[all2ofme]

It appears there's an easy answer for Bonesy

(Meant kindly! Would love to hear the EF 1000 one day.)

 

[thecrow]

How about we start a thread discussing starting a thread about where we discuss amps that drive the susvara well.

personally i feel that most of us who have been regulars on this thread and/or own the susvaras and have tried an amp or two have a good general idea of which amps work well from our own experiences and discussions here. Consensus means something!!

those that are new and don’t read a lot of this thread will still be curious about cheaper options being viable and will find members whose views (right or wrong, i say diplomatically) line up with that idea of a budget option. And these discussions of what amps drive the susvara WELL will just keep repeating.

IMHO an additional thread will not change anything except take a little bit of traffic off this one.
i’m not a big fan of two threads as i prefer one thread discussion on each headphone.

but hey, i am just one voice and if you want, go for it

when i was lining up to buy the susvaras a couple of years ago I kept reading that the a90 (or even the soundaware P1) would be good enough for the susvaras but digging just a little bit deeper and (importantly) not being TOO restricted in budget i pretty much came to the conclusion that it was best for me to look for a more powerful and/or better quality amp to drive the susvaras appropriately.



another long winded post in this long winded thread

and just my 2c
cheers
peter t

 

[superjohny]

I have owned many different headphone amps and also listened it through my Naim XS2 speaker amp previously. As mentioned I know very well how Susvara sounds when fully driven so I understand it needs high quality amplification instead of just output. The Fostex HP-V8 uses a pair of 300B as driver tubes and despite the output was tuned very conservatively to 2W only, it drives the Susvara fully and up to my entire satisfaction that I do not feel any need to seek further.

i would partially agree with you because i do have heard a cable maker friend commenting accuphase dont have a lot of power on paper but drives speaker with authority. maybe its down to build and implementation.
but i am still very surprised that i am double amping ssusvara with Cayin N8 dap headphone out to audio gd master 2A, which is a 150W class A mono block with first 100w pure class A(whatever how they call it).even with this power mono, i still have to set volume at 70/100 on the DAPto reach my normal hearing level.

 

[sahmen]

Loudness does not amount to quality of performance, and that is true of the Susvara amp-pairings, as it is of many others. However, I think to "loudness," one should also add "power" if that is understood merely as a high quantity of wattage, an idea which seems to drive the often indiscriminate fetishism of "speaker amps" (understood generically) that one often runs into in this forum--as if speaker amps, as such, constitute an unqualified good.

Some speaker amps may shine with the Susvara, but my point is that the idea that "speaker amps" as such are necessarily better for the Susvara simply because of their raw wattage should never be taken at face value, although the idea is repeated on this thread so often that it is bound to mislead a few newbie visitors by planting the wrong idea in their minds and sending them on a wild goose chase which might not only be disappointing, but also very costly depending on who that newbie might be.

I think what needs to be stressed about any amp-pairing is synergy, and that depends, among other things, on the "implementation" of the amp in question, as well as how it is tuned. It is also important not to forget the importance of other components in the chain such as DACs (which hardly ever get mentioned in these debates), although I am sure many would agree that a DAC makes a huge difference in determining the nature of the final sonic product coming out of any rig.

With that said, I agree that a list of competent and time-tested headamps and speaker amps that have a reliable record of synergizing well with the Susvara would be a good starting point, if one is included in the first post of this forum...

Maybe one should add to the list a statement printed in in bold that Loudness or mere quantity of wattage are not to be necessarily equated or confused with superior sound quality or optimized performance in Susvara amp-pairings.... or something to that effect...

 

[Spawn300Z]

Genuinely curious about the reason for the IESL in the chain

I’m going to get an E-Stat. Just trying to figure out which one. This particular energizer plays well with everything.

 

[goldwerger]

Voltage gives the volume, amperage gives the current needed. It’s not hard to reach high volume, but the sound can be thin (or even clip on the extreme) if there isn’t enough current.

The reason speaker amps are often (though definitely not exclusively) used with Susvara is that they are typically built to drive 4 or 8 ohm speakers (2-16 on the extreme) and therefore have large power supply to meet that low impedance. The Wattage is the result, but it’s the current supply component that’s key.

Agree with all, synergy is key, which in the end is always subjective. Best advice I’d give anyone is to simply copy 8-10 of the most popular amp pairings and just try to demo 1-2 of them..

 

[number1sixerfan]

Wouldn’t a separate Susvara amp thread be useful? Leaving this one to be more of an impressions / experience thread.

The problem is they’d no doubt overlap at some point.

I think one of the hardest things to understand as a new owner is that there seems to be no formula. For most headphones, you can do some simple math and make sure it’s adequately powered, and from there decide on tube or SS followed by additional functions. There will still be a case of synergy, but it seems far easier to navigate.

