[Sense]

We have both the LTA Z10e and the Mjolnir Carbon running in our demo room at the moment.

I hope that people give impressions on less expensive amps.

 

[genefruit]

I hope that people give impressions on less expensive amps.

I'm not sure the ticket to enter will provide for those options as being viable. The expected bar is set and it'll require those levels of amps to reach.

 

[Sense]

I'm not sure the ticket to enter will provide for those options as being viable. The expected bar is set and it'll require those levels of amps to reach.

Would really need people to give impressions on lower cost amps to know that.

 

[hedfreq]

I hope that people give impressions on less expensive amps.

Impressions with different amps will show up as units are shipped and reviewed, but there's not too much point in reviewing a $4500 headphone with a $500 amp. Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

 

[enb141]

I also would like to hear opinions about those headphones with cheaper amps, but as far as the information of this thread, they said that this headphones needs more power than SR-009S (to get more bass).

Impressions with different amps will show up as units are shipped and reviewed, but there's not too much point in reviewing a $4500 headphone with a $500 amp. Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

$500 amps that's pretty unlikely but most of us are trying to get how they sound with a $1500 - $3000 amps, not just on $5000 - $7000 amps.

 

[Sense]

Impressions with different amps will show up as units are shipped and reviewed, but there's not too much point in reviewing a $4500 headphone with a $500 amp. Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

I didn't say anything about a $500 amp. I don't know where that came from.

They are auditioning them with $5k-7k amps. I said less expensive and it was in relation to the amps that they are auditioning them with...so anything less expensive that $5k...that's a pretty big range with lots of options.

If those things require a $5k - $7k amp to sound good...I don't know what to say. Even Abyss listed a bunch of amps on their YouTube channel that would work for the TC, many of which were more reasonable than their top pick.

 

[chrisnyc75]

Impressions with different amps will show up as units are shipped and reviewed, but there's not too much point in reviewing a $4500 headphone with a $500 amp. Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

There isn't necessarily a linear relationship between cost and performance - particularly when it comes to solid state amplification.

Though I will grant you that in this particular case a $500 e-stat charger probably isn't going to be the best choice just due to the niche & high end nature of the e-stat ecosystem.

Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

This is almost certainly statistically false. I would wager there are a lot more people using $500 amps to power flagship headphones than there are people who own $3000+ headphone amps.

 

[genefruit]

This is almost certainly statistically false. I would wager there are a lot more people using $500 amps to power flagship headphones than there are people who own $3000+ headphone amps.

I can't imagine anyone buying these without paying the freight to hear them as intended. Maybe there are a half dozen or so amps that are worthy. Personally I'm not willing to consider until I have 10k ready.

 

[Sense]

This is almost certainly statistically false. I would wager there are a lot more people using $500 amps to power flagship headphones than there are people who own $3000+ headphone amps.

I was going to bring this up...everyone I've talked to here says to put most of your money in the cans, then throw a bit of $$ at the amp, then the dac. I would agree with you...probably a lot of people using flagships on much lower cost amps.

 

[DougD]

Impressions with different amps will show up as units are shipped and reviewed, but there's not too much point in reviewing a $4500 headphone with a $500 amp. Those who invest in a pair of flagship cans will typically be pairing them with a flagship amp.

I'm not sure that's necessarily true (*), but I do think that the majority of the "early adopters" of the CRBN will be people who already DO have a high-end e-stat amp, because:
(1) it's twice as expensive if you also have to get a costly amp at the same time,
(2) people already playing in the high end of e-stats probably have a good amount of disposable income.

(* If a bunch of reviewers report the CRBN offers TOTL/SOTA performance even with a "lesser" amp, that will encourage the more thrifty segment of the h/p market to step up. But they'll wait for a largish body of reviews to pile up, before making a CRBN level of financial commitment.)

 

[chrisnyc75]

I'm not sure that's necessarily true (*), but I do think that the majority of the "early adopters" of the CRBN will be people who already DO have a high-end e-stat amp, because:
(1) it's twice as expensive if you also have to get a costly amp at the same time,
(2) people already playing in the high end of e-stats probably have a good amount of disposable income.

What he said. ^^^^

 

[Sense]

I'm not sure that's necessarily true (*), but I do think that the majority of the "early adopters" of the CRBN will be people who already DO have a high-end e-stat amp, because:
(1) it's twice as expensive if you also have to get a costly amp at the same time,
(2) people already playing in the high end of e-stats probably have a good amount of disposable income.

