[franci2105]

From what it seems, the Pro sounds more linear and is more akin to other amplifiers. The reason why the Fa-10 is so loved is that it gives you a more full-body, sweeter organic sound.

From what it seems, the Pro sounds more linear and is more akin to other amplifiers. The reason why the Fa-10 is so loved is that it gives you a more full-body, sweeter organic sound.

Ok

 

[sahmen]

FA-10 with Susvara : It is funny how a headphone amp's reputation can become linked with a particular headphone whether by a calculated effort on someone's part or by chance... Such is the fate of the FA-10 with the Susvara... I do not know whether it happened by way of the Headfonia review, or whether Flux Lsbs themselves have something to do with it...

Mind you, I am not necessarily complaining... The association has paved the way to a very affordable amp-solution for the Susvara, a particularly picky and "hard-to please" headphone, which does not often co-exist too comfortably with the word "affordable" in many sentences or contexts, but I digress.

Why am I bringing all this up now? First of all I just got my FA-10 caps modded, thanks to the inspiration and DIY craftsmanship of two contributors to this forum, @Slim1970 , and @ksorota Yay!!

Now auditioning the modded FA-10 has been quite the revelation, since I got it back earlier this week, even though I have only had time to do some relatively careful listening only since yesterday... Now, while I have already found the mod to be very worthwhile so far, I am not going to spend too much time describing the sonic transformation, because I am also realizing that "burn-in" time is quite important and transformative at this early stage for this mod, even from one day to the next, so i'll save the longer description of its sonic effects for later, as what I say today might be premature...

Still the modded FA-10 is making me rediscover the Susvara all over again, and that is already thrilling, even if that was somewhat to be expected given all the pre-hype...

The unexpected thrill, however, actually involves the FA-10/ LCD-4 pairing, for which not much elaborate "pre-hype" has occurred to my knowledge... It is to the point where yesterday I spent a considerable amount of time wondering which pairing to declare "the winner", FA-10/Susvara or FA-10/LCD-4? Two compelling presentations of the same material, each mesmerizing in its own right, for its own reasons... Not that it really matters which one is the winner, since the verdict would be a "win-win" for me either way... Besides, both the "burn-in" and rediscovery processes are still on-going, which will render any final judgement premature, if rendered today. Still, it has been one hell of an entertaining, "fun," and "bonkers" ride going back and forth between the two pairings, with the FA-10 strutting its stuff each time, front and center, regardless of what track I throw at it,

It is simply quite comforting to have the privilege of witnessing (or hearing) this compelling head to head on this cold, and snowed-in New England Thursday afternoon... in this "covid-confinement" season... Bottoms Up!

I want my FA-10.

 

[Sound Eq]

FA-10 with Susvara : It is funny how a headphone amp's reputation can become linked with a particular headphone whether by a calculated effort on someone's part or by chance... Such is the fate of the FA-10 with the Susvara... I do not know whether it happened by way of the Headfonia review, or whether Flux Lsbs themselves have something to do with it...

Mind you, I am not necessarily complaining... The association has paved the way to a very affordable amp-solution for the Susvara, a particularly picky and "hard-to please" headphone, which does not often co-exist too comfortably with the word "affordable" in many sentences or contexts, but I digress.

Why am I bringing all this up now? First of all I just got my FA-10 caps modded, thanks to the inspiration and DIY craftsmanship of two contributors to this forum, @Slim1970 , and @ksorota Yay!!

Now auditioning the modded FA-10 has been quite the revelation, since I got it back earlier this week, even though I have only had time to do some relatively careful listening only since yesterday... Now, while I have already found the mod to be very worthwhile so far, I am not going to spend too much time describing the sonic transformation, because I am also realizing that "burn-in" time is quite important and transformative at this early stage for this mod, even from one day to the next, so i'll save the longer description of its sonic effects for later, as what I say today might be premature...

Still the modded FA-10 is making me rediscover the Susvara all over again, and that is already thrilling, even if that was somewhat to be expected given all the pre-hype...

