[ttys0]

Just got a Geshelli stack (J2S & E2), and they work great with my Atrium Closed. I have the J2S at medium gain, and when using the AC, flip the E2 to high gain.

And, of course, they also work great with my other non-ZMF headphones.

I'm planning to start a Bottlehead Crack project in the next few months, and will be hooking that up to the RCA out of the J2S.

 

[LeoTorres0529]

Hey guys, Im looking for an amp to pair with my ZMF Atrium Open. Something between 500 and 700 USD, either SS or tube. I would like something that push vocals forward (especially female vocals) and smooth out the treble a little bit. Also, I dont, know if the Schiit Midgard or Nitsch Pietus Maximus are equivalents or one is much better than the other.

 

[Nayyte]

Just got a Geshelli stack (J2S & E2), and they work great with my Atrium Closed. I have the J2S at medium gain, and when using the AC, flip the E2 to high gain.

And, of course, they also work great with my other non-ZMF headphones.

I'm planning to start a Bottlehead Crack project in the next few months, and will be hooking that up to the RCA out of the J2S.

Wow, those two look awesome together! Great choices.

I had a blast making my BHC, but if I were to do it again I would upgrade some components first. The stock 1/4" jack and the volume pot you get with the kit, are on the cheap side. I would go for a metal screw-in 1/4" jack rather than a plastic one, combined with a ALPS pot. There are tons of capacitor mods for the BHC as well. I built mine in stock form and it sounded amazing regardless.

 

[Honeypot]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will definitely look each of them once I rest a bit. It was a veeeery long Friday and Saturday partying hehe

I have the Decware Taboo SE84TS+ which uses similar tubes as the SE84UFO and sharers a similar DNA. It is great with the Caldera!



That is actually a great solution. You can get much of what you’re looking in sound shaping by using the tube preamp and invest more in tube rolls (even much more if you save the cost of an amp - try some expensive and outstanding tubes like Telefunken G73R, Siemens 5814A, Mullard M8136, French Mazda 12au7, or an ECC802s tube..



You might consider the Auris HA-2SE+ amp. Sold for €1,300 in Europe (Serbian company). I have its big brother the Auris Nirvana and these are great amps. It uses 12AT7 so not the same, but similarly ton of cheap tube role options for that model.

I know using echo as preamp is a nice option, but the Echo uses a solid state rectifier power supply, which won't get most of the tubes and I want to experiment with rectifier tubes as well. Also, the echo uses ecc88 as driver tubes which work at 6v, the 12au7 is a 12v tube, which can also work at 6 for backward compatibility, but it will not get the best of the 12au7 tubes.
The ecc88 tubes were used mainly for UHF amplification. And 12au7 is an evolution from the ecc88 or 6922..

6sn7 is also on my radar. Would love to get some nos tubes and try the very old tubes.

6sn7 - 12au7 and a rectifier. Any amp with these options I will consider.

Thank you so much for all the answers!

I will really look at the options proposed

 

[goldwerger]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will definitely look each of them once I rest a bit. It was a veeeery long Friday and Saturday partying hehe

I know using echo as preamp is a nice option, but the Echo uses a solid state rectifier power supply, which won't get most of the tubes and I want to experiment with rectifier tubes as well. Also, the echo uses ecc88 as driver tubes which work at 6v, the 12au7 is a 12v tube, which can also work at 6 for backward compatibility, but it will not get the best of the 12au7 tubes.
The ecc88 tubes were used mainly for UHF amplification. And 12au7 is an evolution from the ecc88 or 6922..

6sn7 is also on my radar. Would love to get some nos tubes and try the very old tubes.

6sn7 - 12au7 and a rectifier. Any amp with these options I will consider.

Thank you so much for all the answers!

I will really look at the options proposed

I get it, and if that’s you goal, go for it!

Rectifiers can definitely help shape sound, in some amps (in some, they make little difference). FWIW, one of my tube amps comes with a SS rectification (the Auris Nirvana) and I can get plenty of tuning from rolling the gain and output tubes.

As far as ECC88 family there are some great tubes. My favorite is the RCA 6BQ7A and 5687 (where can be used with adapters) - I use both with the Decware/ZMF OTL and they are just fantastic tubes.

That said, I do agree there is a ton of 12AU7 options (like those I mentioned in my prior post). Both of these models are some of the most common tube types to source and roll, so great choice either way!

 

[JerseyD]

Just got a Geshelli stack (J2S & E2), and they work great with my Atrium Closed. I have the J2S at medium gain, and when using the AC, flip the E2 to high gain.

And, of course, they also work great with my other non-ZMF headphones.

I'm planning to start a Bottlehead Crack project in the next few months, and will be hooking that up to the RCA out of the J2S.

I’m very happy with my J2S and have been experimenting with rolling op-amps (just the single-ended, as I’m using with a single-ended only amp). I’m listening with the AO and VO and can hear a difference between the SS3602 that I bought the unit with, the Burson V6V and just today, the SS2509.

What configuration did you go with?

 

[ttys0]

What configuration did you go with?

The AK4499 & Sparkos SS3602. I did order the Burson V7V, so I'm curious to see how those do once they show up. I'm really happy with the setup as it stands, though.

