After reading much praise for paring the HD6** headphones with the FV, I decided to pick up a pair of HD6XX's (was on the fence about getting the a used 650, but it looks like the differences are pretty minor?). I found them to be pretty impressive for their price - but the sound stage and sense of space just wasn't up to snuff for me. This leads me to wonder, what's the end-all-be-all ultimate pairing for FV, in everyone's (subjective) opinion? Reading through this forum I've noted lots of praise for pairing with the Focal Clears, and several ZMF models, including both open and closed Verite.
I'd love to find something I could pickup used somewhere around the $1000 mark, which looks like it would rule out the Verite's - but if the choice is between waiting another year and saving for something expensive, or settling for something cheap now that I won't be satisfied with, I can wait and save. I understand there's diminishing returns as you go up the price tiers, but do the Verite's (and other potentials) justify their high price?
Focal Clear OGs are $890 new right now. I’m incredibly impressed with the Focal Stellia/FV combo. The OG Clears and Stellia have pretty similar tuning/characteristics.
I played into the HD650 fever and found the same as you. They never did much for me. They are very good for the price.
I have the Clear MG and they do pair nicely. Out of curiosity I tried the Hifiman HE1000V2, not really expecting the Folkvangr to have enough power. It does, and the combo sounds very good.
After reading much praise for paring the HD6** headphones with the FV, I decided to pick up a pair of HD6XX's (was on the fence about getting the a used 650, but it looks like the differences are pretty minor?). I found them to be pretty impressive for their price - but the sound stage and sense of space just wasn't up to snuff for me. This leads me to wonder, what's the end-all-be-all ultimate pairing for FV, in everyone's (subjective) opinion? Reading through this forum I've noted lots of praise for pairing with the Focal Clears, and several ZMF models, including both open and closed Verite.
I'd love to find something I could pickup used somewhere around the $1000 mark, which looks like it would rule out the Verite's - but if the choice is between waiting another year and saving for something expensive, or settling for something cheap now that I won't be satisfied with, I can wait and save. I understand there's diminishing returns as you go up the price tiers, but do the Verite's (and other potentials) justify their high price?
I bought the fv as a planar person, so started with Sundara and Audeze LCD-2, which were both fine (LCD's were the best non ZMF i tried) . Then tried HD8xx and did not like it. Finally splurged on ZMF Atrium and it's amazing. Eyeing the Caldera's next...
I think there should definitely be some contenders under 1k but I just didn't want to keep trying different ones personally
Focal Clear OGs are $890 new right now. I’m incredibly impressed with the Focal Stellia/FV combo. The OG Clears and Stellia have pretty similar tuning/characteristics.
I played into the HD650 fever and found the same as you. They never did much for me. They are very good for the price.
For $890 the clear OG would be my recommendation. It’s a genuinely excellent headphone that is genre flexible and matches really well with the FV. I still prefer the VC, but for the price the clear is fantastic and plays to the FV’s strengths.
I bought the fv as a planar person, so started with Sundara and Audeze LCD-2, which were both fine (LCD's were the best non ZMF i tried) . Then tried HD8xx and did not like it. Finally splurged on ZMF Atrium and it's amazing. Eyeing the Caldera's next... I think there should definitely be some contenders under 1k but I just didn't want to keep trying different ones personally
After reading much praise for paring the HD6** headphones with the FV, I decided to pick up a pair of HD6XX's (was on the fence about getting the a used 650, but it looks like the differences are pretty minor?). I found them to be pretty impressive for their price - but the sound stage and sense of space just wasn't up to snuff for me. This leads me to wonder, what's the end-all-be-all ultimate pairing for FV, in everyone's (subjective) opinion? Reading through this forum I've noted lots of praise for pairing with the Focal Clears, and several ZMF models, including both open and closed Verite.
I'd love to find something I could pickup used somewhere around the $1000 mark, which looks like it would rule out the Verite's - but if the choice is between waiting another year and saving for something expensive, or settling for something cheap now that I won't be satisfied with, I can wait and save. I understand there's diminishing returns as you go up the price tiers, but do the Verite's (and other potentials) justify their high price?
I enjoyed the HD600 with Folkvangr more than HD800S, Focal Clear MG (no longer had the OG on hand to try them) and Atrium. I prefer planars though, so take that as you may...
Focal Clear OGs are $890 new right now. I’m incredibly impressed with the Focal Stellia/FV combo. The OG Clears and Stellia have pretty similar tuning/characteristics.
I played into the HD650 fever and found the same as you. They never did much for me. They are very good for the price.
x2 for the Clears. Mine are a few years old and didn't see a ton of use for a while but they are seriously good with the FV, especially with the Magical Impedanceizer toggled.
Have scaled down my HP collection in recent years but others Ive enjoyed thus far:
- HD580 (over 650)
- Grado GH-4 and RS1x
- HD8xx (with the high-gain switch enabled)
- AQ Whatever They Were called -- these are lo-Z but are absolutely great with the FV
I've been playing with 7308s recently as inputs and really like them.
Ha it’s so interesting seeing the differences between what people like with this amp. Currently borrowing a pair of 6xx and really liking it compared to them on my Soloist, it’s not going to win any awards but it’s a relaxing sound that works for most genres on the Folk though some hip hop didn’t sound right. I’m a recent VC owner and the praise for that set up is justified, where the 6xx starts to roll off in the treble the VC keeps on going while still retaining a fun amount of bass. To my surprise though it’s been the 800s that I remember liking the most, I don’t own them but heard that combo at Texas and again at CanJam and it made me fall in love with a headphone that I absolutely hated when I first heard em on a SS amp. So much so that I’ve thought about selling the Arya’s and Soloist and going all in on tubes
Has anyone compared this Folk to the Schiit Freya + in tube mode as a pre-amp ? I'm looking to add a tube pre into my chain as the primary function and being a hp amp is a secondary (nice to have use case). Just wonder as a pre how does the folk compare to the Freya+? Is it a similar sound/performance or does it offer something much different?
Has anyone compared this Folk to the Schiit Freya + in tube mode as a pre-amp ? I'm looking to add a tube pre into my chain as the primary function and being a hp amp is a secondary (nice to have use case). Just wonder as a pre how does the folk compare to the Freya+? Is it a similar sound/performance or does it offer something much different?
Haven't compared it a Freya but did slot it in for spot duty with my amps (MC275VIs) when I had to do some work on my usual pre. It sounded good. Not as good as my dedicated preamp and certainly lacked its flexibility, but quiet and seemed to carry over a bit of the magic of the HP outs. You have to disconnect the HPs to activate the pre outs but the volume curve was fine, etc.
I enjoyed the HD600 with Folkvangr more than HD800S, Focal Clear MG (no longer had the OG on hand to try them) and Atrium. I prefer planars though, so take that as you may...
I found the FV to do very well with my Aeon Flow Closed. The AFC is a little genre specific, but on the FV it has a wonderful, natural sound that is quite addictive. The FV doesn’t give it the slam it never had, but that’s the AFC for you.
Wish I remembered more clearly, but I went into it knowing it was weirdly tuned, thought I could just eq it out but still didn't like it. Didn't do anything well to my ears. Considered tape mod but didn't want to void the warranty to find out.
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