Given how the 22 is described, it seems like that one might favor the v550 more, but can’t say for sure
Is there an amp that you’d consider an allrounder for driving planars like Aeon Noire, Diana v2, LCD-X, HE1000SE/v2, Arya v2, HE6SE, D8k OG or at least most of them? Synergy-wise, it should pair well with the Amber 3 - maybe a GSX Mini? Roughly up to 2k used.
I liked the gsx mini with the Arya V2 but it could be a tad bright for some.
Sorry, I forgot to mention… I was thinking mainly in terms of power delivery, not necessarily signature, though knowing it might not be the best synergy in terms of treble hotness I might steer away from it.
I guess first thing I’d ask would be out of the listed headphones, could I get a list of priorities? IMO it would be better to get something to focus on what you think would be the top half of that collection rather than getting something that’s decent across the board but less remarkable overall. I’d also ask if you have a general sonic preference to focus on since I do think that’s important to consider, aside from pairing well with the amber 3
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Good question, I will come back once I’ve done more proper listening on the Amber 3 with the MZ2 
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The problem with planars is that there’s just such variance between their sensetivities and ohm rantings it makes the woONEderamp® to drive them all about as rare as unicorns.
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I’m not a big HP guy but I find my Amp&Sound Pendant is a pretty good general purpose Planar HP Amplifier, I can adjust gain based on tube rolls of the 12xxx series tube, I can manage the “grunt & weight” w/ varying the rectifier and there are so many very good El84’s with thousands of pages worth of references, notes, and peoples experiences on this amp that finding a pair to fit your own general sound preference should be a matter of a couple of days/weeks reading & research time.
You can look around and he has models out there that have 8 ohm/100 ohm (Low Z & High Z) taps or like mine the 100 ohm/300 ohm taps which is a model that works particularly well on the harder to drive Planar models ie. LCD2 & 3, & HE6se.
The fact that you can adjust the gain then makes it a real workhorse with all the various Dynamic HP’s available especially the 150-300 ohm models and to top it off you can add a good pre-amp, back off some of the excess juice by using the volume knob as a gain for the amp and then easily play with easier to drive HP models. I would avoid all IEM’s.
Warning, a fair many of these model amplifiers do NOT play well around RF interference and may be difficult if not almost impossible to keep quiet. I have managed to do it, it’s never perfect but for the most part well acceptable, it takes work finding a location devoid of stray RF energy, phones, and whatever else causes interference in the amp.
There is allot of variety in the tubes and many many great tubes still available for purchase, along with much detailed info on tube combos in at least 2 major forum groups.
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Any thoughts where the Cardas Clear Beyond power cable fits in the lists? Better suited for amps DACs or sources?
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I’ve actually never heard the cardas beyond power so I can’t say unfortunately, really haven’t tried many cardas power cables
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Few updates to the list that I’ve made on the hifiguides thread, but not here, will move them over now:
Out of curiosity, what are your guys thoughts on the concept of a reviewers “reference chain”? What people consider a “reference” tends to really vary, how they’re used as a whole tend to vary, and how reviewers handle synergy and pairings with the chains really depend as well. And if there’s more than one chain as well lol. Was just curious about what people see various reviewers do often, and potentially how you might go about making one if you feel like it lol.
Slowly chipping away at the question myself in my list under the rant section with my own rationale and picks since it’s kinda an interesting thought exercise.
Also added a section at the bottom of notable stuff I haven’t heard, will likely grow as more people remind me of stuff. Just reminds me of how I’m somewhat behind on a lot of releases lol. Perhaps that’s just because none of them really look all that interesting, or just because I’m lazy and also happy with what I have now.
Speaking of setups, I really I think a lot of my setups are pretty solidified.
Never leaving (unless they absolutely have to):
- My lamm gear + sra and cms iso gear for the lamm (can’t be replaced, imo best pre + amp combo in the world with the right speakers, confident in saying that too)
- mysphere (duh, see article, even if new version comes out I’m keeping the old)
- lotoo paw gold touch ti (see above, but no article here)
- robert koda takumi k15ex (most reliably good preamp I’ve come across, and I’m sure any upgrade to it will outprice me and take way too long to be upgraded with the waitlist, so not even going to try lol)
- hyla sarda (just a fantastic edc iem for me that I wouldn’t really replace with anything else)
- my og hd600, 880, mdr v6, and esp950 (for sentimental value, and still use them from time to time)
- ksc 75 (well the exact pair might be replaced when they wear out, will always have a pair around)
- mass kobo 424 (fantastic portable that hasn’t really been beaten by anything for me yet, and I’ll keep it around even if there’s a newer one)
- purist dominus loom for main 2ch (great synergy, don’t want to spend any more for cables for that setup)
Could potentially change if new versions come out, but otherwise same as above:
- totaldac d1-sublime (yes I upgraded lol)
- verity lohengrin iis (one of the most enjoyable speakers I’ve ever heard, and fantastic synergy with the lamm, but eying the new upgrade to them)
- lampizator horizon (I’m sure there will be a new one of these in a few years lol, and this isn’t as solidified in my mind as the totaldac but mostly still solidified)
- riviera afm50 (another case of might be at the previous category if it weren’t for eventually considering a higher end or future model)
- aries cerat concero 25 (see above)
- mass kobo 394 ii (I’ll eventually get a 465 at some point lol, but will be awhile)
- hifiman susvara (if there’s a new susvara then I’ll upgrade and ditch the old if it’s better, but otherwise then it’s in the previous category)
- the traillii jp, infinity mk2, thummim (all great, all subject to be upgraded, but also don’t care too much anymore)
