[Nkam]

To be fair, every reviewer is not created equal. I like Sandu’s reviews overall. Don’t always agree, but he is pretty thoughtful and thorough. There certainly are other reviewers who don’t do a great job, but still get paid for it, too. I don’t put a ton of stock into many reviewers, but some I value their opinions more than others.

He is good no doubt.
Just saying that we also can’t be naive. It’s their job.

Cheers

 

[Doug2507]

Oh, don’t know if dark and digital would be good in my case! Lol. The WA23 stock power tubes are the Electro Harmonix

I use taks in my Envy, albeit 300b's. Anything but "digital". They're quite linear, removes some of the midrange bloom vs the full music tubes that came with it, touch of delicacy about them. Paired with the Brimars for now, they don't work well with PSvane drivers (too bright). I listen mostly to rock music. Different tube from you but I'd imagine cut from the same cloth, I think they're excellent and for me, tubes make the biggest difference to shaping tonality in my system vs the rest of the chain.

Edit: Hope you enjoy the WD, the company I bought my M21 from is also of the opinion server first, then DAC, then amp etc. I was hugely sceptical about server making much difference until I took a rather big leap of faith and heard it for myself vs the NUC I was using at the time. One good thing about doing server / DAC first it is lands you in a good spot for rolling tubes as the upstream part of the chain is reasonably set it stone. I've pretty much gone down that path as well and it's now time for tube rolling knowing the back end is sorted. Try and focus on the technicalities of the WD vs the WL rather than tone as you can change that with tubes downstream.

 

[normie610]

Just saying that we also can’t be naive. It’s their job.

A warning I’ve seen 30 years ago

 

[pradiptacr7]

Lovely to see the thread..!!

 

[pradiptacr7]

Favourite setup now,

Audeze LCD-2 (Pre-Fazor) + Dethonray Listening M1

 

[Kerouac]

I haven't owned it, but I'd take a look at the Mola Mola Tambaqui.

Coolest DAC name. EVER.

Yep, it's all (magic) in the name of course! When I read that the Grado GH2 was made out of exotic Cocobolo wood...

I knew I just had to check it out (just kidding of course) for myself

Dang it!!! Now it seems that I have some extra research to do for that dac as well

Just made me think of Donald Fagen's album "The Nightfly". Listening to it as a teenager and love it to this day. One of those albums where all the tracks are great and a wondefful listen end to end..

Now, if there ever was an album cover that catches the atmosphere of the music on the album in a perfect(!) way... this one would come to my mind as the #1 in that category. I also love that album (one of the few that I even still kept on Vinyl, while I don't have a turntable anymore) since it was released!

Favourite setup now,

Audeze LCD-2 (Pre-Fazor) + Dethonray Listening M1

Oh man, some other fond memories!!! I also really loved the sound of the (pre-fazor) LCD-2 when I had it many years ago. It was the first item that I picked up in the classifieds on HF, and it came all the way over from Australia (down under for me) to me in the EU. Soon after that I also picked up a Moon Audio Silver Dragon, V3 Premium cable, which opened up the sound even more, with especially improved air, mids and treble to my ears. The (sub)lows already were some of the best that I had ever heard at that time though...

Btw, most of my listening with that hp was done out of a Chord Hugo connected (with a lightning cable) to a dap back then => totally loved it!!!

For sound only I would have probably never sold that LCD-2, but I just found it too uncomfortable (quite heavy + an almost skull crushing force) for longer listening sessions. So I waved goodbye (with pain in my heart) to it at some point...

But to be honest, sometimes there are still days that I think: 'Hey, maybe I should pick one up again?'

Edit/extra: and here some other blast (as I stumbled on an old pic) from the past. The good ol' Grado GS1000...

Not enough body / lows to my taste at the time. But oh boy, did I enjoy that superb wide soundstage

 

[goldwerger]

Lovely to see the thread..!!

Most welcome!

 

[Wes S]

Why do these TOTL tube amps weigh so much? The Primavera is almost 100 lbs!

Cost of these amp should include medical cost for back treatment.

Iron, and the good ones have a lot of it.

 

[Wes S]

Been rocking with the Aegis and Caldera Closed this morning and could not stop listening. The music was sounding so damn good, I was late to work.

Talk about an addictive sound. . .

 

[Pharmaboy]

Enjoying some Jazz-Rock tonight with Aja by Steely Dan on my Susvara. An album I like, especially tracks Aja, and Deacon Blues. A quick story: When I finally attained the 2-channel system I had wanted for many, many years, Deacon Blues was one of the tracks played to show me what the system could do. Hope you all like it as well.

Walter Becker & Donald Fagen were famously obsessive in the studio. I've heard pricey "audiophile recordings" that can't touch their early studio work.

Are you hip to Fagen's 3rd solo album, "Morph the Cat"? I seem to be the only one who really loves this recording. But there's no doubt its cuts make mindblowing gear demos. Best 2 examples:

The title song. The opening notes are downright biblical:



And one of my favorite bass demo cuts, "Mary Shut the Garden Door" -- it's about the end of the world, of course:

 

[Whazzzup]

didn't realize its tune thread but shaking the foundation with woo and qveen

 

[Pharmaboy]

Just made me think of Donald Fagen's album "The Nightfly". Listening to it as a teenager and love it to this day. One of those albums where all the tracks are great and a wondefful listen end to end..

"The Nightfly" was on my TT for years. A master class in writing, composing, and studio mastery.

A treasured memory: my wife and I went to Italy on our honeymoon in '84. The Italian lira was incredibly weak & the USD very strong, so we did a lot of shopping. Practically every store in Rome and Florence was playing Donald Fagen's 'Nightfly," and Louis Armstrong tunes from the late '20s & '30s. All things considered, it felt like heaven.

 

[Puroplatino]

Great combo!

I enjoy my ZMFs with my Walkman WM-1A (high gain via Mr. Walkman’s custom firmware), too- that works surprisingly well!

Is this the same Mr. Walkman from the cassette forums?

 

[goldwerger]

didn't realize its tune thread but shaking the foundation with woo and qveen

Absolutely..
Quick refresher, per the header post of this thread:

All topics are welcome!
Impressions, banter, music; new product releases and vintage gear; dynamic, planar, and electrostatic systems; power, interconnect, and headphone cables; music discovery and recommendations; tube rolling, industry news, or whatever floats your boat.. please share your experiences.

we are here to share our collective experiences with headphones, gear, music, industry stuff, and anything audio (and if you like, beyond) - this is our community thread - the thing that unifies us here is being a part of our community, sharing our passions for headphones and audio. a free discussion is welcome

 

[goldwerger]

"The Nightfly" was on my TT for years. A master class in writing, composing, and studio mastery.

A treasured memory: my wife and I went to Italy on our honeymoon in '84. The Italian lira was incredibly weak & the USD very strong, so we did a lot of shopping. Practically every store in Rome and Florence was playing Donald Fagen's 'Nightfly," and Louis Armstrong tunes from the late '20s & '30s. All things considered, it felt like heaven.

love that story!