What's in the box!

I like that it looks like they used no clear coat making it look like old style furniture. More of that real wood look.

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Yes, it has a matte finish. I really like the raw look of Wenge. The brass details add to the old style look. You could almost call them “steampunk headphones”.

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Don’t we all need this as an option :joy:

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I try to always be selling something at the same time as I am buying so I can suggest it was a “trade” or a “wash”. I am very visible with the boxes I ship out but a little more stealth when one arrives.

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I ship to a store and pay a small amount per box then sneak it inside through the front door and into the basement. Trades I get away with.

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Got the LS50 Wireless II today for my office setup. Crazy good, the overall resolution and clarity is on par with the big brother Reference 5.

Kudos to KEF for bringing top performance to their entry level speakers.

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Congrats @MrCypruz !!!

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Yea, same tweeter tech but without the cabinet and other woofers. easily the best bang for your buck right now with the new meta upgrade out, the regular nonmeta older version can be had for as little as $600. I have the ls50s for my tv setup with a REL Sub which is awesome. the ls50 tech and a good sub easily swings with the big boys no problem. That and the zu audio dirty weekends are the two hush hush best deals out there. I would not put either in the entry level but more like the starter package for cheap reference tier

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Couldn’t agree more. These are indeed a starter package for reference tier!

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Thanks brother man Cello!

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Very beautiful and you have a nice collection to spin.

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I do enjoy my Kefs, enjoy . And you can add a sub if you need a little more bass extension as a poster noted .

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I’d love some LS50 Wireless II’s, but at $2500, not very “entry level.” However, Kef Q150’s are 50% off from Kef at $300 right now and a great buy :grin:
https://us.kef.com/q150-bookshelf-speaker.html

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The THX 887 was my first amp and I didn’t really like my Arya with it. This is a big improvement to my ears.


Next thing is to upgrade my Dac … leaning towards the Denafrips Aries II but could be the Bifrost. Haven’t committed yet. Would love some opinions.

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I was in the same Dac situation, which of the two to get…
I ended up with the Ares II for the soundstage and seperation of instruments, which are REALLY good. I was so surprised when hearing it for the first time and the difference it was to my Monoprice Dac. The experience now is, that before my Ares II arrived, everything was cramped together in a narrow window and after, the music has a wide soundstage and there is room for all instruments to show itself.

Both will be a good decision, but I am glad for my Ares II and can rec that for sure :+1:t2:

edit: and then there just is something to that R2R sound; smooth and soft and works great with my tube amp.

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A new to me, Ampsandsound Mogwai SE turned up today :smiley:

Still putting it through its paces after rearranging the desk to even fit the bloody thing. First impressions, this thing is powerful. So powerful that I barely need to turn the knob up past 9 o’clock with most of my headphones. Noise floor isn’t as bad as I thought it would be tbh. There is some slight hash in the right channel which I suspect is a tube issue (noticeable on both the RAD-0 and Utopia, not on the HE-6).

Next, to figure out what tubes I want to try with it…

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Thanks for that. That is probably what I’ll be going with. My only concern would be that I’d be doubling down on the warm tonalities .(Aries > Violectric) Do you feel that way with the Aries paired with tubes ?

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Topping D90 at $699 has a stellar review.

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Topping has Bluetooth and MQA if you pony up $200 more but then you are getting in range of the Denafrips Aries II.
The Ares II also has a higher DSD/1024 via USB.

I guess it comes down to which is the better build and it appears to be the Ares looking at the specs.
Would be nice if you could demo both as that is the only way to truly know.