Pet us know what you think. I’ve always been interested in the Cascades.
The DAC has landed. Thanks @ValentineLuke for a great transaction! Now it’s time to do some listening.
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I have already written some initial thoughts on the Cascades thread. I will update in a week or two
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Monolith Liquid Platinum arrived. Pretty sure it’s practically brand new so I’ll have to burn in the stock tubes. I’ll probably see about getting another set of tubes and maybe attempting to do the cap upgrade at some point. I’ll certainly do the cap upgrade and see how that goes before ever deciding on getting the Bottle Head Crack amp at some point potentially, since I could see what soldering is like from that first. Also, is it okay that I have the cable to my dac this close to the tubes?
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That’s some good-looking gear!
It’s making me nervous. MLP’s tubes run hot like incandescent light bulbs. It’s probably wise to give them more room to breathe. In general the MLP is a warm unit so it’s probably best not to stack other gear on top of it generally.
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I wouldn’t stack anything on my LP, as it gets pretty hot.
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Get yourself a little shelf and if anything put the Geshelli stuff on the bottom. The LP is way too hot to have anything sitting on it.
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Very nice pic. Are those the OG Nighthawk?
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Yes they are.
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How did these end up sounding?
M0N recommended these to me a Loooong time ago, a year to be exact…Finally. got around to ordering them and using them. Yes, they form nicely to the ear canal but still have a stiff and open center pole. They roll back the treble just enough for me so that the highs on some of my IEM’s don’t fatigue me. This does change the sound some though so warning for those hard core folks that want nothing about their equipment to change SQ or range. Using them on Andomeda at the moment and i think it’s just right for me…Still early.
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Just picked up a used Hifiman Edition X at a price that was too good to pass up. I couldn’t tell from the pictures if it was a V1 or V2…but either one will be just fine considering that low price I paid to buy them. I am hoping this will end my long streak of bad purchases/experiences with Hifiman headphones.
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SO, I have been running those WE 300B’s on every session since i got them in hand. I figure i have to be pushing the top end of 150 hrs solid. The amplifier and DAC combo are very analog sounding…this is a good thing for me because I enjoy the sound very much. I know for a fact though that my DAC is coloring the sound plenty, maybe even more so than the tubes at the moment so I will continue to wait a few weeks and swap out with an ESS based DAC to see what the differences are if any.
I have yet to hear anything i dislike that was not in the recording itself…I know this is a weak answer but it’s the truth, the DAC I’m running makes more difference than the tubes at the moment. (at least this is what I think i hear happening) 
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Good luck and Congratulations! After my own Hifiman experiences I would not easily purchase them used.
They almost seemed to want nothing to do w/ me without the receipt when i had my own issues. I’m praying/hoping I don’t have similar experiences w/ any of the other big name manufacturers.
On a positive note, they were quick to service, repair and turn the headphones around each time but dammit if they didn’t send them back still broken 2x… 
Pretty similar to my experiences. And when I didn’t encounter any QC issues…I normally ended up not caring for the sound signature. The HE-500 remains my lone positive experience with Hifiman. Hopefully that changes this time around.
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No, That’s an accident just waiting to happen. Get that amp away from anything else and don’t stack on it for your own piece of mind. Congratulations and happy listening.
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Koss swag showed up today too! Thanks @Not_Daijoubu for the tip on the sale for this T-shirt.
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DMS on his latest quality list gave the Hawks 1 out of 20 points for tuning with the note “tuned by aliens. Not for earth music.”
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H_FMT82t72mm7DeOnUN4X0R2gD_3uR9Oy2zTj7HukuM/htmlview
A very different sound to be sure, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve been listening to my Carbons today, and I still like them. Something different every now and then is good. DMS did give them 14 out of 15 for comfort, though.
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That cable. Coming out of the Geshelli. I would call that a fat pipe. FAT PIPE!!! Seriously cool - I like it. 
