[Spawn300Z]

I definitely agree about the DCS Lina stack. Bad pairing. The HPA4 sounded ok. Very clean and tight bass but wasn’t that fun. I prefer my Naim HE over it. Best I heard was Woo WA23 Luna. But there could be other great pairing. The ampandsound pairing was really good too but didn’t have that tube gooieness like the Woo. That Woo WA23 leans on the very warm side even compared to other Woo amps. I’m completely happy with the Naim HE now that I’ve heard what else is out there. Sure I’d like the Woo but don’t have an extra $9k lying around.

I think someone will also have to try the Lina DAC and Clock with other amps before it’s totally disregarded though. The issue could have been with the amp.

 

[iamoneagain]

I think someone will also have to try the Lina DAC and Clock with other amps before it’s totally disregarded though. The issue could have been with the amp.

I actually did. So even without the clock, the best of CanJan for me was the DCS Lina streamer hooked up to the Woo WA23 Luna tube amp. Simply amazing. Maybe if the clock was added it would be even better, but who knows.

The DCS Lina stack was the first thing I listened to at the show. I played a track I was very familiar with just just didn’t move me. I’m like well maybe it’s missing bass, but surely I should be hearing all this amazing resolution. Nothing stood out better than my $3200 Naim HE. Even on the Woo setup, it was the Woo’s amazing bass and tone that blew me away, not the DAC streamer. I mean at a show it’s hard to really get a grasp of timing and fine detail.

Now on other headphones, that stack sounded great but still don’t think worth $30k from a user experience point of view. The sceeen was small and no album art. No remote, and can only control volume with giant knob. The Naim has a digitally controlled analog volume either from knob on top, remote, roon, or just volume controls on phone using an amp. Much better experience and even better sound quality with the Expanse.

 

[jerick70]

If anyone is interested Wywires Cables are 40% off @ https://www.thecableco.com. Makes the Platinum Mr. Speakers Cable $359 and includes overnight shipping. I purchased one. We will see how it is.

 

[OneEyedHito]

If anyone is interested Wywires Cables are 40% off @ https://www.thecableco.com. Makes the Platinum Mr. Speakers Cable $359 and includes overnight shipping. I purchased one. We will see how it is.

You're awesome, thanks for the heads up!

 

[Spawn300Z]

I actually did. So even without the clock, the best of CanJan for me was the DCS Lina streamer hooked up to the Woo WA23 Luna tube amp. Simply amazing. Maybe if the clock was added it would be even better, but who knows.

The DCS Lina stack was the first thing I listened to at the show. I played a track I was very familiar with just just didn’t move me. I’m like well maybe it’s missing bass, but surely I should be hearing all this amazing resolution. Nothing stood out better than my $3200 Naim HE. Even on the Woo setup, it was the Woo’s amazing bass and tone that blew me away, not the DAC streamer. I mean at a show it’s hard to really get a grasp of timing and fine detail.

Now on other headphones, that stack sounded great but still don’t think worth $30k from a user experience point of view. The sceeen was small and no album art. No remote, and can only control volume with giant knob. The Naim has a digitally controlled analog volume either from knob on top, remote, roon, or just volume controls on phone using an amp. Much better experience and even better sound quality with the Expanse.

Thanks, was thinking about upgrading later to the Lina DAC/Clock or the Chord Dave. So was waiting on more user experience.

 

[iamoneagain]

Thanks, was thinking about upgrading later to the Lina DAC/Clock or the Chord Dave. So was waiting on more user experience.

I had a Chord Dave/mscaler with the OG Utopia. While technically amazing, it’s not as fun as my Naim HE. It doesn’t capture the PRaT as good. So I’m not sure what the Expanse would sound like on that setup where you have close to ultimate resolution on a setup with razor sharp resolution. Maybe one of the best technical setups but not sure the headphone out of the Dave would be the best. Perhaps throw a tube amp behind it, and have a great setup.

 

[801evan]

Do you think that the Sparkos Labs Aries would be at least a good though not great match? This unit is Sparkos Labs op-amp based, 2.8w into 32 ohms.

Super transparent. I do a mod that's using all sparkos pro op amps and did a incremental upgrade from the ss3602.

 

[dmagnan]

What is everyone finding to be the best match for cables with the Expanse? I’ve been using Null Audio cables for my most recent headphones. The Luna is a great cable!

I'm getting superb results with my Expanse with my Stefan Audio Art Endorphin (#1 in my ranking), and new Cardas Clear Beyond (#2) headphone cables (neither are Litz designs). Significantly better to my ears than a Double Helix Clone Fusion copper/silver Litz, Norne Drausk copper Litz, Forza Audioworks Noir Hybrid copper/silver Litz, and Moon Audio Silver Dragon.

