She does look awkward :D but the headphones are the saving grace!

You ranked Pavane over Dave! Is it more resolving? Or is it the tonality?

Hugo 2 for headphones that you can drive capably via its headphone output. For speakers and headphones that will require a separate amp for optimal drive, Yggdrasil.

I own a Mojo & a Hugo 2. The difference between the 2 are stark to me. For one the tuning is completely different. Mojo is mid lush, Hugo 2 is more or less neutral with deep extensions at both end. Resolution wise Hugo 2>>Mojo, I can hear textures and nuances of each note far better on H2...

Besides Dave, which are the other two above Hugo TT2?!

I have listened to both the setups you mentioned. The d10>009 I listened at an event. Though I was surprised by how competent d10 is to drive 009, I felt it fell short of hugo2>utopia. The latter has a more even soundstage and coherent imaging. D10>009 has a collapsed and weird shaped soundstage...

Not much mention of Chord Dave on these threads

I think if someone with good ears tried the Utopia blindfolded when it first came out they would have mistaken it for an uber high end sealed headphone. Every other flagship strives to transcend the headphone experience whereas Focal just shrugged off the soundstage size aspect.

I ve tried foobar eq and schiit Loki for HD800S. I prefer the 800S unadulterated :D

Fullness as in individual notes seem to have more component tones. Just my take.

Auralic Taurus mk2 lets HD800S be what it is, a natural sounding detailed headphone with expansive soundstage. It is a very neutral amp, it doesn’t really make it sound full but the treble is well controlled & never harsh (by comparison the treble on 800S jotunheim combo is harsh. For fullness...

Auralic Taurus MK2

Just curious about one thing about Utopia. Is there any dac amp combo that makes them sound intolerable. I mean so far I have tried to plug them into various combos of all my dacs and amps. It sounds stellar out of everything. I didn’t try straight out of phone or computer of course but I...

I love the BHA1 HD800S combo. Compared to jotunheim, BHA1 has a more expansive soundstage; so yeah sounds are further pushed back. Treble is detailed and extended; I think female vocals sound sweet. You could say less energetic but in a positive way; it is overall more relaxing compared to...

Hearing is subjective so we will all have different conclusions. These are some obvious differences that stand out to me.