[techenthusiast]

Just curious if anyone has had any experience with the Asgard 3 and other SE amps like the Heresy, Liquid Spark, Atom, L30 and can definitively claim that there is a noticeable difference. What I would like to know is if the A3 can be said to be; more/fuller bass, crisper highs, cleaner mids than any of those entry level type amps? Or is it just a more powerful version that can drive more demanding headphones (similar to the SE vs Balanced idea).
I have both a Sivga Phoenix (very effecient) and a Hifiman Sundara (less efficient) and I was curious if they would both benefit the jump from the entry level amps or just the Sundara.
Power wise I think that the SP200 and Asgard 3 are on a similar level for single ended. So would they be somewhat identical or can it really be stated that the SP200 is indeed "clinical" whereas the A3 is then "warmer or colored"?

 

[Magic77]

I have the Asgard 3, Heresy, Atom and Liquid Spark. Asgard 3 is my favorite. Heresy is very close to the sound of the Asgard 3. I like the Liquid Spark, but feel the Heresy is better. Atom is good, but think it’s the weakest of the bunch. Right now I’m only using the A3 and Heresy. I’m really not using the Atom much anymore. A3 is better all around, better bass, highs and mids.

 

[techenthusiast]

I have the Asgard 3, Heresy, Atom and Liquid Spark. Asgard 3 is my favorite. Heresy is very close to the sound of the Asgard 3. I like the Liquid Spark, but feel the Heresy is better. Atom is good, but think it’s the weakest of the bunch. Right now I’m only using the A3 and Heresy. I’m really not using the Atom much anymore. A3 is better all around, better bass, highs and mids.

When you say the A3 has better bass and such ....is it night and day or would you have to do a/b back and forth?

 

[Magic77]

Yeah, I would say A3 is much better. It has a much fuller sound, much brighter and crisper, not too much bass but just the right amount. I feel it clearly beats out the portables.

 

[techenthusiast]

Yeah, I would say A3 is much better. It has a much fuller sound, much brighter and crisper, not too much bass but just the right amount. I feel it clearly beats out the portables.

One more thing. Do you have the silver or black? I usually prefer black for desktop items but not so sure about that silver volume knob on an all black unit.

 

[Magic77]

One more thing. Do you have the silver or black? I usually prefer black for desktop items but not so sure about that silver volume knob on an all black unit.

I have the black with the silver knob. I think it looks pretty good. The silver amp looks good as well. I prefer the the black too.

 

[529128]

I have the Heresy and it is a wonderful amp with all the power you will ever need. It pairs very well with the Sunny. I have also had the A3 and the Atom. Tbh I am very certain that most people would have a very hard time distinguishing between the three in a blind test. Either would be a great choice and a mighty fine candidate for an endgame setup for most people. What you hear as different might as well be the result of your brain playing games with you based on your expectations.

 

[ozz]

I have the Magni/Modi and an Asgard/Multi-bit card besides the dac difference the A3 shines when you crank it up or have extremely difficult to drive headphones and its noticeable with the dynamics in music at high volume.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

I can definitely tell the difference between the Asgard 2 and Asgard 3. I can also tell the difference between the Magni 3+ and Asgard 3. I definitely prefer the Asgard 3. Purely subjective choice of course based on my hearing and headphone setup.

 

[techenthusiast]

I can definitely tell the difference between the Asgard 2 and Asgard 3. I can also tell the difference between the Magni 3+ and Asgard 3. I definitely prefer the Asgard 3. Purely subjective choice of course based on my hearing and headphone setup.

Perhaps you have better hearing than me or your headphones pair better, but I have had no luck in finding a difference. At the moment I have an A3 and a Liquid Spark and cannot tell them apart. That is with Sundaras, Sivga Phoenix, and Grado Sr 325. It is frustrating as I have now sampled an A90, THx 788, L30, FIIO K5, Zen Can,SMsL SP200, and even a FIIO e10k. Whe level matched in single ended use they all sound the same to me. Just frustrating!! The positive note is that they all sound good. So just pick the headphones you like and power them accordingly.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Perhaps you have better hearing than me or your headphones pair better, but I have had no luck in finding a difference. At the moment I have an A3 and a Liquid Spark and cannot tell them apart. That is with Sundaras, Sivga Phoenix, and Grado Sr 325. It is frustrating as I have now sampled an A90, THx 788, L30, FIIO K5, Zen Can,SMsL SP200, and even a FIIO e10k. Whe level matched in single ended use they all sound the same to me. Just frustrating!! The positive note is that they all sound good. So just pick the headphones you like and power them accordingly.

I'm using Focal Clears and have with the two amps I mentioned. Asgard 3 is connected to a Modius and I use the Modius as an external DAC on an older Marantz CD5003. I'm still stuck in the dark ages and spin CDs and Records. I've also used a Modi 3, Modi multibit, Bifrost multibit, Bifrost 4490, and Topping D50 but prefer the Modius.

 

[techenthusiast]

I tried an experiment after much back and forth A/B'ing with amps and it was suggested to me to try one for a day and the other for a day to see if there were any differences. Sunday all A3, yesterday all Liquid Spark. No real difference noticed other than it seemed that the A3 did better on low gain when using my Sivga Phoenix. Cannot get much out of the Sundara’s on low gain…so they were still the same on both amps. I will say that past 3 O’clock on A3 distortion kicks in (didn’t notice that the short amount of time I had the original A3) and the spark keeps on trucking.
Returning the Sundara’s, A3, and the Spark. Keeping the Sivga Phoenix paired with a Fiio E10k. They seem to be a perfect match. The Sivga is extremely efficient and the Spark is overkill. On any songs lacking bass just flip the bass switch on the E10K, otherwise there is no real need for equalization for general listening purposes.
I am giving up a little spaciousness and just a tad of mid bass slam that those Sundara’s brought to the table, but in my case at a cost of too much power. The real problem that I had with those Sundara’s was that I had to crank them to get the satisfying effect that I desired from them and that will be too costly on my hearing down the road anyway. As a result they also proved to be too fatiguing and the Sivga's are almost polar opposites in that respect. You can listen to those for hours, so long as you get the fit just right, which does take some work. Interesting note about the Phoenix, if you crave a little extra bass, you can get the SIVGA Phoenix Replacement High Protein Leather Ear Pads and they tend to dig a little deeper while providing a little more comfort. Overall