[Monsterzero]

I thought I read somewhere that a lot of vintage SS have fairly high output impedance?

Correct. Ive yet to try a headphone 250 ohms,or higher that a vintage receiver cannot manhandle.
Old receivers tapped off of the speaker amp using a resistor. I am not sure if there was a standard resistor used from company to company or not,but owning many receivers from the 1970s,each of them all do high ohm headphones quite well. The only difference I have found is whether or not I prefer the tone of any given receiver paired with any given headphone.

Most modern AVRs use op-amps for the headphone jack,hence why we use vintage receivers.

 

[pippen99]

I run my Verite out of a Cavalli Liquid Gold and they sound great. I don't believe Zach would intentionally limit market penetration by producing a product limited to such a small market as tube amplifier owners.

 

[hikaru12]

I run my Verite out of a Cavalli Liquid Gold and they sound great. I don't believe Zach would intentionally limit market penetration by producing a product limited to such a small market as tube amplifier owners.

That's also one of the best SS amps out there and not easy to come by - I don't think Zach intentionally limited the market but you'd be hard pressed to find a modest, readibly available SS amp (not an EC BW2 or anything) that can make them sound better than a good tube amp. He just designs his headphones with OTLs mainly in mind, perhaps due to driver choices? Not sure why they benefit from tube amps other than the high impedance so much.

 

[ProfFalkin]

That sucks that they're really only meant for tubes as I was thinking of getting a Auralic Taurus to use with the Verite if I ended up with it because I've gotten tired of constantly spending big $$ on NOS tubes.

Who told you this? Slap them.

Verite sound great out of SS amps. Synergy is important with the Verite, probably more so than on most other headphones, but there are plenty of good SS amps that will work. For example, the BW2 and Gilmore Lite Mk2 sound great with Verite. Jotunheim is decent.

Hybrids like Lyr 3, Mjolnir 2, Liquid Plat, etc are all great pairings.

That's just a short list of amps I own / have owned / demoed for longer than a week and have tried with the Verite. I suspect affordable hybrids like the MCTH would work very well too, and that one doesn't need NOS tubes to sound good.

I think @zach915m has a HeadAmp GS-X Mini. Ask him what he thinks of the pairing. That's in the same $ ballpark as the Taurus.

 

[hikaru12]

Who told you this? Slap them.

Verite sound great out of SS amps. Synergy is important with the Verite, probably more so than on most other headphones, but there are plenty of good SS amps that will work. For example, the BW2 and Gilmore Lite Mk2 sound great with Verite. Jotunheim is decent.

Hybrids like Lyr 3, Mjolnir 2, Liquid Plat, etc are all great pairings.

That's just a short list of amps I own / have owned / demoed for longer than a week and have tried with the Verite. I suspect affordable hybrids like the MCTH would work very well too, and that one doesn't need NOS tubes to sound good.

I think @zach915m has a HeadAmp GS-X Mini. Ask him what he thinks of the pairing. That's in the same $ ballpark as the Taurus.

Ideally I'm looking at pairing it with a Phonitor X which has been described as a wire with a gain which would allow the headphones to really produce their own sound without the amp's own sonic signature getting in the way. I think it really depends on the amps design and how much current/voltage swing it can push.

I already have a CTH but I would want to upgrade to a balanced hybrid if I was going to go that route. When I had my Auteurs I could never really find a SS that I liked pairing with it but with my Dragon Inspire IHA-1 they were a treat!

 

[ProfFalkin]

Ideally I'm looking at pairing it with a Phonitor X which has been described as a wire with a gain which would allow the headphones to really produce their own sound without the amp's own sonic signature getting in the way. I think it really depends on the amps design and how much current/voltage swing it can push.

I already have a CTH but I would want to upgrade to a balanced hybrid if I was going to go that route. When I had my Auteurs I could never really find a SS that I liked pairing with it but with my Dragon Inspire IHA-1 they were a treat!

Phonitor X with which DAC? That's going to matter, a lot. I owned the X.

People think they want wire with gain. I think it's a case of you need to be careful of what you wish for, you might get it. I didn't care for the X at all with any headphone, even my hd650.

 

[hikaru12]

Phonitor X with which DAC? That's going to matter, a lot. I owned the X

Gungrir Multibit A2 - warm, wide soundstage and one of my favorite DACs. I usually prefer warm DACs so getting to hear different source changes with the X would be great. I'm a big believer in cable changes and with transparent cans (even my Elears) I like being able to distinguish differences easily. The overly neutral sound may get boring after a while but I'm looking for a SS amp to maximize the micro-detail retrieval of the Verites if I end up getting them. SS amps have a hard time competing with TOTL OTLs or even hybrids when it comes to detail retrieval hence why I asked for suggestions on what would pair well with them or if they were even a good match at all.

I've heard the Gilmore Lite touted as a good amp with ZMF's and by Zach himself but I'm not quite sure why. It's older brother is really bright and sibilant and from what I've read the Lite is a little more of the same thing in lesser degrees - is it a good pairing because it cuts through the warmth and thickness of ZMF's cans primairly or is there some other design element that makes it a good synergy?

 

[ProfFalkin]

Gungrir Multibit A2 - warm, wide soundstage and one of my favorite DACs. I usually prefer warm DACs so getting to hear different source changes with the X would be great. I'm a big believer in cable changes and with transparent cans (even my Elears) I like being able to distinguish differences easily. The overly neutral sound may get boring after a while but I'm looking for a SS amp to maximize the micro-detail retrieval of the Verites if I end up getting them. SS amps have a hard time competing with TOTL OTLs or even hybrids when it comes to detail retrieval hence why I asked for suggestions on what would pair well with them or if they were even a good match at all.