- sonore signature rendu se optical tier ii + opticalmodule deluxe + ideon absolute time (really like it, wish there was higher end sonore, but the absolute time saves it)
- borresen 01 (really enjoy them, one of my favorite bookshelves I’ve heard for what I want out of my 2nd setup, but not 100% attached to them or anything)
- audience frontrow loom and fta sinope (really enjoy what these do in most all setups, really could just stop for that, but might change if I demo something that’s better synergy or something, so not set in stone like the purist are for me)
- snake river loom (great standby higher end cables)
- focal utopia (really unique headphones that I haven’t really heard replicated elsewhere)
- final d8000 pro (the bass really keeps this around, incredibly organic bass texture, but everything else is good but not amazing for my collection, might be in the lower section but saved by the bass for now)
- woo wa8 (great portable tube amp, but if something better comes out I’d ditch it)
Things likely to change:
- antipodes k50 (upgrade to a g4 oladra soon enough)
- mojo mystique evo pro 21 (it’s either being sold due to not really using it, or moving up to a higher end mojo if they ever get made)
- luxury & precision p6 pro (might seem strange with how much I like it, but waiting for lp7 ti or might cave if I can get a good deal on a lp6 ti or 7th ae)
- berkeley alpha usb (will likely replace with a better ddc, potentially from totaldac, potentially from someone else for both an upgrade and better chain synergy)
- audio technica adx5k (feel like this doesn’t really match my setup as much and doesn’t get enough use to justify keeping, but I do still have the desire to keep them for the time being)
Things that will be leaving asap:
- voxativ pi 2 ac4x (very unhappy with these for my space, setup, and wants, was a stupid impulse purchase, really shows lol)
Aside from all that, I should note that yes I’m chipping away at the preamp thing, currently on budget stuff, and will work my way up to the more expensive stuff once I get my speaker setups back together. And a few upgrades out of the way to reduce any potential bottleneck as possible. Been both busy and not busy lately, but man preamp stuff is really draining to care about lol. Esp the cheaper stuff admittedly. Hopefully by the end of the year I have it mostly done
And of course shifted things around a bit ranking wise for me
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I think when we talk abour refrence chains we need to make a disction between a bench mark and what we actualy consider refrence. For example, my chain is absalutely my bench mark for technicalities but its quite colored over all so i dont think calling it my “refrence” would give all people the right idea. Imo its a good section to have but the chains should also be explained (along with biases, such as me listening dumb quiet and not liking extended trebble very mych)
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Wait, when the hell did you get an absalute time? Id love some impressions when you get a chance
When a reviewer says reference in my mind it’s simply the baseline of what they are used to hearing and if you follow them long enough and know and understand that chain tonality and performance, you can adjust how you perceive whatever they review.
Twittering Machines is a good example, he mostly tests new gear with whatever else is in his reference system, he doesn’t change it frequently (some reviewers have a new reference every two months lmao), and he doesn’t do shootout comparisons because he rather just review what he’s listening to and what he knows he’s used to hearing with the other gear.
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That’s not really what the word reference means, it’s something you measure things relative to, not necessarily colorless.
Reviewing things is “hard” for a whole host of things, if you go look what the older hifi magazine reviewers did they compared the component to others in a system they knew well, and that’s all you really can do. Manufacturers of course knew this and put their fingers on the scale by providing long term loaners. As a result for example a lot of reviews in the late 80’s and 90’s were done with big Krell amps, that hid a lot of issues with hard to drive speakers at the time.
It at least lets you have some idea how the piece of equipment in test compares to what your used to.
There are obvious problems with this there is no guarantee of synergy, and I think when something is described elsewhere as picky, an effort should be made to try it with known good systems, with caveats in the review.
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The real solution in my mind is to test with the reviewer’s reference system and then with a few more options around it to see how the component changes and what responds good and bad to. That way you can also have an idea on flexibility and synergy opportunities etc
6moons’ main reviewer does that sometimes with him testing in two different rooms with different components
Headfonia and Headfonics do that partially with different gear (they don’t have a reference system though)
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This is my thought process as well. I think reference is relative to the reviewer and it’s up to us to understand that reviewer’s long term reviews, how their systems have evolved and what their tastes are. I tend to see it as just another descriptor word to establish a thought and it may be, that reference may be an established ideal.
Like I know some of the people who’s opinion I value don’t listen or perhaps don’t have the same preferences as I do but it’s that long term familiarity that gives me confidence in the way they describe a product and whether or not it would suit me.
As an example I still am not convinced that I’d like a lot of what @M0N values in the gear he likes but I know precisely given his descriptors whether or not I’d like it. So in some cases I don’t think a reference is even needed and what would supplant the word in is a relative comparison.
Just thinking out loud here without too much structure but yeah.
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I thought you were a little hesitant on what the oladra brought to the table?
- though it does seem his pcm63 chip based dac is actually coming out soon™.
From initial reports of the first oladra, I wasn’t convinced it’s an upgrade, but with the new generation oladra I think I’ll make the jump and see if it’s worthwhile. I could just go for the taiko extreme since I’ve heard one and loved it, but I’d like to stick to antipodes admittedly
It’s just going to have to basically at least meet the performance of the berk rs3 to really consider it honestly, but we’ll see eventually lol