[edwardsean]

When I swap rooms then I stick to that room for the whole day. So this temperature thing hasnt been an issue really.

Yeah… but if you really want to be sure, I think you also need to travel back and forth with this:

I’m looking out for you. It’s propane powered not AC so at least you don’t have to deal with that.

… I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.

 

[rangerid]

Anyone by chance heard both the Bartok and Tambaqui, having trouble deciding between the two and impossible to get either one in for a demo. Looking for soundstage, dynamics/bass slam, mainly listen to EDM/Techno & Synthwave/pop

 

[DJJEZ]

Anyone by chance heard both the Bartok and Tambaqui, having trouble deciding between the two and impossible to get either one in for a demo. Looking for soundstage, dynamics/bass slam, mainly listen to EDM/Techno & Synthwave/pop

How do you find the May KTE?

 

[Lucky87]

Had a listen with the Bartok today for the first time and very impressed specially with the headphone side of it. Brought my Susvara and Utopia and all I can say is wow now I understand the difference between the Dave. Both are outstanding but I think the Bartok sounds more natural and blacker background which really helps with staging. Dealer said at the last minute bring your WA33 EE & headphones you will have the whole room to yourself. I was going to but I had to run a errand before heading to the store and felt uncomfortable leaving $$$ in the car without eye site of it. I really wish I would have because he had the Rossini with Clock and they had no headphone amp other than a Sony TA-ZH1ES which 5 seconds of listening I stopped, I think I offended the Rossini with it. Going back soon and try again but I am probably going the Bartok route for sure for sound and one box solution.

 

[mammal]

Had a listen with the Bartok today for the first time and very impressed specially with the headphone side of it. Brought my Susvara and Utopia and all I can say is wow now I understand the difference between the Dave. Both are outstanding but I think the Bartok sounds more natural and blacker background which really helps with staging. Dealer said at the last minute bring your WA33 EE & headphones you will have the whole room to yourself. I was going to but I had to run a errand before heading to the store and felt uncomfortable leaving $$$ in the car without eye site of it. I really wish I would have because he had the Rossini with Clock and they had no headphone amp other than a Sony TA-ZH1ES which 5 seconds of listening I stopped, I think I offended the Rossini with it. Going back soon and try again but I am probably going the Bartok route for sure for sound and one box solution.

How do you find Susvara with Bartok, compared to WA33 EE? Bartok outputs 2.8W into 66 Ohm, so not the most powerful amp ever, but I am very happy with what I hear on AB-1266. I compared it to Chord Hugo TT2, which out of its XLRs is 2-3x the power, and Bartok sounded better to my ears (more authoritative). Now I have Susvara for demo at home, while I await 15W tube amp to arrive and am wondering, am I underpowering Susvara with my Bartok? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[Lucky87]

How do you find Susvara with Bartok, compared to WA33 EE? Bartok outputs 2.8W into 66 Ohm, so not the most powerful amp ever, but I am very happy with what I hear on AB-1266. I compared it to Chord Hugo TT2, which out of its XLRs is 2-3x the power, and Bartok sounded better to my ears (more authoritative). Now I have Susvara for demo at home, while I await 15W tube amp to arrive and am wondering, am I underpowering Susvara with my Bartok? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks!

I have tried many AMP's from A90, V281, NFB-1AMP, BasX A-100 unleashed and I felt the Bartok headphone amp sounded better and cleaner than what I have tried, but not as good as the WA33 EE with the KR HP's. It sounded really good with the Utopia perfect combo but I think if it just had 2,3 more watts it would perfect for the Susvara's

 

[TheMiddleSky]

How do you find Susvara with Bartok, compared to WA33 EE? Bartok outputs 2.8W into 66 Ohm, so not the most powerful amp ever, but I am very happy with what I hear on AB-1266. I compared it to Chord Hugo TT2, which out of its XLRs is 2-3x the power, and Bartok sounded better to my ears (more authoritative). Now I have Susvara for demo at home, while I await 15W tube amp to arrive and am wondering, am I underpowering Susvara with my Bartok? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks!

Personally I found Bartok with Susvara result was not good at all in term of sound character. Sound so thin for most of recording and flat in dimension when compared to Bartok + good amp (in my case, my favourite is WA33). I know that an extra huge of budget, but the point is, if I only have bartok with no plan of upgrade, then Susvara is out of my sight.

Curious how your tube amp will handle Susvara and Abyss though, I never tested anything from Viva.

 

[mammal]

Personally I found Bartok with Susvara result was not good at all in term of sound character. Sound so thin for most of recording and flat in dimension when compared to Bartok + good amp (in my case, my favourite is WA33). I know that an extra huge of budget, but the point is, if I only have bartok with no plan of upgrade, then Susvara is out of my sight.

Thanks for detailing your experience. I personally find Bartok powerful enough for AB-1266 (at least coming from TT2's 10W rear XLRs), but with Susvara, I am starting to feel more and more that it lacks dimension/resolution. I like Susvara's tonality, as it sounds more natural to my ears (mids mainly), so it sounds very nice on vocal heavy music. BUT, now that I have been listening to Susvara, comparing them with AB-1266 for a couple of days, I honestly am starting to notice the lack of inner detail, and Susvara's mids are not saving it. I asked around and folks told me that Susvara may need more juice than 2.8W into 66 Ohm Bartok can provide.

