[Lumithium]

https://www.astellnkern.com/product/product_detail.jsp?productNo=130

A new power oriented player from A&K. From the specs it looks like it will have no problem driving low sensitivity headphones. 15Vrms is a lot of power. But at 919g, it is borderline transportable.

I never owned their Kann line of products, and @newworld666 said Kann Alpha wasn't great at driving Stealth iirc.

Would be interesting regardless. It could be the best bet at portable solutions for the power hungry headphones.

 

[801evan]

https://www.astellnkern.com/product/product_detail.jsp?productNo=130

A new power oriented player from A&K. From the specs it looks like it will have no problem driving low sensitivity headphones. 15Vrms is a lot of power. But at 919g, it is borderline transportable.

I never owned their Kann line of products, and @newworld666 said Kann Alpha wasn't great at driving Stealth iirc.

Would be interesting regardless. It could be the best bet at portable solutions for the power hungry headphones.

Yea kann Alpha isn't implemented great despite the big power. M11pro can be much better, (but not necessarily on Stealth/lcd4/Susvara) but in terms of implementation and getting better blacks and timing.

 

[newworld666]

https://www.astellnkern.com/product/product_detail.jsp?productNo=130

A new power oriented player from A&K. From the specs it looks like it will have no problem driving low sensitivity headphones. 15Vrms is a lot of power. But at 919g, it is borderline transportable.

I never owned their Kann line of products, and @newworld666 said Kann Alpha wasn't great at driving Stealth iirc.

Would be interesting regardless. It could be the best bet at portable solutions for the power hungry headphones.

As we can see their advertisement

1) I doubt they understood that most demanding headphones are usually with low impedance and low sensitivity .. the DAP must be able to provide monstrous juice, which Kann Alpha can never do.

2) As usual A&K just indicates voltage without any load .. (Kann Alpha brings loads of distortions when you go to higher voltage)

3) Their wifi/streaming software is real garbage based on obsolete android system, which makes their DAP very often almost unusable or, at least, in low sound quality with most of the streaming providers. You can't expect to add modern players (Neutron/Uapp/Bubbleupn)

4) they never fix issues of their daps like FIIO is doing very well.

I will never try A&K anymore .. no support !

 

[801evan]

I will never try A&K anymore .. no support !

I support all the points you made and that's what I heard too. The power specs gives a false impression of what it can properly drive, and that's why people have resorted to speaker amps when they don't have to.

It has capacity to drive high voltage but little capacity to deliver clean stable current, which is the whole crux of driving the Stealth /susvara.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Today on Stealth, one of my favorie musicians and bass players Renaud Garcia-Fons's latest album (Qobuz)...

 

[haweckO]

Hi guys,

does anybody have experience how Stealt fit on very big head/skull? Is it possible that headband strap may touch to the two NiTinol metal rods?

I am very curious about this, because my Ether C Flow are almost touching to those rods: my previous post with the picture

 

[801evan]

Hi guys,

does anybody have experience how Stealt fit on very big head/skull? Is it possible that headband strap may touch to the two NiTinol metal rods?

I am very curious about this, because my Ether C Flow are almost touching to those rods: my previous post with the picture

Have you owned Audeze? The steps on the rod is a good indicator of head size. I'm on the last step for the normal rods for example.

 

[haweckO]

Have you owned Audeze? The steps on the rod is a good indicator of head size. I'm on the last step for the normal rods for example.

sorry, never, I can't stand headphones heavier than 550g

 

[801evan]

sorry, never, I can't stand headphones heavier than 550g

Heddphone couldn't fit my head for example. I find the Stealth fit more comfortable than the Ether 2. The metal rods didn't bother me on the Ether 2 but I didn't keep track of how close the headband would touch the rod. But at maximum stretch of the band on the Stealth, there just a slight clearance from the rod if that helps.

 

[Widell]

Hi guys,

does anybody have experience how Stealt fit on very big head/skull? Is it possible that headband strap may touch to the two NiTinol metal rods?

I am very curious about this, because my Ether C Flow are almost touching to those rods: my previous post with the picture

I got a pretty big head and I still have enough "headroom" , pun intended....

 

[utdeep]

I posted a DCA Stealth in classifieds. Mint condition - just don't have the equipment to really enjoy it.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/dca-stealth.17433/

 

[Widell]

Received my Stealth yesterday ( thanks @gahan ) and only had a few hours to listen and compare.

These are quite current hungry HP, just made and A-B-C comparison
A - Chord Hugo 2 - Sounds good and worthy as a travel/transportable companion
B - Chord Hugo 2 to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter - Sounds fantastic
C - Chord TT2/MS - Sounds very good

D - to be continued, I need to check Chord TT2/MS to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter but need to re-arrange and move things to same room and to much work right now.

These headphones do need a bit of power to sound its absolute best....

 

[Widell]

Received my Stealth yesterday ( thanks @gahan ) and only had a few hours to listen and compare.

These are quite current hungry HP, just made and A-B-C comparison
A - Chord Hugo 2 - Sounds good and worthy as a travel/transportable companion
B - Chord Hugo 2 to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter - Sounds fantastic
C - Chord TT2/MS - Sounds very good

D - to be continued, I need to check Chord TT2/MS to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter but need to re-arrange and move things to same room and to much work right now.

These headphones do need a bit of power to sound its absolute best....

E - Chord TT2/MS from the 2 x 3 pin XLR in the back of the TT2, but need to buy a cable to do this so will have to wait as well.....

 

[jarnopp]

Received my Stealth yesterday ( thanks @gahan ) and only had a few hours to listen and compare.

These are quite current hungry HP, just made and A-B-C comparison
A - Chord Hugo 2 - Sounds good and worthy as a travel/transportable companion
B - Chord Hugo 2 to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter - Sounds fantastic
C - Chord TT2/MS - Sounds very good

D - to be continued, I need to check Chord TT2/MS to AHB2 with and HE-6 adapter but need to re-arrange and move things to same room and to much work right now.

These headphones do need a bit of power to sound its absolute best....

Hi, it’s my understanding you should not need the Hifiman adapter for solid state amps. You might get even more transparency without it. It was mostly designed for tube amps, to protect the amp. But still, be careful not to turn it up and blow out your drivers!

 

[Widell]

Hi, it’s my understanding you should not need the Hifiman adapter for solid state amps. You might get even more transparency without it. It was mostly designed for tube amps, to protect the amp. But still, be careful not to turn it up and blow out your drivers!

Hi, Ok, I did not know that,
I thought it was needed for for low impedance HP, also it does assist to convert speaker taps to XLR as a convenience but if it does create an additional barrier to better sound I am willing to test it out, anyone out there who have used Stealth or similar HP without any adapter/resistor in between? A bit scared as one person on the Susvara thread blew up his HP's....