The Susvara and suitable amps has this myth-like status about it. The advice from all over the internet seems to vary wildly, too. Some say you don’t need powerful amps at all, just so long as it is capable on paper. Others say you need speaker amps. Then that watts can be different depending on the amp. The HA-300mk2 puts out 2400mw at medium impedance, and it seems to be a recommended amp, but other users will say you can’t get away with anything less than 10W regardless of amp.

I know it boils down to gaining your own experience with a variety of amps, but for many that’s a difficult task for one reason or another. So we turn to the forums, but then regular users get bombarded with the same questions every two pages. The advice usually contradicts other bits of advice offered elsewhere on the thread, and so you end up wanting to ask more questions.

I totally get why it’s frustrating for both parties, as there’s no easy answer for the questions.

How about we start a thread discussing starting a thread about where we discuss amps that drive the susvara well.

personally i feel that most of us who have been regulars on this thread and/or own the susvaras and have tried an amp or two have a good general idea of which amps work well from our own experiences and discussions here. Consensus means something!!

those that are new and don’t read a lot of this thread will still be curious about cheaper options being viable and will find members whose views (right or wrong, i say diplomatically) line up with that idea of a budget option. And these discussions of what amps drive the susvara WELL will just keep repeating.

IMHO an additional thread will not change anything except take a little bit of traffic off this one.
i’m not a big fan of two threads as i prefer one thread discussion on each headphone.

but hey, i am just one voice and if you want, go for it

when i was lining up to buy the susvaras a couple of years ago I kept reading that the a90 (or even the soundaware P1) would be good enough for the susvaras but digging just a little bit deeper and (importantly) not being TOO restricted in budget i pretty much came to the conclusion that it was best for me to look for a more powerful and/or better quality amp to drive the susvaras appropriately.



another long winded post in this long winded thread

and just my 2c
cheers
peter t

I do get the preference of just one thread. But I do think separate threads have worked for the HD800 and were probably split for the same reasons. May be worth at least trying. But personally, I'm here for trying any of the solutions mentioned.

 

[Gavin C4]

Maybe one should add to the list a statement printed in in bold that Loudness or mere quantity of wattage are not to be necessarily equated or confused with superior sound quality or optimized performance in Susvara amp-pairings.... or something to that effect...

this statement, basically sums up the entire thread, or at least 50% of the discussion. Thumbs up. This is pure essence.

 

[paradoxper]

this statement, basically sums up the entire thread, or at least 50% of the discussion. Thumbs up. This is pure essence.

It's been like this since the dawn. Same circular ignorance with the Amps for HE-6 thread. Ain't gonna change.

 

[Sajid Amit]

this statement, basically sums up the entire thread, or at least 50% of the discussion. Thumbs up. This is pure essence.

Lol. Indeed.

 

[Gavin C4]

I personally actually really appreciate the balanced signature of the Susvara, even though it does not has the most dynamic or Slammy bass in the world, as directly compared to Utopia or 1266 tc. I personally enjoy vocals the most, no matter for slower and lusher jazz vocals, or faster and lighter pop music. The Susvara for me is a plug-and-play solution and will sound good for most music. Much less fiddling for me compared to 1266 TC, I had to add too much flavoring to the 1266 TC chain to make it suitable for my preference.

 

[bluecar]

+1 on the summary thread idea. Otherwise, the industry is doomed ......."Susvara needs a speaker amp, Focal Utopia drivers will always break, 1266 is too heavy/fiddly/ugly, HD800 is too bright, LCD5 is too dark....etc etc"......if we beleive everything we read , nobody would ever buy TOTL cans......

Personally, my Bartok drives the Susvara entirely to my taste. I may get an OOR/Hypsos combo, but that's becasue I like tinkering, not becasue my DCS 'can't' drive my Susvara. Equally, I feckin hate how the Utopia sounds with the Bartok, so another amp (US 5) is going in between them, or maybe a tube amp (FeliksAudio, incoming...)

IF we do it, a pinned table would be a good reference for new and existing Headfi'ers.

 

[vsg28]

Just received email that the stand will not be for sale.

Hi, that's because customer service wasn't aware of my plans in motion at the time lol. The stands are now available for purchase for $99, anyone interested needs to contact HIFIMAN customer service to arrange for a purchase for the current batch of stands already ready before more are made for a wider sale in the short-term future. I wish it was less than $99 but I have nothing to do with it beyond pushing them to sell these separarately.

 

[ZzZzZzZ]

Hi, that's because customer service wasn't aware of my plans in motion at the time lol. The stands are now available for purchase for $99, anyone interested needs to contact HIFIMAN customer service to arrange for a purchase.

So, that's why we all bow down for the "SIR GUY IN HEAD-FI"

 

[Spawn300Z]

Hi, that's because customer service wasn't aware of my plans in motion at the time lol. The stands are now available for purchase for $99, anyone interested needs to contact HIFIMAN customer service to arrange for a purchase for the current batch of stands already ready before more are made for a wider sale in the short-term future. I wish it was less than $99 but I have nothing to do beyond pushing them to sell these separarately.

Do they have a product sku or name we should use.