It’s pretty awesome at the same time though.
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You guys may want to check the classifieds. I just posted some tube coolers for sale.
Hey brother @monochromios one thing to think about and consider too is, Justin will change your two headphone outputs if you want. For instance on my Mogwai OG I have a 8ohm tap and 32ohm tap as those are my preferred taps with Justin’s amps with the majority of headphones. I am also sending mine in for an upgrade to the Jupiter Caps. So you can have some custom stuff done too.
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Hey brother thank you for the infos. I’ve been caught in Justin works after I’ve heard him talking on your live stream. A person with clear ideas and very kind. Your hints add points to his works because I realize how important are custom settings.
Thank you so much.
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Good point bud. My Mogwai SE has Jupiter caps, no on board volume control, and selectable Input 1 with input transformer and Input 2 without input transformer. A big reason why I selected this amp is for speaker use, where I like using a separate preamp and power amp. To accommodate this Justin built me a separate passive preamp box with 2 selectable inputs and 2 outputs, 1 of which feeds my powered subwoofer for speaker listening. I didn’t ask for all of these, but he listened to my requests and objectives, and delivered. I also use an LTA MZ2 as an active tube preamp, which is more challenging to add to the chain due to hum and ground loop considerations (manageable for speakers, but not headphones to date). The Mogwai SE doesn’t need more tube influence, but my speakers do benefit from a bit of gain added by an active preamp.
I did ask Justin to substitute the 300 ohm out with 100 ohm. He said this wasn’t possible at this time as it had not undergone proper bench testing to date. After receiving my amp, I use the 32 ohm out mainly with my high sensitivity cans. It is nice to compare and have the 300 ohm out, but I’d likely use the 100 ohm out more often than the 300 ohm out. Whether I’d like 100 ohm over 32 ohm is uncertain. 32 ohm pleases my ears completely.
@monochromios talking to Justin on the phone as well as his video interviews solidified my selection. His products deliver, but the man behind is someone I want to support and whose ethos I am on board with.
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You got why I want an amp made by him.
I always do this in life, I give my money to people who deserve it IMO.
I can end up spend a lot more money sometimes. Money well spent.
Kindness and knowledge are “hors categorie”.
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I am going to go into this in more detail on my Nautilus review, but I agree the 32ohm tap is my sweet spot most of the time!
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I agree with you 100% and it’s one of the most important factors to me in this hobby, because I think it’s wonderful that you can feel that sense of community starting with the buying experience.
After I discovered this when buying ZMF headphones from Zach and Bevin, I’ve tried to replicate that experience with my whole chain.
Justin of course, but also Doug, the wonderful guy who made my cables, or Al, who made a switcher for me, and now my new tube guy, Andy, who spent an hour yesterday explaining tubes to me. They’re all trustworthy people who are happy to give me advice, and often scold me for trying to spend too much money when I could get the same sound at a much cheaper price.
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I agree and well said.
Awesome, looking forward.
This is refreshing.
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Listening to the Pendant tonight with the Verite Open LTD Desert Ironwood paired up with a Matrix Element M (DAC), and I am just thrilled with this synergy. Zach and Justin did such a good job working together to tune the Pendant for ZMF Headphones. Throw my favorite tubes into the mix, the Pendant and the Dac the synergy with the Verite Open is so good, listening off the 100ohm tap.
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Makes me glad I have my OG Pendant while I wait for my new SE! I just picked up a quad of my favorite 12au7’s so I should be good for few years!
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What are your favorites?
Orange label RCA 12au7 clear top, square side getter. I tried a white label clear top and it sounded totally different with very compressed highs.
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Hey fellow tube rollers! It’s been awhile since my last post, so I figured I would share some tube pics of my collection, for the ZMF Pendant SE I have on the way. I am quite proud of this collection, and I am sure some of you tube gurus will realize how amazing this collection is. Most of these tubes are super rare and very hard to find for a reason, and I can’t wait to hear them all in my Pendant SE, once it arrives. 
Driver tubes
12AT7/ECC81
Left to Right - Brimar CV4033 Triple Mica (ultra rare), Brimar CV4033 Double Mica, Sylvania 6201 Gold Brand Black Plate, CBS 7728 (ultra rare), Raytheon 7728 (1 Hole in Plate), Raytheon 7728 (2 Holes in Plate), Valvo ECC81 D Getter (Bottom Code), Valvo ECC81 Coin Base (Very first version), Philips Hamburg 6201 Pinched Glass Triple Mica D Getter (As rare as they come, and considered the “Holy Grail” of 12AT7 variants), Lorenz ECC81 Foil D Getter (Stuttgart, and another super rare “Holy Grail” level tube), and Amperex Holland ECC81 Foil D Getter
12AU7/ECC82
Left to Right - Amperex 7316 Long Plate Foil D Getter (super rare), Amperex Holland ECC82 Long Plate Foil D Getter, Brimar CV4034, Valvo Hamburg Long Plate Foil D Getter 55’ (super rare), Raytheon 7730 Long Plate Angled Square Getter (ultra rare), Mullard Blackburn ECC82 Long Plate Square Getter 57’, Lorenz Stuttgart ECC82 Long Plate Square Getter (ultra rare), Valvo Hamburg ECC82 Long Plate Square Getter 56’ (ultra rare), CBS/Hytron 5814a Black Plate Square Getter, Sylvania 5814a Gold Brand Triple Mica Grey Plate Square Getter, and Siemens ECC82 Chrome Plate
12AX7/ECC83
Left to Right - CBS 7729 Long Plate, and Brimar CV4035
Rectifiers
EZ81/6CA4
Left to Right - Mullard EZ81 Blackburn Square Getter (Wrinkle Glass Earliest Version), Valvo labled Mullard EZ81 Blackburn Square Getter, Raytheon Japan EZ81 Triple Mica Square Getter (so rare I have never seen another one!), Telefunken EZ81 O Getter, and G.E.C. U709 (This is ultra rare and expensive and supposed to be the “one”)
Power Tubes
EL84/6BQ5/7189
Left to Right - Mullard EL84 Blackburn RX1 Square Getter (early version), Valvo Hamburg EL84 Dish Getter (first version with 1 hole plate), Valvo Hamburg EL84 Dish Getter (second version with 3 holes in plate), Amperex 7189 Holland D Getter (super rare), and Philips Holland EL84 D Getter
EL84 cont. -
Tungsram EL84 with Foil Dish Getters (early version and rare)
Another pic of the famous rectifier the G.E.C. U709, which again is supposed to be on another level compared to all other EZ81 rectifiers, and I can’t wait to hear what it can do when I get my Pendant SE.
I plan to report back, once I get my Pendant SE and have had some time rolling and listening. Also, I have more rare and amazing NOS tubes on the way, so the collection is still growing.
Happy Rolling, Listening and Collecting,
Wes
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Damm.
Maybe you should open a tube museum?
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LOL! At one point with my tube collection, I probably could have. 
However, I just recently sold off a bunch of them to fund the purchase of the Pendant SE.
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Wes, you are a tube Jedi!
I recall your previous collection with the BHC and Liquid Platinum amps, respect for your approach in the transition to the Pendant SE.
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Are Hytron or Siemens EL84’s any good?
That’s an amazing collection. Have you already listened to them on other amps?
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Thanks, and yes I have listened to all but the rectifiers and they sound amazing. I can’t wait to hear them all in the Pendant SE.
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