My favorites are WE 396A. They widen the soundstage, are definitely warmer and more “tubey” and no sacrifice in clarity or detail to my ears vs stock GE 5670 tubes. 5 star GE 5670s are also excellent and a similar upgrade to the 396A.
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sounds like a tube upgrade in of itself rather than anything else, well at the very least for the one thing of the stage being wider. but i havent heard a tube before so i may be misinterpreting. i just feel like propper tubes are wide by default, i make things up sometimes
Proper tubes depend upon your preferences. Even within the same tube type there can be audible differences. Generally tube amps are known for staging advantages but it’s multi factorial as to what tube you may like, maybe it would be the one that throws the poorest stage?
Hard to find a tube that does everything perfectly to your liking. But such is this hobby. Tube amps can be a wonderful thing if you know what to expect from purchasing them.
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Zach said hold my beer.
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I want to do the same thing–having the Auteur and wanting the Verite closed. How in the heck do you choose from all of the customized choices?
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You buy one of everything, then buy extras of your favorites.
Uhh, that’s what I did.
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Do people primarily use zmfs with or without EQ? I have not used EQ at all but am wondering if it’s very popular or mostly unnecessary.
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I don’t EQ anything except for my studio monitors. I think other folks EQ everything. This is probably more of a personal preference type of thing.
Personally, I don’t think EQ is the magic bullet everybody makes it out to be. I can’t EQ a LCD 2 to sound like a focal Utopia. (I wouldn’t want to either.) It just doesn’t work that way. I would much rather enjoy the unique natures of both headphones then to delude myself into thinking I can EQ my way into a perfect frequency response. Perfect doesn’t exist.
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I EQ my listening by picking different headphones.
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@Deepy I like that idea too. Having multiple Zmf headphones seems ideal for the difference in flavor.
@ProfFalkin interesting to hear as I thought EQ was much more popular here and am surprised that the first two responses were people not using EQ. I also like the idea of leaving EQ alone and listening to the headphones for how they were made. I would however use an EQ if the builder said to and had it plotted out for the owner. I wonder what Zach thinks about EQ with his headphones and if he ever uses it?
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Zero EQ for me on any headphone, why mess with the tuning of the designer? It’s a personal preference of course, hell with ZMF headphones the pad options are somewhat of a physical eq…
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I don’t use EQ for a magical transformation at all – I use it to take away unbearably harsh brightness or fill out the lows/mids in headphones that lack body. I use it to de-EQ poorly mastered sources (e.g., 1980s tracks that were pushed into an unpleasant “V” profile by studio engineers following the fad of the era).
It’s great for those uses, but I otherwise just let headphones be.
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I personally don’t EQ anymore. I rather like the natural sound of my ZMFs, and if there’s a set I feel compelled to EQ, I just assume that set isn’t for me. I’m also neurotic, and have in the past obsessed over EQ via a Schiit Loki Mini. I would constantly fiddle with it to the point of making myself miserable. Yes I’m weird… Bottom line I just want to listen with minimal effort. Just my personal preference.
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I sometimes lower my frequency response by applying bourbon on the rocks.
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I did the same. Quite unenjoyable. Truly.
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And when I want more of that “tubey” signature I’ll take my bourbon neat. 
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Dont EQ either. Can actually create yourself more problems, especially if a dip that you EQ up is an area with ringing. Some cans can start to distort if you up the dB too much. EQing is a fatiguing proccess. I’ll just change my tubes if I want something different.
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I EQ’ed when I was using a 58x and SS amp. Now with my ZMF’s and tube amp, between pad rolling and tube rolling (and even amp rolling) I feel no desire to use an EQ. Not even once. Tubes are way more fun!
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What is this EQ poo doing in my ZMF thread!!! EQ is for people who don’t like their headphones 
J/K
I also am not a big EQ guy… would rather just find headphones I like and be good… every ZMF I’ve heard has been great for this… Focal is another I like =)
but, I won’t knock anyone who is digging on EQ, if they/you are happy with EQ or not then who cares what others think!
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It’s interesting that everybody is mostly against EQing zmfs in this thread as I thought it was very popular in lots of reviews of headphones in general.(surprised Zmf would be different) I thought it would be mixed in opinions but I’m glad to see it leans heavily towards none. Just surprised is all with how popular EQing is in general. Me, I have never used EQ with any headphones and am happy a lot more people feel the same way as I don’t see anything that needs to be changed with zmfs. Was just interested in hearing peoples thoughts.
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