Never heard of em, how bout VAC stuff?
To be honest, I’ve heard them many times, but they never really caught my attention in a good or bad way, but never spent enough time with them to form an opinion, so perhaps might be worth checking out, although does lie on the cleaner side of things which isn’t exactly my main focus
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Thank you, this has broadened my horizons, i have bookmarked these pages and will learn more about each 
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Still rooting for DartZeel, but what about Aavik or Musical Fidelity?
I don’t personally like musical fidelity, aavik was really something I was considering but really to be honest they just don’t interest me all that much for some reason, also expensive in the us. But considering I have the 01 it would be a natural match so I’ll have to look into that a bit more
(Just posted a similar thing over at HFG…)
So I have an A90D amp now, and can’t say I have any issues with it(definitely not as bright and fatiguing as Gungnir MB+3XP was). I’m looking to explore some other amps, and am wondering what differences they might have. I prefer rich, spacious & organic/analog/smooth over lean/dry/analytical/bright. Balanced, please!
Not sure what all is out there… I think I need fully discrete, Class A, but this seems to be a myth. These have been on my list:
- MLP (not fully Class A)
- Singxer SA-1 (not fully Class A in high gain)
- GS-X Mini (fully Class A)
- ?
Did not like G111(soft, lacking detail), SP400(quite dull, even slightly dark), or 3XP(sharp/edgy)
=========
Also wondering about changes in DAC sounds, from my Border Patrol DAC. (Not fond of Schiit, SMSL, or Audio-GD). Balanced, please!
- Pontus 2 12th
- Qutest (an exception for non-balanced)
- Audio-GD R-8HE MK2 (so much technology - how could it be bad? :s )
- ?
For some coloration, I could try some tube pre-amp, and maybe try a DDC(ARES IRIS?) in the front.
Current headphones: mostly IEMs and NDH 30, but will be trying a handful more soon. Probably will also try a JM Audio XTC Open very soon, maybe on the way to Atrium, VO, Caldera, or HE1000V2. (Can anyone do a comparison between Atrium and HE1000V2…?)
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ifi Pro iCan has some nice color to it and can fit the ballpark you’re looking at price wise.
Woo Audio WA22 if you’re lucky and find one for cheap.
Bryston BHA-1 maybe? Cayin? Flux Labs?
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Hello,
looks interesting too:
https://ankaudiokits.com/product/headphone-virtuoso-el84/
Has anyone already taken the plunge?
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Had to say goodbye to the LTA this morning but I’d argue that my temporary solution is quite nice as well lol (connected with Audience AU24 SE RCA interconnects to the Rockna)
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Is that a loaner from Donald?
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How does it pair with the Omegas? 
Lousy I’d bet.
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Yep
If only I still had the Omegas or the Stratus could drive speakers I might’ve been able to answer this lol
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You haven’t gotten a response here so I’ll answer half your question. What’s your amp budget as that’s going to help the recommendations.
I’d say to forget the class A, just listen to the amp and whether it does what you want it or not. The MLP is great but I’d say to look for a used Burson Soloist 3X, same sound IMO and a decidedly tier above. I’d also highly recommend especially in this buyer’s market a Bryston BHA-1, insane bang for the buck and some can be found currently for under $900.
No experience whatsoever with IEMs so that’s why I’m only giving you half an answer and I have no experience with any of the recommendations using IEMs.
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Pretty sure he has the 3xp and is trying to get away from it if I’m reading it correctly, and really I don’t think the liquid plat sounds all that similar to the 3xp personally
They are very good
Personally if you’re looking for a very rich solid state, I’d look at something like a wells milo (rich but on the more blunted and smooth side of things, not my thing but there’s 0 chance for it to be anything considered fatiguing), probably out of budget but a bakoon amp13r would fit the bill quite well, something from flux labs would work well probably the volot but I’ve not heard one and only heard stuff like the fa12 and fa10 and am assuming it’s in a similar line signature wise. An XI Broadway is also a pretty good match as well, and a bit of a weirder pick the auralic taurus mk2 is also worth looking into
I’d skip the mlp and singxer simply because they’d be a technical downgrade from the 3xp, and I’d skip the mini because I wouldn’t consider it spacious and it can get fairly intense with the treble depending on the pairing
In terms of what dacs to look into, it’s really going to depend on what amp you go with to match it properly
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I have the Soloist 3XP and didn’t find it to be sharp/edgy with my HP pairings. I did swap the default op amps for sparkos to help smooth the response. I think the sparkos are a bit more technical for details and really help to bring up the mids where the default op amps are much more v shaped. You lose a bit of shimmer on top but the tradeoff was worth it for me. I also found the supercharger to help with the treble details as well. I have 3 other SS amps at the moment and the Soloist is my all arounder choice but have considered upgrading to a 3GT (~ 1600) as the prices have come down quite a bit.
