While I have no experience with ZMF Verite, I do have experience with <$300 amplifiers.
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Most of sub $300 amplifiers have been a disappointment in terms of giving me a feel of what my headphones are capable of. One exception is the Darkvoice 336SE, which is quirky for some to work with, but I can deal with the long tube burn in times and love it. A jump to the $399 Schiit Jotunheim 2 affords one the next higher level of quality sound and will bring out most of what many headphones are capable of. Jotunheim 2 on the used market might be found at or close to your $300 budget. That is likely your best bet.
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Can confirm Jotunheim 2 is really a bargain in under 1000$ amps.
BTW, do you have any experience with xDuoo TA-26 or Schiit Valhalla 2? How do they compare to DarkVoice in stock tubes form?
I have not yet owned the Valhalla 2.
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The Darkvoice is magical. Make sure you are okay with the quirks by watching the reviews.
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The xDuoo TA-26 was VERY disappointing for me. It is the only amplifier that I have returned in my life due to such poor performance. Tube characteristics were neutered from all of my favorite tubes on the TA-26. I believe this was done in order to tame some of the tube buzz on new, not yet burned in tubes. The TA-26 lacks all of the magic that the Darkvoice holds for me. A big failure to my ears.
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As I already have an Dac with the ifi zen, wouldnt it be better to invest in a pure amp like the Valhalla 2 if I went Shitts?
Another inexpensive amp that sounded great on my Verite Open was the xDuoo TA-20, a powerful hybrid with both single-ended and balanced outputs. Quite a bit of power in a small package there.
As I’ve said before here, you really have to work hard to find amps that don’t sound good on the Verite. Short of those which truly have insufficient power, pretty much everything else works with this headphone.
Re insufficient power–my VO is not hard to drive at all. My lowest power SS and tube amps (M Stage Matrix HPA-1 and Woo WA3/OTL) drive it to way more volume than I’d ever need.
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I was responding to your quest for an amp under 300 dollars. If you increase your budget, then absolutely you will find many amplifiers that can outperform a used Jotunheim 2.
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I’m using a Feliks Audio Echo. It’s a great entry OTL amp. Before purchasing I actually asked Zac his opinion and he said is was a good tube amp for the Verite. It’s above $300 but not thousands.
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Ha, aahh. Yea, I looking at new prices and Val 2 was showing cheaper 
And those tubes!!
Build a millet nuhybrid
VO and echo is a pretty good combo. I’m gravitating towards OTL amps or warm tube amps for the Verite Open. I’m coming from a Aeolus and also Porta Pro as my preference, so for me the OTLs that add a bit more body and weight to the sound are a good match. I’ve got a Bottlehead Crack + speedball arriving soon too.
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I’ve always liked the look of that Echo. How is it in general?
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It’s good, I thought the treble was hot on the stock tubes, but rolling some other tubes alleviated that.
It’s an OTL that has a good tuning and a bit of separation between instruments. Overall really good!
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Gorgeous headphones! congrats
Jot 2 does pair pretty nicely with the VO for a reasonable $ SS amp IMO too… I have them both, so I can speak from experience.
My goal though is also a Pendant SE at some point 
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I feel like now is the perfect time to buy used Zmf headphones as there is such an abundance of them for sale. I assume because of Zmf November and all the stabilized drops. Lots of people are upgrading to new woods, stabilized woods and others are trying Zmf out via their great deals at the end of last year. I picked up a pair of Ironwood VO’s for $1,600 delivered. I also am seeing a few others extremely on the cheaper side of normal sales. I’m also speculate once we gets further into the year the used supply will drop and they will all go back to their normal price points.
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Ironwood is one of the prettiest ZMF woods I’ve ever seen. I already have a silkwood VO and love that sound…but still find myself fantasizing about some of these LTD woods.
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My experience: this is a great combo. Ditto with the Aeolus. I don’t know about the Auteur, but I’d like to find out someday …
FYI - Valhalla is a very synergistic match with VO, IMHO.
Whoa, SCORE! Congrats
Here is another pair of VO’s for cheaper than normal:
It assume they would maybe take closer to 1600. At least worth a shot.
That looks more like pheasantwood to me.
I have a silkwood VO, and it looks rather different.
Could be wrong. The same wood can look rather different depending on finish.