Vtory

Fun stat: it would take about 180 paralleled OPA1688 stages to equal the current delivery of Jotunheim R...per channel.

Thank you all for great explanations! I hardly see op amp specs so didn't realize those chips lack current that badly.

it would appear Jason has the layout for a "Parallel OPA Stage" amp ready for production! easy POS acronym as well.

I'm a 'slobjectivist'.

That's Subjective Listening Objectivist, for those not in the know.

@ChaChaRealSmooth Headphone numbers are also still too puzzling to me. Zero hint of micro/macro performance, speed, etc..

@Biodegraded I believe >90% folks here are somewhere between the two pure extremes. Maybe a little more inclined toward subjective attitudes?

It can be as simple as noticing what gear we miss when it's gone.

3F is conspicuously absent. Is that because you are sticking with gear first released this year? In the past, I believe previously released gear was open for nomination.

Yup. Gears appeared newly this year got priority. And as you know 3F is a boutique product, which by nature is less accessible.

Maybe we should do something similar to that where we have a list of companies who earned a Golden Schlong but didn't display theirs.

SBAF made me wary of anything THD(N)<0.01%... oh well.

ZMF headphones are like Pokemon; gotta collect them all! -borrowed from @tommytakis

Rest easy in the knowledge that while purpleheart will eventually fade into a brown/black with time, ziricote will remain a beautiful patterned landscape of browns and blacks forever. Purpleheart is also 12% heavier (56 lbs/ft^3 vs 50 lbs/ft^3).

That said, I had a purpleheart eikon wayy back, and it was indeed beautiful. When purpleheart is brand new, it has a wine-purple/red iridescence that is just lovely.

That's a huge relief. lol. Now I remembered such description in the wood database. I'm easily allured by red-ish hard woods (yeah, I'm a big fan of padauk).

5k new is never justifiable yet for my wealth pov. But 2.5-3k used now feels rather reasonable if one is on the such an "almost totl" market.

Shorten seems not working. Different one used. https://bit.ly/37nF4ef

The Teton really comes alive with the TI 6528A, sold by TTVJ for 75$, a bargain and best overall but doesn't sound tubey at all.
From what I've tried in order 6528A, GEC 6AS7G, Bendix 6080 slotted, TS5998, GEC 6080 and then the rest. Have fun.

@m17xr2b I'm currently putting Haltron 5u4g, GEC 6080WA, and Tungsram 6SN7GT into the Teton. It's already fantastic. Will test your recommendations later too, as most of them came with the amp (except 6528A)

This will be interesting....Always wondered how the Teton sounds.

It's okay. At least you can get a house for under 7 figures without worrying about it burning up

Or sliding down a hill.

I'm starting to think I may look to keep renting in LA and potentially/hopefully buy rental condos elsewhere. Vegas, Nashville, wherever...

^Oh Gawd...

Interesting. Haven't thought of butter things much. I will check it out!

Umai bag is also what I keep my eyes on these days.. it seems to make home dry aging very feasible (if it works as claimed).

I love the Alton Brown method of cooking steaks. Gets the house smokey though.

For point #1, 'target' is superfluous :)

@mkozlows my daily driver for the last 4 years has been the Oppo pm-3. I got them reupholstered a couple weeks ago. I'll have to check these out.

The one combo that stuck with me long after I sold it was the AFO+Gilmore Lite MK2. Great tone and timbre. Sold it on the account that the small sound stage made me feel claustrophobic. I may need to revisit that combo and see if I can’t simplify my set up.

I bought A2C after not liking it at CAF, and in my own system I have to say I'm impressed. The Staging, detail and less coarse mid-range are the most noticeable improvements, OG AFC Sounds kinda honky in comparison. Macrodynamics are better too still not quite on par with HD 600 but better than Ether CX or OG AFC for sure

Have always assumed that closed back is meaningful only when isolation needed, regardless of price points. But this VC.. just sounds great with larger stages and more articulated highs (than VO). Typical disadvantages of closed back are surprisingly minimal.

It would be interesting to see if you prefer one over the other. Personally, I found that I tended to forget which was on my head.

Let me add. Borealis (open back) isn't amp picky. It can work well with even out of topping dx3. No hint of annoyance or shit, which hd800 often presents when paired wrongly.

But 3F drives it to another level. Really serious synergy.. alluring me every second.

Looking forward to when you're comfortable with a proper review plus measurements if it's not too much of a PITA!

(Preliminary) measurements already taken this morning lol. Will post review/impression/measurements later this week as I want to take more time for in-depth listening, investigation, and interpretation.