[DavidSerig]

Sometimes my transformer coupled beast blows my mind and sails deep into the night.

Other times Folkvangr excels with the sexiest sound around.

Then again, Nitsch Piety sounds great all the time. At under $200, it's quite a deal for your Grados and many others. But especially Grados.

 

[ScotchNeat]

Other times Folkvangr excels with the sexiest sound around.

Then again, Nitsch Piety sounds great all the time. At under $200, it's quite a deal for your Grados and many others. But especially Grados.

I find I am more likely to prefer the FV with mellower music like jazz, or highly vocal stuff. The Piety seems to excel more frequently with rock and metal. But there's no hard and fast rule. Sometimes it's the opposite, and sometimes a track comes up that makes me move the 1/4 plug to see if I'll enjoy the other's presentation more. I'm actually getting pretty good at recognizing when that'll actually be the case, though I certainly couldn't describe for you the criteria I use for such.

 

[Barnstormer13]

Sometimes my transformer coupled beast blows my mind and sails deep into the night.

Other times Folkvangr excels with the sexiest sound around.

Then again, Nitsch Piety sounds great all the time. At under $200, it's quite a deal for your Grados and many others. But especially Grados.

I find I am more likely to prefer the FV with mellower music like jazz, or highly vocal stuff. The Piety seems to excel more frequently with rock and metal. But there's no hard and fast rule. Sometimes it's the opposite, and sometimes a track comes up that makes me move the 1/4 plug to see if I'll enjoy the other's presentation more. I'm actually getting pretty good at recognizing when that'll actually be the case, though I certainly couldn't describe for you the criteria I use for such.

for me, the further up the chain I go from the headphones, the broader and less genre specific the impact. That said, why not if you’ve got more than one amp.

Speaking of which, I ordered a new SS amp. I blame the guys who convinced me a Yggy would improve the FV. Yes, they were right- it’s an awesome DAC, but now I have to know how much more detail is out there.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

I finally got around to putting in all of the Western Electric 5670s, so running them in all 10 slots.

I let them burn in for a couple hours before listening. My initial thoughts is that the soundstage is wider compared to the GE JAN 5670 and Philips Heerlen combo I had running before, but immediately noticeable the sound is much thicker with a warmer tilt and much more slammy and emphasized bass.

I’m suddenly getting real bass from my ZMF VC again.

One weird thing is that some of the tubes are much brighter than others. I’m not sure why that is. The input tubes are a perfect match and the others are decently close. I just didn’t expect to see such variation in brightness for the same type of tube. Is that normal for some tubes?

 

[tafens]

One weird thing is that some of the tubes are much brighter than others. I’m not sure why that is. The input tubes are a perfect match and the others are decently close. I just didn’t expect to see such variation in brightness for the same type of tube. Is that normal for some tubes?

That is probably due to individual differences in the manufacturing, where the filament is more visible (sticks out longer) in some tubes than others. I have one tube where the top glow isn’t even visible, but it works great nonetheless, so most likely, no worries

 

[tutetibiimperes]

I know it’s cliche at this point, but it’s amazing how well the Sennheiser HD650/6XX scales.

I love my fancy ZMFs with their pretty wood and all, but especially with the new tubes the HD6XX sounds absolutely incredible on the FV while being fed from the Yggy A2.

A $200 chunk of plastic that was designed 20+ years ago doesn’t have any right to sound this amazing.

 

[Barnstormer13]

I know it’s cliche at this point, but it’s amazing how well the Sennheiser HD650/6XX scales.

I love my fancy ZMFs with their pretty wood and all, but especially with the new tubes the HD6XX sounds absolutely incredible on the FV while being fed from the Yggy A2.

A $200 chunk of plastic that was designed 20+ years ago doesn’t have any right to sound this amazing.

I also was quite amazed at how well my HD6XX performed on the FV. That said, I still prefer most of my other (much more expensive) headphones.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

I also was quite amazed at how well my HD6XX performed on the FV. That said, I still prefer most of my other (much more expensive) headphones.

I just noticed on your sig we have similar cans and setups.

My Yggy is A2 instead of LIM, but we share the FV and MJ3, Auteur and VC. I have an Elex instead of Clear, Ether CX instead of AFC, and LCD-5 instead of LCD-X.

I’ve been tempted by the Moondrop Variations but it’s a lot to spend on an IEM and I so rarely use IEMs, plus I’m completely satisfied by my Moondrop Chu when it comes to IEM listening.

 

[Barnstormer13]

I just noticed on your sig we have similar cans and setups.

My Yggy is A2 instead of LIM, but we share the FV and MJ3, Auteur and VC. I have an Elex instead of Clear, Ether CX instead of AFC, and LCD-5 instead of LCD-X.

I’ve been tempted by the Moondrop Variations but it’s a lot to spend on an IEM and I so rarely use IEMs, plus I’m completely satisfied by my Moondrop Chu when it comes to IEM listening.

Very close tastes. I had the Elex and gave it away. Was a dumb move and I still miss it. I Never got a chance to try it on the FV but I bet it pairs extremely well.

Re the LCD-X: I bought it mostly because I missed the planar sound and needed something that was efficient enough for my FV. While it is a great pairing (IMHO), I ordered the MJ3 so I could get a more power hungry planar I’ve heard good things about the DCA E3 and hope to check them out at the SOCAL can jam.

I hear you about expensive IEMs. Too easy to lose. They are impressive though.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

Very close tastes. I had the Elex and gave it away. Was a dumb move and I still miss it. I Never got a chance to try it on the FV but I bet it pairs extremely well.

Re the LCD-X: I bought it mostly because I missed the planar sound and needed something that was efficient enough for my FV. While it is a great pairing (IMHO), I ordered the MJ3 so I could get a more power hungry planar I’ve heard good things about the DCA E3 and hope to check them out at the SOCAL can jam.

I hear you about expensive IEMs. Too easy to lose. They are impressive though.

Yeah the LCD-5 is a bad match with the FV, even with the impedance compensator switch on, just too low impedance and want too much current. They sound great on the MJ3 though, as does my HE6se.

I haven’t heard the E3 but I did demo the Expanse at the Florida Audio Expo. I was impressed, but running off of a Cayin HA-6A it was almost maxed out to make them sing. They’re certainly power hungry.

I need to hear the Caldera and Atriums sometime.

 

[Barnstormer13]

Well, lost audio on my FV tonight. Looks like something gave up the ghost. Good thing Schiit does a decent length warranty.