MiM Dark Magician — took a big gamble, very very interested in how it will sound. Hopefully last big purchase before selecting and selling off the rest.
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Really, really never wanted to spend this much on an amp, but for $1400 CAD all in for essentially brand new unit with the super charger, was I legally allowed to say no? I thought my G111 and I would be life partners, but it was the unit that convinced me that amps really can make a huge difference. It will always have a place in my heart. Who knows, maybe the Soloist won’t blow me away and I’ll just stick with the G111. I hope this is worth it…
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Finally got off the fence and pulled the trigger on a pair of HiFiMan Edition XS late last night. Can’t wait to hear them!
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Say goodbye to the 400se lol. And probably others.
Oh, yeah. I’m expecting to sell my HE-400se even though I have LOVED them as my first planar. They’ll always hold a special place in my brain, ears and heart.
Plan on keeping my HD 6xx and Elegia, as I see them as different and complimentary to the Edition XS as dynamic-driver cans. 6xx open back, strong mids and rolled-off treble, Elegia closed back and hyper-detailed in mids and top end.
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660s for 195€, almost mint. Couldn’t resist. Now I can compare them to an old HD650 (year unknown) on my home setup, should be interesting.
W1000X for 150€ /w Dekoni earpads. Guilty pleasure, always admired its looks. Even the packaging seems to be in pristine condition relative to their age.
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I may have broken down and made a purchase due to having a need for a precision screwdriver kit…
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Manta-Driver-Kit--112-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-392
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Nice. You never realize just how nice it is to have instruments like this until you get in a situation and don’t have them!
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Great kit, I’ve had it for a couple years now.
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I can’t tell you how much use I’ve gotten from my Pro Tech Toolkit over the years since I bought it.
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Seconded. I have an OG PTT (grey roll) that I replaced the driver set with the Mako kit, and had my employer buy me one of the new PTT’s (black roll) for the office.
Other iFixit products I have and recommend:
Magnetic Project Mat
Screw Extracting Pliers
Prying and Opening Tool Assortment
iSesamo Opening Tool (better than the iFixit Jimmy IMO)
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Congrats. I know it may be early on but I would love to get your impressions of them.
Thanks! I’m fairly new to the game so take what I say with a grain of salt. My first impression is that they bring more details and imaging then the standard tube from Electro-Harmonix. Maybe at the cost of some less sound stage. It’s hard for me to pin point the difference in tuning but I feel the sound is warmer, with milder treble, and the mids and lows have been brought forth a little. The socket is so tight on LP so I feel I’m going to rip it apart when changing so I’ll wait a little before changing back to stock but then I think the difference would be more obvious for me, after I get used to the new ones then switch back to old. I bought them used but only been used 50h which is nothing for these small tubes that are good for like 10 000 hours. I’m happy with the new tubes and like them more then stock so for me it’s a recommendation.
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Excellent, Thank you for your response. I’m new to tubes in audio as well. I had a very similar experience with my TA-20 when I changed the stock tubes with a matched pair of Genalex Gold Lion tubes (12AU7). The stockers weren’t bad at all, but the Gold Lions woke up this unit like I never could have imagined. Amazing!
Down the road I will probably try another tube, but I’m not sure which ones. If nothing else I’m gonna get another set of the Genalex for sure.
Finally got my Xduoo mt-602 i bought on the Drop . com black friday/week offer. Took its time, and it got here the same day i got my ifi zen dac v2. The reasoning behind the Zen dac v2 is that i have a secondary computer that i would like to have a headphone amp, but i would like less clutter on the desk so a stack was not my first option. The xduoo was mostly because i never had a tube amp (although its a hybrid) and i just wanted to experience it…
been going through Pink Floyds “dark side” and Air “moon safari” with both the Zen and the xduoo. Going between the Hifiman HE-4XX and Sennheiser HD6XX. The Xduoo gives a nice warm sound, but the zen is pretty close with the “truebass” on. the 6XX prefers the power of the Xduoo though, but i it is more than loud enough on the Zen too… all in all, im pretty happy with both purchases so far, but its too early to draw any conclusions yet 
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I had a few items show up in the last 36 hours or so.
First off a new balanced cord for my HE400se from Youkamoo ( $24 on Amazon )
The the TinHifi T3 Plus
The Drop HD58x … the “headphone stand” was a Christmas gift from daughter-in-law.
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Wow! I love those! I have the 580 Precision, but I love the Jubilee look so much more!
R70X @160€, dust (bunnies) included. Used it’s kinda rare here and usual price is low-high 200s. Looks like it was used maybe… 3 times.
Enjoying the Nightowl so far, it has, like the Nighthawk and despite the small “do not eat anti-smell” bags, a “jazz club” smell, which probably originates from its leather pads. I wouldn’t mind if that smell became a bit less intense. Not a deal breaker though. Not the most treble intense sound, but if you don’t want to be bothered by shoutiness (eg if you had a long listening session and your ears are tired) … this should work really well. The Nighthawk pads made the sound stupidly fun.
But yeah, crin’s description “upper harmonics disappear completely” is pretty accurate.
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