Despite owning the Blackwood, I often feel like I want something with a little more punch and excitable nature, as well as something a bit lighter (blackwood cups are super heavy because theyre dense). I'm actually somewhat tempted by the couple of Vibro MkII in the For Sale forum. Still, I think that small driver with frontwave damping just doesn't really have the same dynamics, it lends itself to smoothness. Also I REALLY wish the Blackwood had the same cup design as the Vibro, since the pads wrapped around the cup just don't scream quality, IMO. Still quite a nice headphone, but I'm getting the head-fi craving. My wallet itches
Edit: Having said this, I ended up giving in. You'll probably see some comments of how I feel about the Vibro MkII and Blackwood next week.
As for Wes saying:
"I joined the Blackwood club, I have a pair on their way to me, as I am writing this!
I recently bought some ZMF Classic, and loved them so much, I am going to own every model ZMF has, and I am climbing the ladder, from lowest to highest priced. I am a big time Alpha Prime fan, and it is awesome to hear how Zach has a different tuning, but just as good. I will report back with some comparisons, after some listening time."
While I think Zach makes great headphones at their price points, if you intend to own the Auteur, I can't imagine some of his other lineup getting much time in use. Its a fantastic headphone. It also has a somewhat similar tonal balance to Ori and Eikon, though more dynamic with more satisfying bass and mids than either IMO. I heard one at a CAF and it was definitely a fantastic headphone, and different than most High-Fi/Summit-Fi headphones in their treble presentation. Smooth yet still dynamic with better tone, less apparent detail than typical high end dynamics (T1, 800S, 800), though this is the treble presentation, and technicality is hard to hear at an event. I wish I could have more time with it, definitely one of the best I've heard. There's a lot of disappointing headphones in Summit-Fi in my opinion, but Auteur is definitely not one of those.