out of harms way when not using them since my pair of HD600 were eaten by my deceased dog years ago so I learned my lesson.

 

[goldwerger]

Ooh so we are sharing cat pictures yet again. In that case there you go:


Aaand here's a bonus one:


And I keep my equipment out of harms way when not using them since my pair of HD600 were eaten by my deceased dog years ago so I learned my lesson.

Beautiful dog!

 

[jlbrach]

Hi all,

Loving my new Caldera Redheart (purchased from MIniDisc in Aus). My first ZMF headphone.

It won’t replace my Susvaras but probably will replace my LCD5’s.

I really liked (and still like) the LCD5’s as a counterpoint to the Susvaras. The LCD5’s have a darker treble and greater solidity and punch but with a similar level of detail retrieval to the Susvaras.

The Calderas are different to the LCD5’s (and probably closer to the Susvaras in many ways). The Calderas are a much more well rounded headphone than the LCD5’s (which are a great headphone but a bit unusual in many ways with the forward mids/dark treble/insane detail and small soundstage). I fully understand why the LCD5’s divide opinion so much. They work well for me (especially with Mitch’s convolution filters) but I’m not sensitive to forward mids and I actually like the darker treble. I hear some people describe the LCD 5 as a bright headphone. That can only be because of the forward mids because in the treble they are really quite dark. My main complaint is they are a little uncomfortable with the strong clamp…

But the Calderas are just so “right” In comparison to the LCD5. For a start they are comfortable to wear (maybe a shade behind the Susvaras in that respect). A lovely natural tone and even handed throughout the frequency range. Very well tuned. Bass is good. Maybe not as much sub-bass as Susvara but much punchier mid bass. Mid’s are clear and natural sounding. Not as transparent as Susvara but more natural and organic with more “thickness”. Treble is very good too. Again lacking the airiness of the Susvaras but feels more natural. My main complaint is that I think the Calderas are a little prone to sibilance (much more so than the LCD5’s and, surprisingly, a bit more so than the Susvaras).

But overall I actually prefer the tuning of the Calderas to the Susvara. I think they strike a better balance between airiness/transparency versus solidity/punch/natural tone. I’m sure that is deliberate on Zach’s part.

Not sure about relative detail retrieval. Susvara “feels“ more detailed due to its tuning. I’m just not sure it actually is. The Calderas are insanely detailed and have real technical chops. But I will never sell my Susvaras because on a high powered amplifier (like my CFA3) with the volume turned up really loud on a well recorded album they really start to sing. There’s a “live” almost electrifying feeling I get when the Susvaras are turned up to max which is quite intoxicating. Not quite sure how to describe it. At lower volume levels and on weaker amps they sound thin and boring. The Calderas are just much easier to drive and more consistent across a range of equipment and music.

I‘m currently using the Noir Hybrid HPC cable from my LCD5’s with the Calderas but have an Arctic Cables Sonoro on order which I understand pairs well with Calderas. I’ve also ordered the mantle mesh and thick lambskin pads just to play with. Not that I have any issues with the sound as it is with stock pads but keen to experiment and see if I can minimise that slight tendency to sibilance without altering the overall performance and tuning. It’s great that we have these options.

Can’t wait for my 300B tube pre-amp to arrive in the next few weeks from Supratek - I suspect it will mesh beautifully with the Calderas.

I completely agree about the susvara with the CFA3 and higher volume...it comes alive, the bass Is powerful and the soundstage expands...it is a completely different HP than it is with a less impressive amp...I know it is annoying to have so many discussions about amps with the susvara but with the CFA3 or other such TOTL amps it is really an amazing HP..I havent heard the caldera but am curious because I always like to have at least one HP that doesnt require a nuke reactor to drive it

 

[PopZeus]

I'm usually pretty plain in my tastes when it comes to wood headphones. But something about the Caldera has me preferring these wild stabilized variants. They're bold and trippy but not cliched. Must...stay...away!

 

[MN8372]

I completely agree about the susvara with the CFA3 and higher volume...it comes alive, the bass Is powerful and the soundstage expands...it is a completely different HP than it is with a less impressive amp...I know it is annoying to have so many discussions about amps with the susvara but with the CFA3 or other such TOTL amps it is really an amazing HP..I havent heard the caldera but am curious because I always like to have at least one HP that doesnt require a nuke reactor to drive it

The Caldera works well with my DX320Max DAP as a “transportable” solution.