Seems very encouraging indeed
How’s the bass with Susvara? And which impedance setting selected when driving the Susvara?
The bass with stock tubes on Nirvana paired with Susvara is lean and controlled, but nevertheless impactful. It hits. It's rolled up and slams when the song calls for it, which makes its presence feel more meaningful and powerful. I used the 32 ohm impedance setting. I've flipped between 32 and 80 and noticed little difference.
Utopia bass feels a bit flabby and overeager by comparison, like the bass is off a leash for better or worse, to the point where finer details are lost in the lows. The separation in the music just isn't there like Susvara. Sounds feels smashed together by comparison, with much less airiness.
Verite Open bass is wonderful, tight, detailed, and controlled. I feel it can't resolve quite as low as Susvara, but it slams and feels good with Nirvana. Stage is wide but not as wide as Susvara. Music again lacks that detail push provided from Susvara. The mids sound wonderful with this pairing.
But Susvara takes a lead here as well.
Again, Susvara is such a technical, surgical, yet engaging listen. It doesn't show its full hand like the Verite and Utopia. It winds up and slams when the music calls for it. It rests when the music calms, ready to punch you in the face at the right moment.
Listening to Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd is an otherworldly experience with Susvara. Industrial rock, jazz, classical, folk, metal, pop, electronica, all reach another level in detail.
I want to compare to the AB1266, but I'm so satisfied that I'll probably just make Susvara my end game headphone.