The unexpected thrill, however, actually involves the FA-10/ LCD-4 pairing, for which not much elaborate "pre-hype" has occurred to my knowledge... It is to the point where yesterday I spent a considerable amount of time wondering which pairing to declare "the winner", FA-10/Susvara or FA-10/LCD-4? Two compelling presentations of the same material, each mesmerizing in its own right, for its own reasons... Not that it really matters which one is the winner, since the verdict would be a "win-win" for me either way... Besides, both the "burn-in" and rediscovery processes are still on-going, which will render any final judgement premature, if rendered today. Still, it has been one hell of an entertaining, "fun," and "bonkers" ride going back and forth between the two pairings, with the FA-10 strutting its stuff each time, front and center, regardless of what track I throw at it,

It is simply quite comforting to have the privilege of witnessing (or hearing) this compelling head to head on this cold, and snowed-in New England Thursday afternoon... in this "covid-confinement" season... Bottoms Up!

I want my FA-10.

if the mod is easy to do, can Flux do that mod upon request to people who might be interested in it

 

[sahmen]

if the mod is easy to do, can Flux do that mod upon request to people who might be interested in it

My guess is "no," but this is not because of how easy or hard the mod is. Personally, I would be hesitant to discuss any particular mod with the OEM of the equipment in question, especially after the unit has already already released. I did speak to the Flux rep on Facebook about the possibility of their including a pre amp stage in the Volot, but that's because the Volot is not out in any finalized form yet. I wouldn't have the nerve to ask them if the Volot had already been released.

With that said, adding a pre-amp stage is not exactly a typical "mod" job, but I hope you understand what I am getting at.

 

[Sound Eq]

My guess is "no," but this is not because of how easy or hard the mod is. Personally, I would be hesitant to discuss any particular mod with the OEM of the equipment in question, especially after the unit has already already released. I did speak to the Flux rep on Facebook about the possibility of their including a pre amp stage in the Volot, but that's because the Volot is not out in any finalized form yet. I wouldn't have the nerve to ask them if the Volot had already been released.

With that said, adding a pre-amp stage is not exactly a typical "mod" job, but I hope you understand what I am getting at.

well kennerton took a mod from a head fier for their gm50 and added his initials to it

if a mod is easy to do i see no reason why not, if the outcome is positive, unless they want to bank on it later on as an mk2

 

[ksorota]

well kennerton took a mod from a head fier for their gm50 and added his initials to it

if a mod is easy to do i see no reason why not, if the outcome is positive, unless they want to bank on it later on as an mk2

It would be very easy for Flux to do the mod, or in better terms to just install different capacitors from the start.

More a matter of the flexibility or willingness of them to do it.

It cannot hurt to ask, I talked to them about the first mod I did and they were willing to discuss the project without any qualms.

 

[sahmen]

You guys are probably right about the Flux-Lab folks being open to discussing the possibility of modding their already existing products... I wonder though what that would imply for the protocols of naming: Will the FA-10 rebuilt (or modded) with an entirely new, and different set of capacitors still be an FA-10 or will it be more appropriate to give it a different name? Sonically speaking, I think the mod produces enough of a delta between the original and modded versions for the latter to qualify as a different product.

Massdrop practices the neat trick of adding an "X" or "XX" to the names of the customized modded products they commission from the original manufacturers in order to signal such differences and deltas (e.g. Massdrop Liquid Carbon X, or Grace Design M9XX etc. etc). So will a caps modded FA-10 still remain an FA-10 in name? Maybe an FA-10 MK2 might do, but what do I know?

This is all above my pay grade anyway, and strikes me as something better left to those who know what they're talking about,..

************************

Well, since I am here, let me give a quick update on my auditioning of the modded FA-10.

Short version : More!

More ample, layered and delineated "headstage" = a wider, deeper, taller, and more spacious and layered soundstage. More separation and "air." Musical notes are distributed both inside and at various distances outside the perimeter of the "virtual" head, but there is a clearer sense of what is inside and what is outside it. Still the whole configuration also manages to sound very "organic" and "musical." The notes are clearly separate, clean, and crisp, and hence easy to analyze, but without necessarily sounding "analytical," if "analytical" means (as it often does on head-fi) uninvolving and dry, which what I am hearing is clearly not...

More "blackground" = blacker background, yes the kind in which you can hear the most subtle notes of percussive instruments, including even "pins" dropping if there are any in the recording. And also the other sound cues of the apparent performance venue, reverb in notes of the piano, etc etc. You also hear more decay on certain notes, open high hats, cymbals, and upright bass notes, but all in a good way without their straying into anything that sounds unnatural or excessive

More extension at both ends, and, of course, better imaging and texture in notes, which still sound full in the mids and low end, but cleaner...

