[Slim1970]

That's good to know, thanks!

I really like the Gilmore Lite Mk2, but there are a few things about its sound that aren't quite to my taste, and the Auteurs seem to accentuate these traits more than other headphones as they really let you hear amp deficiencies/differences.

I am also looking at the Cavalli Liquid Platinum and Feliks Espressivo Mark II, but the Flux is by far the front runner. I just wish there were more impressions/reviews of it.

I have a Liquid Platinum as well. It’s heavily modded, with upgraded caps, an upgraded volume pot, and I’m using adapters so I can use upgraded tubes from the 12UA7 family. I didn’t like the sound of it with stock tubes or in stock form. It lacked clarity, dynamics were soft, and it sounded muddy. Now, it’s one of the best amps I’ve heard. The upgrades let the LP breathe, improved dynamics, clarity and details.

It was my favorite amp until I got the FA-10. It still does some things better than only tubes can do. Like provide a 3D soundstage, airy treble, and provide a even more meaty midrange, with superb bass impact depending on tubes used. Also depending on tubes, it can almost match the dynamics of the FA-10 with one caveat, it needs to be modded. Otherwise, I would say pass on it and go straight for the FA-10. You get everything that a modded LP can do right out of the box.

 

[PoSR77]

Darn you people are persuasive!

Just what I need: another darn black box (with a yellow front for a change though).

I'll have to think about it. Thanks for all the helpful input!

 

[cfranchi]

So I have pulled the trigger for an HD800s...
Curious to see how it will pair with my FA-10.

 

[Bhk1004]

im assuming so far no one has tested the fa10 with he6?

 

[cfranchi]

im assuming so far no one has tested the fa10 with he6?

I have currently HE6se and FA-10 (DAC is Chord Mojo) : plenty of power and musicality, can’t go wrong with FA-10, such a bargain at this price.

 

[cfranchi]

So I have pulled the trigger for an HD800s...
Curious to see how it will pair with my FA-10.

I have just received my 800s (second hand but in pristine condition), I have the week end to check how it sounds, will post my impressions as soon as possible.

 

[cfranchi]

So I’m playing songs and songs with HD800s, quite an interesting and unexpected listening session... I have to be more rigorous and make A/B testing with He6se, first feeling : 800s is better than expected...

 

[Slim1970]

So I’m playing songs and songs with HD800s, quite an interesting and unexpected listening session... I have to be more rigorous and make A/B testing with He6se, first feeling : 800s is better than expected...

The HD800S is a great headphone especially if feed properly. On the wrong source, it can sound thin and lacking. On a good source, it can sound very rewarding. Glad you’re finding the combo a good match. I’ll have mine soon.

 

[sahmen]

I have the FA-10, which I am using with my Susvara and other cans in the stable. Still I took advantage of a recent sale on Amazon to get a Topping A90, not just out of curiosity, but also I thought I might use its preamp stage with some powered speakers in my office, while it is doing double duty as a desktop HPA in that office. The Topping has not been disappointing at all. I think for the price tag, it delivers a lot, and does so efficiently and competently. Hell, I am even willing to concede that it punches above its weight in performance, as what strikes me most at first is its "size/performance" ratio, although I wouldn't go so far as to call it "a giant-killer" as some have (first of all there are way too many ""giants" out there, in that price-bracket for "giants," and I am not quite sure which of these "giants" the A90 is supposed to be killing, but I digress).

Out of curiosity, and also naturally, I did a head to head of the A90 and AF-10, and, again, the A-90 did quite a competent job, especially, with the Susvara, and never stopped surprising me with its relatively puny little size (as compared to the FA-10) as seen in the light of the amount of power it was pushing out to drive the Susvara, which I had long assumed could only be driven by godzilla-sized speaker amps smoking like some nuclear reactors on steroids, but that has turned out to be not quite the case, thank heavens! I must have got that idea from paying too many visits to a few "over-pumped" threads on head-fi that shall remain nameless here.