Stay tuned, I will update Susvara and AB-1266 thread once I get the amp, hoping for that to be either Monday or Tuesday next week.

 

[jlbrach]

2.8w is more than plenty...the formula s/powerman combo outputs less than that to the abyss and the susvara and it was explicitly built for the abyss....there is more than just watts that go into driving a planar HP..the bakoon 13r which is 25/8 I believes outputs 4 watts into the susvara and it is an explosive combo...there are more powerful amps that cannot measure up...for instance both the ifi pro can and the wells milo on paper output more but arent in the same league

 

[mammal]

2.8w is more than plenty...the formula s/powerman combo outputs less than that to the abyss and the susvara and it was explicitly built for the abyss....there is more than just watts that go into driving a planar HP..the bakoon 13r which is 25/8 I believes outputs 4 watts into the susvara and it is an explosive combo...there are more powerful amps that cannot measure up...for instance both the ifi pro can and the wells milo on paper output more but arent in the same league

I am aware that amp's power output isn't everything, it was just strange to me to hear Susvara very differently to how most people describe them on the forums. Could be my loaner being too old / damaged / what not, or Bartok simply not being a good pairing for it, I really cannot tell, until I try either a different Susvara or another (preferably higher grade) amplifier.

 

[BassicScience]

The Susvara needs a powerful, dedicated amp to reach its potential. Full stop.

I recently demoed the Benchmark HPA4, a very capable headphone amp, and driving Susvara directly from it was no comparison to inserting my NAD M22 V2 into the chain (retaining HPA4 as the preamp). I've also owned the Rogue RH-5 in the past and it was not able to compete with the NAD either. I doubt the Bartok's headphone amp is better than either the HPA4 or RH-5, so you've still got some performance to uncover. I actually did listen to Susvara via Bartok at a Canjam a couple years back, and it wasn't a wow, but as we know show conditions are far from ideal. Still, I have been blown away by some auditions at shows.

Lack of resolution or inner detail should NOT be one's impression when the Susvara is properly driven.

 

[jlbrach]

The Susvara needs a powerful, dedicated amp to reach its potential. Full stop.

I recently demoed the Benchmark HPA4, a very capable headphone amp, and driving Susvara directly from it was no comparison to inserting my NAD M22 V2 into the chain (retaining HPA4 as the preamp). I've also owned the Rogue RH-5 in the past and it was not able to compete with the NAD either. I doubt the Bartok's headphone amp is better than either the HPA4 or RH-5, so you've still got some performance to uncover. I actually did listen to Susvara via Bartok at a Canjam a couple years back, and it wasn't a wow, but as we know show conditions are far from ideal. Still, I have been blown away by some auditions at shows.

Lack of resolution or inner detail should NOT be one's impression when the Susvara is properly driven.

the bakoon 13r is as good as I have heard thus far with the susvara and there are tons of such review FWIIW...I have heard numerous HP amps and several speaker amps of which I include the bartok and nothing in the price range has been better IMHO...my point wasnt to argue this point argued here 24/7 only to state that power stats dont tell the true story..dont get me wrong, this is all subjective and I fully understand some might well like different amps etc...all I am saying is it isnt a power question per se

 

[ThanatosVI]

the bartok is as good as I have heard thus far with the susvara and there are tons of such review FWIIW...I have heard numerous HP amps and several speaker amps of which I include the bartok and nothing in the price range has been better IMHO...my point wasnt to argue this point argued here 24/7 only to state that power stats dont tell the true story..dont get me wrong, this is all subjective and I fully understand some might well like different amps etc...all I am saying is it isnt a power question per se

The Bartok is powerful enough to drive the Susvara to over 100db.

A more powerful amp might sound better, but if it does, it's not because of its Max power output.
Similar to how two equally powerful amps can sound different with one sounding clearly superior.

 

[jlbrach]

it is definitely powerful enough but so is a topping a90 which obviously isnt up to the task so there is so much more to it than just power rating

 

[BassicScience]

the bartok is as good as I have heard thus far with the susvara and there are tons of such review FWIIW...I have heard numerous HP amps and several speaker amps of which I include the bartok and nothing in the price range has been better IMHO...my point wasnt to argue this point argued here 24/7 only to state that power stats dont tell the true story..dont get me wrong, this is all subjective and I fully understand some might well like different amps etc...all I am saying is it isnt a power question per se

There are usually reviews to back up any particular sonic preference. We may simply hear things differently, but you seem to be suggesting that the headphone amp of a DAC is the best option to drive the Susvara (?).

As to what is "enough" power, we are just playing semantic games. No one is suggesting that any of a number of headphone amps won't drive Susvara perfectly adequately. What I'm saying is that a speaker amp will drive it optimally. As with anything I post here, this is my personal, subjective opinion, and should be taken as such.