I used the 1/4" output @Low impedance setting for everything. It just sounded more solid and foundational to me that way. There's no power penalty for doing so, even though you get more volume out of higher imedance settings and the XLR output. This amp has crazy power, more than enough for...

My, my. This is flat-out beautiful! I thought from day-1 that the Caldera's screen was a true design statement, as good as patterns found in art installations, fine furniture and architecture. I also appreciate the slight concavity, which minimizes the apparent depth of each earcup and enhances...

Videos weren't yet major market in the '70s. But they existed, and sometimes they killed. Here's one of my favorite demo cuts*, compellingly supported by the backing video. Favorite line of the intro: "You know, keyboards. I don't say I play them, but I do play them." *Played this alot...

It's not the journey--it's the destination

...RCA output pairs can be used simultaneously. Between that & the remote control + stepped pot, it becomes a pretty fascinating preamp possibility.* ...and yet here I am, fanatically googling NOS tubes for this thing! Results are mixed: I already own a matched pair of 1957 CV4033s...

I know about these amazing input tubes only because of you! One of the great audio "finds" of my career.

Has anyone used matched Brimar/Footscray CV455s as input tubes? (sorry if an answer was posted here & I mssed it somehow)

Yesterday I stumbled across a review thread on "the other headphone site" for the Lake People G-111 (they trashed it), which led me to an older review thread for the Lake People G-109 (they didn't just trash it--they crushed it). Couldn't do anything but burst out laughing.... My first real...

3 words: "self-protective memory loss"

ZMF Lifestyle Furnishings - Single Rooms And Complete Houses (hot new DIY channel series) Each room a veritable English manor movie set, but for real - and the sound is amaaaaaaaaaaazing.

... perfect, not-smoky fire in fireplace ... crystal glass tumbler of single malt scotch on table ... next to classic leather club chair ... Irish Wolfhound snoozing on bear skin rug

As the great philosopher, Kermit the frog, said, "It's not easy being green."

This a tune I keep circling back to for the vibe of doomed love, what Brazilians call "saudede," a feeling of melancholy longing. Melody Gardot quite often sings in French, but this happens to be English: Another, a stone classic of the samba literature:

Funny! Just spit out a mouthful of iced coffee on the keyboard, somehow (thankfully) missing the HP8.

don't forget the self-flagellation radius (essential in RabbitHoleLand)

I couldn't agree more. I find the Verite Open to be an ideal comparator to the Caldera Open. These headphones differ in many respects, starting with dynamic vs planar driver. Yet both sound wonderful to my ears.

I have to agree. Not only does she have some of the reflexive arrogance of the young regarding historical antecdents for her own work, but she doubtless knows that "being real jazz" absolutely won't help her build audience or achieve commercial success (sad but true). I've known and hung out...

I saw this video after watching a number of this artist's songs and wondering what genre she represented. Beyond Adam Neeley's very nuanced argument that answers the video's core question--IMO he puts on a clinic on how to reason, make arguments, and evaluate musicology evidence. He also goes...

I have different Vio amps, not V550 (have a V281 & V281 Reissue). I adjust gain strictly to knock down the incoming gain in my system & give me more usable rotation on the volume pot, not to affect sound. If there's a sound difference between different gain settings (I mean, once the resulting...

I own a bunch of amps, incl, the HP8 & compact OTL, Woo WA3. I also owned the Woo WA22 tc-tube amp at one time. Beyond that, I've heard any number of high end tube amps under show conditions (hard to know what I was hearing) and currently have a loaner ZMF Aegis. So I'm not the guy to ask about...

"Just when I thought I was out, they* pull me back in!" *Lambskin thick pads

yup!

I based my review of the Aegis on using the Caldera Open and Verite Open on the amp. I spoke mostly about the sound of the Aegis, not the Caldera Open, but here's the summary of the Caldera Open's sound: Everything I liked about the Caldera--namely its mastery of the tone & timbre of...

(sommelier voice) "An inspired selection!"

"Omigod" doesn't begin to cover this!