What took a few points off the score sheet for the A90 show is that, in spite of its all round competence, it does not sing to me nearly as sweetly as the FA-10 does, and for that matter, not as my v281, my Liquid Platinum, or even (surprise, surprise) my old and almost forgotten, Audiogd NFB-1 amp, which has been the biggest surprise of this latest round of Susvara auditioning! That "surprise" will be a story for another day. This is about the A90 vs the FA-10. I do not regret getting the A-90 at all, as I think it will be perfect for the restricted office duties that I got it for, and consider it to be a surprisingly great bargain at the sale price of $425. Besides it does a competent job, and that is not bad at all. It has just shown me how much I enjoy the FA-10, and I wanted to share that here.

 

[Slim1970]

I have the FA-10, which I am using with my Susvara and other cans in the stable. Still I took advantage of a recent sale on Amazon to get a Topping A90, not just out of curiosity, but also I thought I might use its preamp stage with some powered speakers in my office, while it is doing double duty as a desktop HPA in that office. The Topping has not been disappointing at all. I think for the price tag, it delivers a lot, and does so efficiently and competently. Hell, I am even willing to concede that it punches above its weight in performance, as what strikes me most at first is its "size/performance" ratio, although I wouldn't go so far as to call it "a giant-killer" as some have (first of all there are way too many ""giants" out there, in that price-bracket for "giants," and I am not quite sure which of these "giants" the A90 is supposed to be killing, but I digress).

Out of curiosity, and also naturally, I did a head to head of the A90 and AF-10, and, again, the A-90 did quite a competent job, especially, with the Susvara, and never stopped surprising me with its relatively puny little size (as compared to the FA-10) as seen in the light of the amount of power it was pushing out to drive the Susvara, which I had long assumed could only be driven by godzilla-sized speaker amps smoking like some nuclear reactors on steroids, but that has turned out to be not quite the case, thank heavens! I must have got that idea from paying too many visits to a few "over-pumped" threads on head-fi that shall remain nameless here.

What took a few points off the score sheet for the A90 show is that, in spite of its all round competence, it does not sing to me nearly as sweetly as the FA-10 does, and for that matter, not as my v281, my Liquid Platinum, or even (surprise, surprise) my old and almost forgotten, Audiogd NFB-1 amp, which has been the biggest surprise of this latest round of Susvara auditioning! That "surprise" will be a story for another day. This is about the A90 vs the FA-10. I do not regret getting the A-90 at all, as I think it will be perfect for the restricted office duties that I got it for, and consider it to be a surprisingly great bargain at the sale price of $425. Besides it does a competent job, and that is not bad at all. It has just shown me how much I enjoy the FA-10, and I wanted to share that here.

Nice write up. The A90 was on my radar for a brief moment as I was very curious about its sound, still am. I ended up going a different direction when looking for a complementary amp my FA-10 and LP. I got a deal I couldn't pass on with the Burson Soloist and per-ordered one. It should be shipping out soon. I expect it to have a fairly neutral sound signature much likeo the A90 with a little better built quality. I also have the builtin amps on my RME, Hugo 2, and TT2 which are all very competent. One would think I should have my amps needs covered but curiosity also wins out. There are just many good options out there that I want to try. Dang you head-fi....

 

[teknorob23]

Nice write up. The A90 was on my radar for a brief moment as I was very curious about its sound, still am. I ended up going a different direction when looking for a complementary amp my FA-10 and LP. I got a deal I couldn't pass on with the Burson Soloist and per-ordered one. It should be shipping out soon. I expect it to have a fairly neutral sound signature much likeo the A90 with a little better built quality. I also have the builtin amps on my RME, Hugo 2, and TT2 which are all very competent. One would think I should have my amps needs covered but curiosity also wins out. There are just many good options out there that I want to try. Dang you head-fi....

very interested to hear the soloist goes.. not place to be having the TT2 to fall back on not too mention the FA10, etc. The right Denafrips arrived in my living room on Wednesday the Venus2, as with the Pontus it sounded like a bag of spanners straight out of the box, but listening to it last night briefly and tonight for the last few hours, the spanners are gone replaced by angels. Bit of a double whammy, finally unleashing the FA12 in all its balanced glory. Not that it was noisy before but extra low volume details have sprouted in abundance. Most noticeable is the extra depth in the staging and consequent improvements in layer separation. I have DAC and fa12 wired up with identical solid core neotech silver RCA's and XLRs both with ETI Kryo plugs and flicking between SE and Balanced with improvements are instantly and dramatically obvious both Beyer t1.2 and Ether C 1.1s. For its part the Venus2 is an instant star too, staging, texture and detail retrieval is some of the best i've heard in any DAC. It easily bests my H2 for detail and i would think is close if not equal to my ex-beloved TT2, but theres definitely a natural easiness that i've not heard in a DAC before, the music just flows.

