Introduction I had already owned one Toolshed amp, the Euphoria 45 (reviewed here), for several months before I reached out to Matt Formanek and asked him to build me a Darling headphone amplifier. I was curious if it would be even more towards my preferences for headphone usage, and free up the Euphoria 45 from my headphone chain to be used with speakers full-time. The Darling is a fairly recent introduction from Matt. It's a dedicated headphone amplifier using the 1626 output triode. The only other commercial headamp using this tube that I am...

Introduction I first learned of Toolshed Amps and Matt Formanek in 2017 via a feature on the Head-Fi home page. At the time I thought his amplifiers were unique and beautiful but pretty far out my price range. Fast forward to 2019, my budget had increased, I had been through several very expensive but very disappointing amplifiers, and I was ready to buy 'the one' to rule them all. When I first contacted Matt, I was surprised at how responsive and open he was about discussing the various design elements of the amp and it was clear he was dedicated...

Campfire Audio Andromeda: Crown jewel of the Campfire fleet   Introduction   First, a disclaimer: I purchased the Andromeda ($1099USD) with my own money after doing my own research and thus this is my independent (and highly subjective) opinion. A special thank you to @HiFlight, @Loquah & @shotgunshane for sharing their experiences with me and answering my questions, as well as to ALO Audio for excellent customer service.   This is my second review of a Campfire product, and as such I went into this entire experience biased and with a...

MrSpeakers Alpha Dog: A reference class Dog Introduction First, a disclaimer: I purchased the Alpha Dogs ($499USD, discontinued) with my own money after doing my own research and thus this is my independent (and highly subjective) opinion. A special thank you to @JerseyD of Inner Sanctum Audio for his advice and sale of these for an excellent price despite their discontinued nature.    Though I have some experience under my belt now with IEMs, this is my first review of full-sized cans on Head-Fi, and as such any and all advice on how to improve...

ATH-CKR9: Not just a tagline Please note: this review isn't finalized and I plan on adding additional images and refining some sections shortly. However, my overall impressions are certainly final. Introduction   First, a disclaimer: I purchased the CKR9 ($150USD) with my own money after conducting my own research, and thus this is my unbiased (and highly subjective) opinion. A special thank you to @peter123 for his initial review and personal recommendation of these to me, as well as Stereo Electronics over in Singapore for excellent customer...

  Campfire Audio Orion: An earphone suited to a starry night   Introduction   First, a disclaimer: I purchased the Orion ($350USD) with my own money after doing my own research and thus this is my independent (and highly subjective) opinion. A special thank you to @d marc0 for sharing his experiences with me and answering my questions, as well as to ALO Audio for excellent customer service.   This will be my first review on Head-Fi, and as such any and all advice on how to improve this review or future others will be highly appreciated. I'll try...