Nice review you not use resistors when using with hd800S ?

I agree. Excellent amp. I actually use high gain mode.

@sebiambrus Thanks. And no. The HD800s doesn't need any of that. Just start from a low volume on the preamp and crank up till you are happy. Essentially, the preamp is doing the job of the attenuation/resistors.

@Somatic Thanks so much. I use the middle gain.

@Adnan Firoze i was also using middle gain but recently switched to high gain. I feel it increases the speed and dynamics. Makes treble a little hotter though. Increases bass a bit. Have you noticed any differences on different gain settings? I find low gain very anemic with the Susvaras

Also have you ever tried running dual mono blocks?

Great review! It's out of my wheelhouse but that was a very well put together & informative overview.

@Somatic I feel that mid and high works best. The low doesn't cut it imo but still decent. And no haven't tried on Monoblocks. Only one I know drives the Susvara like that is Sandu from SoundNews but I'm sure there could be others.

@Rockwell75 Thanks a million for taking the time Jeff. Really appreciate it. I gradually moved from portables to HPs. Very curious about the "bird" though.

The concern about blowing up the drivers arises when the amp's WPC is above a certain safe threshold, which depends on the impedance and the power rating of the headphones. A volume control, which is present somewhere in the chain (i.e., on the amp or the pre), merely reduces that concern. One could still be careless, turning up the volume intentionally or inadvertently, causing the amp to send too much power to the taps. Using an amp with WPC below the safety threshold eliminates that concern altogether. Sonic performance is a different matter. That motivates some people to consider not just any speaker amp but certain speaker amps. Yet, when it comes to hard-to-drive headphones, especially the current-hungry ones, one can get noticeably better performance with a decent, low-WPC speaker amp than with many expensive headphone amps. That has been my experience experimenting with many amps and headphones.

@khalder All valid points. Kudos! (Y)

This is a very well put guide for people new to the speaker world. I had to research all of this going through headfi for multiple days.
Really appreciate the time and effort you invested into this bro. Thank you.

@ruffandruff Extremely glad it helped; that was the aim really. Really appreciate your kind words

Awesome review. Gonna be buying one soon

@DJJEZ what amp are you using now?

@Somatic I'm using a formula S and powerman just for acoustic music with the susvara currently. the amp is mainly for my 1266TC. I have also tried the susvara on my Arcam A49 amp which is around 25 w into 60 ohms but i dont like the synergy so dont use it. excited to see how the AHB2 is