I am sure am not saying everything, but if I remember something else, I shall update the post.

Now there is one notable area in which the "more" logic does not apply, which is that of "fatigue." However, the original non-modded FA-10 was already quite fatigue-free as I remember it, so it is probably better to say that "fatigue remains a non-issue" and be done with it...

Listening chain:

Optical module==>>Etherregen==>>Metrum Ambre (Roon bridge) ==>> Sonnet Morpheus ==>> FA-10==>>Susvara/LCD-4

A few sample tracks :

 

[manishex]

I've asked about modding caps, they said they may be able to do it for me but the build time will take longer and they don't believe it will make much difference. How it sounds now is fine lol.

 

[NickT23]

My guess is "no," but this is not because of how easy or hard the mod is. Personally, I would be hesitant to discuss any particular mod with the OEM of the equipment in question, especially after the unit has already already released. I did speak to the Flux rep on Facebook about the possibility of their including a pre amp stage in the Volot, but that's because the Volot is not out in any finalized form yet. I wouldn't have the nerve to ask them if the Volot had already been released.

With that said, adding a pre-amp stage is not exactly a typical "mod" job, but I hope you understand what I am getting at.

Hello, do you think the Volot design will be somewhat part of the mod of the FA-10 but better ?

 

[manishex]

Hello, do you think the Volot design will be somewhat part of the mod of the FA-10 but better ?

It seems that the Volot will be a dual mono fa-10, perhaps with better components since it will be 3-4x more expensive.

 

[NickT23]

It seems that the Volot will be a dual mono fa-10, perhaps with better components since it will be 3-4x more expensive.

Am very nervous to be honest. Wonder how much difference will it be improve from FA-10 as well as FA-10 modded.

 

[Slim1970]

I've asked about modding caps, they said they may be able to do it for me but the build time will take longer and they don't believe it will make much difference. How it sounds now is fine lol.

I would say that there is a difference in sound. A factory mod would just use different capacitors with similar specs as the original and the resulting sound probably would be the same or very similar to the original. Then there's the "enthusiast" mod that @sahmen and I have, which @ksorota used the biggest capacitors that could fit on the PCB board resulting in a vastly noticeable change in sound as outline in @sahmen and my posts. The modded FA-10 is probably the best single ended amp I've heard.

The Volot is going to be a dual mono design based on the unmodded FA-10. I can't say with 100% certainty that the modded FA-10 will compete with the Volot, but boy would I love to them side by side. As of right now, the modded FA-10 sits at the top in my current setup. I've never heard anything like to be honest. The modded FA-10 has finesse, authority, superb dynamics, clarity, spaciousness, and air. All of those attributes are improvement on the original's sound. What's fansinating is the modded FA-10 is still to maintain it musicality despite gaining undergoing such modest internal changes.

I do have a couple of amps headed my way to compare. My Violectric V281 will be here this week. It's a balanced design that @teknorob23 and @sahmen already have. Both have commented briefly on the sound of the two. I'll also have a XI Audio Formula S coming my way next month. It's a dual mono design much like the Volot will that could very well top the the FA-10 and V281 sound wise, but that is to be determined. Either way, it'll be a fun comparison with what I hope will be three distinctive sound signatures. So they all could be keepers

 

[sahmen]

Am very nervous to be honest. Wonder how much difference will it be improve from FA-10 as well as FA-10 modded.

As @manishex has mentioned, the Volot is going to be a dual mono version of the FA-10, most likely sporting an internally balanced topology. If it does come with a good pre amp stage, as the Flux Lab rep on Facebook promised it might, that would make it quite appealing for me, although like @Slim1970 , I would also like to know how it stacks up against the modded FA-10, and what the modding might do for it as well.

 

[Lohb]

Can anyone recommend a sub-$1500 R2R that pairs with FA-10 going out to planars ?

 

[manishex]

Can anyone recommend a sub-$1500 R2R that pairs with FA-10 going out to planars ?

I use the musician pegasus to good effect, many people seem happy with the Denafrips ares 2. What headphones do you have because fa-10 + r2r will give you a very relaxed treble response.

I set my dac to NOS and oversample to 768khz on hqplayer which gives me back all the OS detail but with a wider soundstage and smoother tonality.