This one of those rare nights/ moments in hifi when your system not just improved by tiny increments but a big leap...and there's not even any wine involved!

 

[Slim1970]

very interested to hear the soloist goes.. not place to be having the TT2 to fall back on not too mention the FA10, etc. The right Denafrips arrived in my living room on Wednesday the Venus2, as with the Pontus it sounded like a bag of spanners straight out of the box, but listening to it last night briefly and tonight for the last few hours, the spanners are gone replaced by angels. Bit of a double whammy, finally unleashing the FA12 in all its balanced glory. Not that it was noisy before but extra low volume details have sprouted in abundance. Most noticeable is the extra depth in the staging and consequent improvements in layer separation. I have DAC and fa12 wired up with identical solid core neotech silver RCA's and XLRs both with ETI Kryo plugs and flicking between SE and Balanced with improvements are instantly and dramatically obvious both Beyer t1.2 and Ether C 1.1s. For its part the Venus2 is an instant star too, staging, texture and detail retrieval is some of the best i've heard in any DAC. It easily bests my H2 for detail and i would think is close if not equal to my ex-beloved TT2, but theres definitely a natural easiness that i've not heard in a DAC before, the music just flows.

This one of those rare nights/ moments in hifi when your system not just improved by tiny increments but a big leap...and there's not even any wine involved!

Nice, I really want hear a good R2R DAC. The Denafrips Venus and Sonnet Morpheus are high on my list of wanting to audition. I have an HMS coming soon to pair with my TT2 maybe that'll change this for me. But right now I would love to hear the more textured, layered, detailed sound of an R2R DAC.

It is not very often that adding a component to your system that seems to fill in all the gaps and adds those missing elements to music that makes this hobby such a joy. I'm glad you are close to audio nirvana because it is elusive, bravo my friend, bravo!

 

[cfranchi]

So I’m playing songs and songs with HD800s, quite an interesting and unexpected listening session... I have to be more rigorous and make A/B testing with He6se, first feeling : 800s is better than expected...

Ok so I have finally listened to 800s during all the week end and I have a big problem, I don’t recover all the aspects that are often associated to HD800s:
- anemic bass? Not at all, it punch hard and even extend very low in the sub bass
- bright? Certainly not, ok I’m 47
- boring and chirurgical? What?! It is not at all, I had iem monitoring before (earsonics S-EM6v2) and I know what is chirurgical and boring
- diffuse, vague and artificial soundstage? Again not on my side, soundstage is spacious and airy, imaging is good, not artificially wide for me : it is still a headphone and to be honest I was a little disappointing at my first listening session.

So does the amp and dac pair really well with 800s ? For sure FA-10 is powerful (1.6w @300ohm, 1w @600ohm, 800s impedance can go to 700ohm) and as a very good class A amp has certainly the musicality that fit well with 800s.
Also Chord Mojo pair well with neutral headphones, that add a point to the synergy.

In fact I’m at a step where I see no interest to keep my HE6se: on A/B listening, HE6se that I think can sound big, suddenly it sounds ´intimate’ : and that is really the killing point for me. Timbre are a bit more natural and cleaner on 800s, but HE6se is very good also. The impact and slam of 800s is not so far behind HE6se.

Last, I’m on medium gain around 1o clock for 800s (it is the cleaner and effortless setting), I’m on high gain around 1o clock for HE6se, Mojo DAC output is 3v.

I’m quite interested to read other users feedbacks about 800s and FA-10 !

 

[Klmahnn]

The 800S is really a fantastic headphone. I have just sold mine but only due to noisy environment, I will hopefully own it again one day.

Has anyone ever heard the IRIY, particularly the solid state version? I’m curious how it stacks up against the rest of their offerings? It looks like a very tidy dac/amp.

 

[aleniola76]

HI Everyone
Did anyone tested any of these amps with Beyerdynamic DT1990?
Also, can anyone share a picture of the remote control...asssuming someone has it ?