 

[babmusician]

i got the Dana Nirvana cable for the "original" Utopia (paired with niimbus 4+ amp and Merging Hapi DAC).
The headphones are now in a totally another level with this cable.
EQed with oratory settings (DMG Equilibrium with the highes buffer)
+ the great dSoniq Realphones Plugin

= an unbelievable sound experience. Great for Mastering (Classical) music.
Very precise for working with.

Highly recommended (the cable with eq - with/without Realphones).

But i still would like to test the Expanse after selling my Phi CC, LCD-4z etc...

 

[mrspeakers]

I received the Expanse today. My test tracks reflect the music I listen to most often:

--Cleveland Orchestra, Krenek, Static and Ecstatic: perfect tone and separation (I also heard this actual performance live).
--Dave Brubeck, Take Five: Bass drum 3 dimensional, other instruments warm, precise, smooth. ( I heard this performed live 45 years ago).
--Chicago Symphony, Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion, Celesta: Ethereal, spiritual, surround 3D. (I have heard this performed live by Cleveland Orchestra).
--Horowitz, Horowitz in Moscow: Dancing precise fingers, absolute perfect tone and breadth of tone.
--Nina Simone, I Love You Porky, Live Carnegie Hall: Deep, rich, like she was singing 10 feet in front of me with tears flowing down her cheeks.
--Alison Krauss, I've Got That Old Feeling: Crisp, precise yet gentle.
Equipment: iFi iDSD Signature, iFi iCAN Signature

I am usually confused and do not understand many of the reviews due to the technical nature of them. My experience is emotional and my experience is limited by the other HP I own--800s and HE1000v2. I consider the Expanse to be the culmination of the two. I am glad to own them and would gladly purchase again.

How rare and fun to have a recording of a performance you saw!

 

[ericx85]

Just got my Expanse today. Running it off the Soloist GT with sparkos/SIL op amps right now and later will try it with the Topping A90D. Not even burned in yet and already enjoying it more than my Meze Elites. Very impressed how organized and clean the Expanse sounds even during congested/intense sections of music. The isolation is actually a good in between of the Elites and Stealth. The more I listened to the Stealth over the past year, the more I enjoyed it more than the Elites and I originally strongly preferred the Elite. Now its up on sale. I think I have my open(even if its semi open) and closed back pair set in stone for a very long time now.

Keep up the incredible work DCA!

 

[jerick70]

i got the Dana Nirvana cable for the "original" Utopia (paired with niimbus 4+ amp and Merging Hapi DAC).
The headphones are now in a totally another level with this cable.
EQed with oratory settings (DMG Equilibrium with the highes buffer)
+ the great dSoniq Realphones Plugin

= an unbelievable sound experience. Great for Mastering (Classical) music.
Very precise for working with.

Highly recommended (the cable with eq - with/without Realphones).

But i still would like to test the Expanse after selling my Phi CC, LCD-4z etc...

Nice cable recommendations. I may have to pick one up. I need a cable that does headphone end termination switches so I have a cable when I get new headphones. All the good cables have very long lead times.

 

[tret]

Seems pretty obvious from what I've read here and elsewhere that Expanse needs a fairly powerful amp to get the best out of it. Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on the new AK SP3000 DAP and if it should be able to drive Expanse well (or not)?

 

[duranxv]

I definitely agree about the DCS Lina stack. Bad pairing. The HPA4 sounded ok. Very clean and tight bass but wasn’t that fun. I prefer my Naim HE over it. Best I heard was Woo WA23 Luna. But there could be other great pairing. The ampandsound pairing was really good too but didn’t have that tube gooieness like the Woo. That Woo WA23 leans on the very warm side even compared to other Woo amps. I’m completely happy with the Naim HE now that I’ve heard what else is out there. Sure I’d like the Woo but don’t have an extra $9k lying around.

Stealth and Expanse on the Nautilus sound amazing. However, I agree that they also sound amazing on the WA23.

Personally I prefer the Stealth to the Expanse, but that's because I like having more isolation. I also like the increased sub-bass. As for EQ'ing the bass up on the Stealth, it EQ's like a champ. I don't hear any boominess. I've never had a headphone that responded so well to EQ before.

 

[jerick70]

Seems pretty obvious from what I've read here and elsewhere that Expanse needs a fairly powerful amp to get the best out of it. Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on the new AK SP3000 DAP and if it should be able to drive Expanse well (or not)?

Good question. I don’t see any specs on the site for the SP3000. So it’s going to be difficult to give a recommendation. I’ve run the Expanse on my Hiby RS6 and it’s pretty good. Although it’s gives more when I use my C9 amp with the DAP. It’s much better on my desktop amp.