I've heard the Gilmore Lite touted as a good amp with ZMF's and by Zach himself but I'm not quite sure why. It's older brother is really bright and sibilant and from what I've read the Lite is a little more of the same thing in lesser degrees - is it a good pairing because it cuts through the warmth and thickness of ZMF's cans primairly or is there some other design element that makes it a good synergy?

GumbyA2 was the most tolerable DAC I could pair with the X. I really wanted to try it with a Metrum or Soekris to flavor things up a bit, but I never got the chance. Sadness. Anyway, I'm not trying to talk you out of the X. I thought I'd put some caution out there due to my experience with it.

As for the Gilmore, I think it just took advantage of the speed and clarity of the Verite. I don't think it was any brighter than the Jotunheim, but it did seem clearer and faster. As for it cutting through the warmth, I'm not entirely sure. Bass warmth? No. It still had great quantity and slam. Mid warmth? Maybe.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I could make another recommendation. I did ~ 3 week demo of the DSHA 3F, which I ordered and hopefully will ship next week. It was the best pairing with the Verite and Aeolus I've heard to date. (As in, hand's down best, no question.) Atomicbob did a measurement suite and a review on that different site. He almost never writes subjective reviews. Measurements show a SS producing natural 2nd orders like a tube amp, but without the tubes. It's a crazy good amp. Maybe look that up.

Good luck!

 

[whirlwind]

That sucks that they're really only meant for tubes as I was thinking of getting a Auralic Taurus to use with the Verite if I ended up with it because I've gotten tired of constantly spending big $$ on NOS tubes.

These headphones are not just meant for tubes....I sent Zach an e-mail awhile back with a few questions and found out that ironically we own the same three amps. how crazy is that!
In short, he said the Verite will sound fantastic from all three of them...one of these amps is a SS amp.

 

[hikaru12]

GumbyA2 was the most tolerable DAC I could pair with the X. I really wanted to try it with a Metrum or Soekris to flavor things up a bit, but I never got the chance. Sadness. Anyway, I'm not trying to talk you out of the X. I thought I'd put some caution out there due to my experience with it.

As for the Gilmore, I think it just took advantage of the speed and clarity of the Verite. I don't think it was any brighter than the Jotunheim, but it did seem clearer and faster. As for it cutting through the warmth, I'm not entirely sure. Bass warmth? No. It still had great quantity and slam. Mid warmth? Maybe.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I could make another recommendation. I did ~ 3 week demo of the DSHA 3F, which I ordered and hopefully will ship next week. It was the best pairing with the Verite and Aeolus I've heard to date. (As in, hand's down best, no question.) Atomicbob did a measurement suite and a review on that different site. He almost never writes subjective reviews. Measurements show a SS producing natural 2nd orders like a tube amp, but without the tubes. It's a crazy good amp. Maybe look that up.

Good luck!

I was reading about that amp. Seems like Dave works in small batches at a time. Isnt the 3F the low impedance matched version best suited to Focals? Surprised to hear you say you liked it the best. Ive heard it touted on the same lines as the Liquid Gold which is quite the archievement.

The Metrum is a great DAC hence why I think Zach likes to use them with his equipment (or does he like the Musette? I get them both confused) In any case sounds like there a few good pairings out there. My budget for an amp is about $2k but Dave does two installments on his amp so I might go down that route if its as good as everyone says! Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Seems like Dave works in small batches at a time.

Yes. He said he was doing two batches, and the first is almost done.

Isnt the 3F the low impedance matched version best suited to Focals?

Yep!

I think Zach is a reseller for Metrum? I'm sure one of these days I'll win the lottery and pick up a few Adagios. One for work, one for home. You know.

 

[sarnhelen]

Very happy running my Verites through a solid state amp, Sony TA-ZH1ES (and means I can keep my ZiRs on hand too, given the number of headphone outputs this amp provides) – has the great advantage of performing the upsampling to DSD as well as Roon does, relieving my Roon box of that duty. That said, at Axpona I was impressed by the rich sound of the Manley tube amp – although I find its design hideous, especially the gold version, whereas the Sony is a beautiful example of industrial design.

 

[Zachik]

I think @zach915m has a HeadAmp GS-X Mini. Ask him what he thinks of the pairing.

I have auditioned that pairing at RMAF (Oct. 2018) and it sounded great!

 

[LoryWiv]

I did ~ 3 week demo of the DSHA 3F, which I ordered and hopefully will ship next week. It was the best pairing with the Verite and Aeolus I've heard to date. (As in, hand's down best, no question.) Atomicbob did a measurement suite and a review on that different site. He almost never writes subjective reviews. Measurements show a SS producing natural 2nd orders like a tube amp, but without the tubes. It's a crazy good amp. Maybe look that up.

Where did you order DSHA-3, not finding much info on it?
Thanks!

 

[ProfFalkin]

Where did you order DSHA-3, not finding much info on it?
Thanks!

http://www.ecpaudio.com/contact.shtml

Shoot Doug an email to order/ask questions. The second round of builds have not started yet (that I'm aware of anyway), so now would be a good time to ask.

I honestly don't know if he has a page on his site for the DSHA-3, or 3F (Ravenswood). It might be a good question to ask.