(* If a bunch of reviewers report the CRBN offers TOTL/SOTA performance even with a "lesser" amp, that will encourage the more thrifty segment of the h/p market to step up. But they'll wait for a largish body of reviews to pile up, before making a CRBN level of financial commitment.)

Very well said. There is a reason STAX has a wide range of energizers…they know that to grow their market they need people to have a reasonable entry point given that their headphones don’t work on normal amps.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I was going to bring this up...everyone I've talked to here says to put most of your money in the cans, then throw a bit of $$ at the amp, then the dac. I would agree with you...probably a lot of people using flagships on much lower cost amps.

I thought this in the past too, but I no longer think you should put more money in your headphones as opposed to your source and headphone amp. There are a few reasons for this:

• You max out on headphones at about $6K list (for the Susvaras, for example). There are a lot of good amps below $6K, but there are much better amps above $6K
• Your source (dac, streamer, server) is where the chain starts. If you have a sub-par dac or streamer it will greatly affect the sound quality
• Your amp is the last component before it goes into your headphones. If the amp is sub-par, you will get sub-par sound out of a pair of headphones whether they be entry-level or summit-fi.

So, it’s basically, “garbage in garbage out.” The further you scale up your chain, the more noticeable changes are and it’s easy to hear specific deficiencies.

The saying, “everything matters in your chain” may be a cliche, but it’s true. I have come to understand that everything in your chain should be about equal quality-wise. So if you have a mid-fi pair of headphones, other mid-fi components will work best. Running a $1K pair of headphones with a $10K amp makes no sense.

So, if you have a $4500 pair of headphones (like these CRBNs), it makes no sense to use a $500 amp and dac.

If you want TOTL sound out of your chain, you need TOTL components across the board (dac, headphone amp, source, cables, etc.)

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

I thought this in the past too, but I no longer think you should put more money in your headphones as opposed to your source and headphone amp. There are a few reasons for this:

• You max out on headphones at about $6K list (for the Susvaras, for example). There are a lot of good amps below $6K, but there are much better amps above $6K
• Your source (dac, streamer, server) is where the chain starts. If you have a sub-par dac or streamer it will greatly affect the sound quality
• Your amp is the last component before it goes into your headphones. If the amp is sub-par, you will get sub-par sound out of a pair of headphones whether they be entry-level or summit-fi.

So, it’s basically, “garbage in garbage out.” The further you scale up your chain, the more noticeable changes are and it’s easy to hear specific deficiencies.

The saying, “everything matters in your chain” may be a cliche, but it’s true. I have come to understand that everything in your chain should be about equal quality-wise. So if you have a mid-fi pair of headphones, other mid-fi components will work best. Running a $1K pair of headphones with a $10K amp makes no sense.

So, if you have a $4500 pair of headphones (like these CRBNs), it makes no sense to use a $500 amp and dac.

If you want TOTL sound out of your chain, you need TOTL components across the board (dac, headphone amp, source, cables, etc.)

^^^^^This

 

[BassicScience]

I thought this in the past too, but I no longer think you should put more money in your headphones as opposed to your source and headphone amp. There are a few reasons for this:

• You max out on headphones at about $6K list (for the Susvaras, for example). There are a lot of good amps below $6K, but there are much better amps above $6K
• Your source (dac, streamer, server) is where the chain starts. If you have a sub-par dac or streamer it will greatly affect the sound quality
• Your amp is the last component before it goes into your headphones. If the amp is sub-par, you will get sub-par sound out of a pair of headphones whether they be entry-level or summit-fi.

So, it’s basically, “garbage in garbage out.” The further you scale up your chain, the more noticeable changes are and it’s easy to hear specific deficiencies.

The saying, “everything matters in your chain” may be a cliche, but it’s true. I have come to understand that everything in your chain should be about equal quality-wise. So if you have a mid-fi pair of headphones, other mid-fi components will work best. Running a $1K pair of headphones with a $10K amp makes no sense.

So, if you have a $4500 pair of headphones (like these CRBNs), it makes no sense to use a $500 amp and dac.

If you want TOTL sound out of your chain, you need TOTL components across the board (dac, headphone amp, source, cables, etc.)

It depends on what one's budget is. If it's basically unlimited, I agree with (some of) what you say. OTOH, if someone told me I only had $10k to build the best headphone system I could, you better believe the headphones would be the most expensive component. Spending excess money on things like exotic cables and streamers in that context would be a complete waste of resources.