Here are a few other options:
I’ve heard the Kinki and liked it but perhaps too close to the soloist. The HE9 is the best AGD has to offer but most of the community does not really care for them so they get beat up quite a bit on used pricing. The Wells might give you the warmth/smoothness you’re looking for and is priced quite well given the upgrades.
For Dacs perhaps go with something like this… Although I’d look for an unmodified version for ~900
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Currently about $3K/month available. ;p Or stated another way: looking at current value targets in the market, listed in high-to-low priority, I’d be comfortable(for now) around:
Headphone(s) = ~$2-4.5K (Atrium/HE1000V2 to Caldera)
(Edit: just ordered an XTC Open, for better or worse 
)
Amp(s) = ~$2-3K (GS-X Mini to WA22)
DAC(s) = ~$2-3K (Pontus II 12th to ?)
(Tube pre-amp = ~$500)
Yep, got rid of Gungnir MB + 3XP a little while ago. Never got around to trying other op-amps, but oh well.
Oh, interesting… Hm. I need a new baseline option, then. 
I’ve heard the GS-X Mk2 isn’t as fun/nice sounding as the Mini, from one random reviewer.
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It can change some things, but it didn’t personally save the soloist for me. I didn’t dislike the soloist and think it can be a nice amp for some, but the bit more sterile nature and more dimensionally and dynamically limp/flat nature of the amp never really meshed with me, didn’t find it sharp though, and it’s control was great I’ll give it that, but it feels like a more surface level amp for me overall
So yes the gsx mk2 would absolutely be a no go in my book for what you’re looking for, it’s clean and dry and slightly sterile, very analytical and technical but not really an enjoyable listen imo, ends up sounding very mechanical. The mini I actually prefer in signature and presentation but it’s not as technically capable as the mk2, but there are actually pairings that I think balance out the sound of the mini to potentially suit what you’re looking for. An example would be a holo spring + gsx mini actually kinda balance itself out, the mini adds nice energy and the holo helps to expand the space and microdynamics to where it’s actually a reasonably balanced and fun pairing without as many gripes as I’d have with both those pieces on their own. It’s important to really get synergy right to make things shine as otherwise they can be very underwhelming or sometimes unpleasant. I do think there’s a lot you could consider, you just want to find the right pairing to make it work
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have a stupid question that may be obvious to most of you but I’m struggling a bit on this one. I’m currently in need of a Preamp between my Dac (Holo Spring KTE) and 3-4 HP amps that intend to keep. I was leaning toward a tube pre but if I can get a decent SS pre that would be fine as well. I saw this Anthem D2 Pre/Pro get posted for a decent price. I don’t care about the processing side, Dac, room correction but if the pre amp stage is decent for 2 channel this could work quite well for me.
I currently have an Anthem STR integrated for my 2 channel stereo and it’s quite nice for the amplification stage. The D2 is an older model but not sure if it will fit my use case 
I saw something like this:
Manual
Back panel Screen shot
So 19 would be where my Dac would input and 20 would be the outputs to my amps? I would assume I couldn’t use 13 for my hp amps as outputs since it’s meant for multichannel?
Yes. Zone 2 and 3 would work but the ones for the tape loop may be fixed volume only. The pic is a little blurry.
This is probably fine as an interim solution but in my experience a pre makes such an important impact to a chain and a bad one will be a bottleneck so you’ll have that weak link on all of your chains.
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I’ll reiterate I’d rather have a passive switch box than a bad pre in my system.
BUT if I was using 3 or 4 amps regularly, I’s also probably evaluate if I sold them all could I use the combined funds to purchase a single better unit.
I used to run multiple DAC’s and Amps, and one of the better decisions I ever made was just reducing that to 1 of each/system.
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