I’m thinking about painting my HD800 flat black… such a good look
I had mentioned above that I though the SPL Phonitor X was a rather nice looking piece … but it’s much more so in the flesh than in pictures …
I had also said that it was probably a good thing that I wasn’t in the market for a new solid-state headphone amplifier … but I’m not sure how long my resolve is going to hold there … (even if my primary headphone amp is always going to be something with tubes).
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Very sexy and retro look. Those cans are nice too!
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That’s a really beautiful piece of technology. It’s a piece of art.
-Paul-
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The Campfire Audio Atlas is definitely very shiny right out of the box (just like the Comet ). We will see how it looks when it is nice and smudged up from fingerprints. I like the wooden flask design of the Echobox Explorer DAP but I will admit it definitely hasn’t been getting as much use as it probably should.
I’ve listened to them before but I wanted to give the DT 770 another shot. I really want to like them and they do sound quite nice but they are just super fatiguing for me.
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That echobox is interesting. I wonder how they are able to cool the electronics and amp within the wood? Looks like it would get warm in there.
the mk1 is available on Massdrop for $400 right now… I am very tempted…but I would have to get a voltage adapter (only EU plug)…
Holo Audio’s black/copper aesthetic really appeals to me. I enjoyed it with their Spring DAC, and it’s nice to see it repeated on their more modestly priced CYAN unit:
The whole chassis is constructed of thick, heavy, aluminium and real copper. Those side-cheeks are solid … and look even more striking in person. It’s almost a shame to put them in a rack, as they really are quite striking in person.
And then, just for a bit of fun:
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These are my current favorite looking headphones!
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These caught my eye. Who knows quality but they definitely got the look for me. Would hate to have the - financial - responsibility of feeding it 300B tubes tho…
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I saw those the other day! Trolling through tube amps on eBay, Aliexpress, and the like… they do look nice though.
I ended up going with the Cayin HA-1A MKII.
I received from Massdrop the wrong pads, LCD2 sheepskins instead of fenestrated sheepskin pads for Focal line. So I decided to keep them and throw them on my modded M1060c (converted to open backs, and have ZMF pilot pad up top).
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that M1060 looks great! How does it sound? I had the original openback 1060 and I enjoyed it with some mods (audeze pads + black paper napkin filter)
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As I say, intriguing looking beasts. In a good year, I’d be tempted to give em a try. I had some Cary Audio monoblock 300b amps back in the nineties with actual Western Electric 300b tubes. They were gorgeous and actually far better than the listening situation that I had at the time. Now those stupid tubes are individually worth (or at least, cost)maybe five times more than the pair of monoblocks cost me at the time. My Nobsound MS-50D as I described in my initial post is very satisfying. Great tube compliment, 5U4G/274b rectifier, 6SN7 and EL34 power tubes. Not too expensive, available NOS, and easy to roll. That particular amp only comes in 220 so I had to get an up converter but it was worth it for me to do it because I think it is a classic looking amp, not too much but definitely fills the room. Very elegant in my eye. I’m so far happy with my Chinese experiences…I feel like I beat the system, getting maybe 90% of the sound I want at 10% of the cost that I used to pay. Plus my 60 + year old ears are less discerning and appearance and performance art of tubes is always nice…
Thanks for the note…
Head Frog…
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When we do the meet up I’ll bring them along, but I like them better than my modded M1060.
I do like the look of your Nobsound! I also like unique looking items. Plus tubes are so much fun to play with.
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I’m partial to a bit of gear I used to own. The Wells Audio Headtrip. The Headtrip 2 has been released in a new chassis, but I still have a soft spot for the old one. Here is a photo from when I used to have it in house. It may be controversial sonically but…Damn I miss it!
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Very nice looking tech. I can’t be alone in thinking that if it’s easy on the eye then it’s easy on the ear. Well… mostly.
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The high-end Cayin gear is gorgeous.
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I think Luxman L-509X has to be the sexiest piece of gear I’ve seen. For the more affordable stuff: Valhalla 2 and Lyr 2.
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