 

[tutetibiimperes]

The AK4499 & Sparkos SS3602. I did order the Burson V7V, so I'm curious to see how those do once they show up. I'm really happy with the setup as it stands, though.

When I heard the VC on the Sparkos Gemini they had it being fed by a Geshelli DAC using their own Sparkos discrete op-amps on the output stage.

I remember being impressed at how punchy and lively the sound was, which I attributed to the amp at the time.

Having just received my new (to me) Yggdrasil OG A2, I’m getting a much punchier sound out of the Folkvangr than I did before.

I’m starting to think that the output stage of a DAC can make a big difference in how it sounds, and maybe that punchy sound I attributed to the Gemini amp was at least in part due to the Geshelli DAC running the Sparkos output stage.

It also makes me wonder if there should be measurements of DACs that take more than just SINAD and linearity into account. Is there a way to measure DAC output like you’d measure amp output and include things like how quickly it can supply major voltage changes.

 

[JerseyD]

The AK4499 & Sparkos SS3602. I did order the Burson V7V, so I'm curious to see how those do once they show up. I'm really happy with the setup as it stands, though.

Please post the V7V findings in the J2 thread. Thanks.

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

Hey guys, Im looking for an amp to pair with my ZMF Atrium Open. Something between 500 and 700 USD, either SS or tube. I would like something that push vocals forward (especially female vocals) and smooth out the treble a little bit.

I've not heard it with the Atrium but the Schiit Lyr+ is a great amp and doesn't get as much attention as it probably deserves. You get both ss and tube! And tube rolling is easy and fun - I liked a Tung Sol tube with the one I heard. The one issue with it is the rather up-front staging, common to many Schiit amps, in which there's little depth.

Also, I dont, know if the Schiit Midgard or Nitsch Pietus Maximus are equivalents or one is much better than the other.

I've not heard either but from what I've read, they've very different. You might find the Pietus Maximus a good pairing with the Atrium (see some of the impressions in this thread).

 

[oldmankensey]

Glad to see Geshelli getting love. The Archel 3 Pro has dual SS2590 and it is fantastic. Has to be one the highest value amplifiers out there.

 

[heliosphann]

Hey guys, Im looking for an amp to pair with my ZMF Atrium Open. Something between 500 and 700 USD, either SS or tube. I would like something that push vocals forward (especially female vocals) and smooth out the treble a little bit. Also, I dont, know if the Schiit Midgard or Nitsch Pietus Maximus are equivalents or one is much better than the other.

Not heard the Midgard yet, but the PMax is a fantastic amp for the money, and it will smooth out the treble some. It actually stages decently wide (especially for that price point), so it won't really push female vocals forward much.

Two great amps that would fit the requirements that you're looking for (and you can probably get for less than the $500-700 mark) are the Beyerdynamic A20 or the Cavalli Liquid Carbon (v1 or v2). The first one you might be able to find new, but most likely you'll have to pick up both second hand.

 

[busseysound]

I have the Decware Taboo SE84TS+ which uses similar tubes as the SE84UFO and sharers a similar DNA. It is great with the Caldera!

I finally sourced a Taboo! It's a Mark IV and I'm really excited to finally use the ZMF Decware OTL as a preamp into it. What tubes are you currently using in the Taboo? I'm also wondering if it's possible to adapt the Tung-Sol 5687 into the EL84 slot of the Taboo.

 

[cats4cans]

Not heard the Midgard yet, but the PMax is a fantastic amp for the money, and it will smooth out the treble some. It actually stages decently wide (especially for that price point), so it won't really push female vocals forward much.

Two great amps that would fit the requirements that you're looking for (and you can probably get for less than the $500-700 mark) are the Beyerdynamic A20 or the Cavalli Liquid Carbon (v1 or v2). The first one you might be able to find new, but most likely you'll have to pick up both second hand.

As my addiction has grown, I’ve started creating additional listening stations. My bedroom setup is for speakers, headphones, and IEMs. The line out on the A20 simplifies the setup so no switching required when using PMax. Aeolus is great from either one.

The power cords underneath are cordoned off with copious amounts of cardboard, but only do a fair job as cat deterrent. This is nestled between one speaker and my quilt covered chair.

 

[goldwerger]

I finally sourced a Taboo! It's a Mark IV and I'm really excited to finally use the ZMF Decware OTL as a preamp into it. What tubes are you currently using in the Taboo? I'm also wondering if it's possible to adapt the Tung-Sol 5687 into the EL84 slot of the Taboo.

Ha! I saw that and was close to pulling the trigger myself (great deal! Congrats!!). I had that in my alerts, but when the moment came I realize the I’ve tubed my MK2.5 (which uses 12au7 gain tube, it changed with MK3) and also has single vol knob (the change to double vol knob I find mildly annoying though no biggy). So I exhaled, and decided to be content… happy this went to a good community member!

I don’t think you can use 5687 instead of EL84 - but you should try the 5687 in the OTL (perhaps you have already, I forget, sorry). There are ton of great EL84 options that are fairly easy to source. I settled on the Reflektor 6P15P which is an equivalent that can be rolled in (also tried the RCA 6BQ5 EL84 that worked great)

The combo is just terrific, you’ll have a blast fine tuning it!