Lara Fabian evokes emotion like no other singer I know. When she sings, she feels. When she feels, you feel. I've been listening to some of her tracks this evening and tears welled up in my eyes and dropped. If you haven't experienced her, start with a couple of YouTube watch and listens first...

The Aegis and Tungsten is a super combo! (and with EL37 really outstanding) 🙏

Listening to this beautiful track with the Caldera Closed and DIY Aegis. Timbre is rich and full of texture. Female vocals, acoustic guitar, double bass, and drums are all beautifully rendered with a wonderful sense of natural space. These headphones are such a joy! ❤️

I had the Arya V2 and loved it. Those can be had today at around $500-600 which are a steal. But in a <$2k budget, I second the recommendation for used VO. Some amazing ones are listed ont he classifieds at <$1.5k and it's a great complement for the Caldera, and still one of the best performing...

I'm with you! these are my 2 top choices.. It's been a while since I tried my XF2 in the Aegis (they are my default tubes for the Nirvana). I should revisit it. I'm now on a long 6550 stretch period and really loving it. It's been 2-3 months since I had the EL37 in, curious how they will sound...

Wow!! yea, all 6550 NOS were Tung-Sol made. Mine is RCA branded. oy!

I finally got around to the Shu Guang Electric WEKT88 Plus tubes. My honest impression is that these aren't the best tubes I've tried. Thinly textured and lacking in bass extension (in stark comtrast to the Tung-Sol made 6550); and a collapsed stage (in contrast to the EL37). They do have 2 big...

I have to admit that I lost a heartbeat reading this mid sentence.. 🤣 Thanks for sharing these great impressions, enjoyed reading them! Me CanJam demo had the same take on Immanis’ more expansive vs. Magna’s more intimate presentations, but haven’t had a chance to home demo yet so very helpful...

Completely agree. These headphones are amp/chain picky and requires some effort to get what they can give (money isn’t always needed, but patience is:)) That’s a great perspective to have.

I’ve had the Yamaha for a long weekend a while back and returned it. I wanted to love it: it’s so beautifully built, super light, a marvel of engineering really. And the packaging, with the included stand and two of the nicest stock cables I’ve ever seen. But, alas, I didn’t. Its tuning is...

When you do, just remember they’re easy to get volume on, but need a good amp to sound great on.. 😊

I sold my LCD-4 recently but comfortable staying the AC has much more texture and tactility than the LCD-4, each in turn is smoother and darker.

there will be more... :) nice! I need to give this one a second listen. I honed in on the Fathom at CanJam NYC (and love it). but so many people rave about this one too!!

For anyone here who may have participated, or is just curious to view the results... I just published the results of the 2024 Kickoff Poll for the Watercooler Headphone Edition thread (with @Rockwell75 's generous help and guidance, inspired by this thread)...

Thanks buddy. Yes, indeed I put a link to it on the first post of this thread. Future polls will similarly be linked there so readers can easily find them in the future!