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Glad you are happy man and no crush on the tube amp that’ll come soon enough when you want to soften them a bit. Also on most tube speaker amps you want an impedance box so it’ll always see 4-8 ohms otherwise they occilate themselves into oblivion.
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Jumping on the amp topic +: I run my horizon opens off a Sparkos Aries and they sound pretty good. Single ended start to finish.
I got to say that the much cheaper verum 1s have something special about them that the horizons are missing…cleaner sounding, better definition of instruments etc without being analytical/soulless. Often compare the horizons with my xtc 2s with the latter being much muddier/boomier overall but more comparable.
Back to the amp: it’s a pretty weird one for a few reasons but the sq is excellent. I regret losing the moment I first experienced what this amp does over others (singer SA1 and kinki, specifically)…kinki also runs the horizons fine.
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30 watts + of Class A into the Horizon?! 
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I can’t see why that wouldn’t be the sweet spot. Of course I wonder, how different the Horizon Opens are over these Horizon Closed? Anyone have both? For reference, here is my current chain, fully balanced throughout:
AMHD / local FLAC > U2 Pro DDC > Bifrost 2 > SMSL DA-9 > Horizon Closed Carbons
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I will find out for myself eventually, but it will be a while. The Horizon Closed Carbon was retuned several times prior to launch, so I would assume that there is quite a bit of difference in sound between it and the open.
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decided to whip out the Emotiva A2mini with the jumpers installed, crank as loud as you dare lmao, even with an impedence adapter don’t think I hit half volume with horizon.
thought it was going to be for the memes and whipped out ye olde Fiio E10K (micro usb dac/amp from like 2013) and was actually shocked how decent it did with the horizon, could max it out on low gain but high gain had some headroom, showing a bit of age but still kicking!
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Has anyone compared the Closed Carbons to the Liric II? I know there’s a price gap, just debating between the two for a good closed back Planar but looking for something that still tries to be spacious.
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Haven’t compared the ones you mentioned, but maybe also consider DCA’s Aeon Noire X which is quite spacious and similarly priced like the Horizons Closed for top of the line planar closed-back.
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DCA E3 sounds like an open back
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Valhalla 3 is launching next week, and I will finally be able to answer the question: can it drive Horizon Open?
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Well, the run-in process seems to be complete. The drivers have settled in beautifully, delivering a wonderfully detailed, rich and organic presentation. I am having so much fun with these closed carbons. Once I get them on my head, I don’t want to take them off. I get lost in the music and time just melts away. It’s still blowing me away how well the DA-9 is driving them. I have spent this morning dialing in the EQ profile, and I think I have the baseline established now. What a fantastic addition to the fleet these are. 
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Just got my Horizon CCs today and was curious, does yours have vent holes in the aluminum portion of the cups in front of the yolk on each side? Passion for Sound’s version didn’t and the Apos websites photos do not show vents either. However mine do, tho it also appears some of the holes may be sealed by some glue from inside.
Will say Valencia has no issues pushing these. I am at the 12 o’ clock on my pre amp and it’s louder than is probably safe lol. Bass is nice and punchy and seems like it’s still retaining tons of detail. Will need to listen more but initial impressions, these are definitely impressive.
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Valhalla 3 is on its way, and I can’t wait to hear Horizon Open hooked up to it. Mimir is also coming too, so things will get interesting. 
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Hello. Sorry for the late response. Yes, mine have the vent holes also. I have no idea if those holes would affect the sound or not. It might be interesting to put some tape over them and see what happens! I may just give that a go this weekend just as an experiment.
Great to hear that Valencia is driving them well. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I am going to purchase Valencia. I like the notion of it, but I can’t justify the price tag. I don’t feel that this amp needs to be that expensive, so while I continue to save money, I will chew on it some more and when the funds are there, I will make my final decision. Right now, at 2 grand, it’s a no. Especially when my little DA-9 is doing such a fine job. At the very least, the DA-9 is buying me the time I need to sort this out.
Did you have roughly 4 on each front facing side glued closed and 2 on each side on the back glued?
Mine is 4 and 4. 11 total holes front and back.
Another review.
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Closed Carbon seems like a W. Just got back my Closed and enjoy it. Think I may lose my Horizon Open (Gold driver version) soon though so if anyone was interested before I post, let me know.
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