ZMF Headphones
 

Any ZMF headphone users here (Serge?)?
Am thinking their Ori planars look pretty tasty.
Any idea where they are made?
Any idea where the spec's for the various models are listed?

Not familiar with their planars, I’m enjoying the Auteur with dynamic bio-cellulose drivers but all ZMF are crafted by hand here in the USA. It’s an artisan product that exhibits heirloom quality and phanatical approach to sound and build craftsmanship. My Auteur Blackwoods pair are keepers for life.

Unfortunately, all their headphones are 300ohm and 97-100dB efficient. Not going to work when going portable. Too bad. They receive glowing reviews and are great looking.

Tubes. :yes:

These are not exactly the type of headphone for travel and portable use. These are late night, or primary home use headphones that bring out the very best of your source and in my opinion tube amplification. When I plug them in to the PrimaLuna HP with the octet of EL34 driving them, there is nothing that comes close to the sheer musicality. Pure audio nirvana.

Let’s not forget headphones replace all acoustic treatments one can come up with for their primary system. I’ve been there to the tune of $25k for the treatments alone and the ZMF Auteurs seduce and thrill me no less than my $150k system did before. Hence the reason I will never spend that kind of coin on audio again. It’s music, it’s goosebumps, it’s pure bliss and that’s all I need to supplement my primary system that serves my needs during the day. Everything else is just irrational exuberance.

Serge - for me, you're preaching to the choir. My greatest fear is that I'm going to end up with several pairs of cans (not a bad thing). Think I'll hang on to the Valhalla 2.......... was planning to sell. Have to start rolling a few tubes.

I spent about an hour at ZMF in Canjam at RMAF. The owner and his wife were working the booth. His wife is super nice. The husband is nice, very humble, but preoccupied with a guy asking many questions.

From ZMF website: (where are these made?) In the USA, near Chicago Illinois. I have a small workshop and each set is made to order, specifically for each customer.

My favorite was the Autuer. They have a new flagship out. I will say these were both the best sounding headphones or the worst sounding headphones depending on the amp. They are radically dependant on the amp, I heard from a competitor it's because they aren't coloration prone and that it's a good thing. Their tube amp (I don't remember the brand but it looked expensive) was irritatingly bright, and their solid state amp (HeadAmp Gilmore Lite mk2) was perfect. (I was expecting backwards since I love ARC's sound)

I really think these sound as good or better than Focal Utopia and Audeze LCD-4 (at this event, not in my home), but I'm not looking for tonal accuracy perfection. There is a ton of noise floor at Canjam, and I'm hearing little or no bass from utopia and LCD-4.

Am I crazy?
I think the semi closed back of the open back autuers gives it a big advantage in a very crowded environment. LCD-X sounded amazing in my home even from my iphone (excepting the amp distortion from playing louder than the iphone amp likes) at canjam they didn't sound nearly as good despite the dedicated amps.

I also listened to ZMF at CanJam this morning. I heard them at the AmpsandSound display on their McKenzie tube amp, and thought they sounded quite good. Unfortunately I don’t remember the model headphones, I’ll have to get back there tomorrow.