These are great. I had briefly. I landed on the B&W 805D in walnut to keep, but demo'd them both for about a month. Can't go wrong with either. The B&Ws had a little more midrange / upper mid clarity and an incredibly realistic timbre. It's an object I know I will keep for the rest of my life, which is very cool.
AHB2 - super transparent power amp -makes Sus sing with any of these amps as a pre-amp. Perfect tonality from the pre-amp stage rendered with the monster power to drive Sus. No change to the pre-amp tonality.
Just couldn't get happy with Susvara w/o the huge watts per channel power. Just MHO. It'll give you all the bass you want, as long as you feed it all the bass you can in the pre-amp stage.
Curious about your chain. Did you put the iFi iCan > WA22 > AHB2 and control based on iCan or WA22 or is the WA22 your pre > AHB2 without iFi iCan in the chain or do you flip between the two.
Was curious how you set these up, if RCA or XLR to AHB2.
This site, created by Torq, has some very useful calculators and has data from various headphones and popular amps built-in. https://www.headphoneresource.com/
Keep in mind, you do want some headroom available in your amp so it does not distort.
Also, dynamic range of the music can play a role. A lot of music doesnt have much, but some classical music can have swings of +/-20dB SPL
His point was that there are transients that can hit much higher in db level even though the average sound level you use may be 80db or so. So he was advocating to use 110 db if you listen at an average db level of 85. You will still only adjust the volume to the db level you are comfortable with and that will also not be dangerous to your hearing.
Using the calculator I get 500 mw for the Susvara. However that changes dramatically should you need the transients to be much louder.
110 db for transients: 500mw - .09 amps
115 db for transients: 1.58watts - .16 amps
120db for transients: 5 watts - .29 amps.
I usually listen at an average db level of high 70’s low 80’s , so I am typically fine. Someone (with hearing loss perhaps) that needs to turn up the volume will need watts as the calculator shows.
He also makes the point that the quality of the power is very important. If an amp produces 5 watts but at 1%or greater distortion vs an amp that produces 3 watts at .01% distortion the likelihood is the lower wattage amp may sound better.
His point was that there are transients that can hit much higher in db level even though the average sound level you use may be 80db or so. So he was advocating to use 110 db if you listen at an average db level of 85. You will still only adjust the volume to the db level you are comfortable with and that will also not be dangerous to your hearing.
Using the calculator I get 500 mw for the Susvara. However that changes dramatically should you need the transients to be much louder.
110 db for transients: 500mw - .09 amps
115 db for transients: 1.58watts - .16 amps
120db for transients: 5 watts - .29 amps.
I usually listen at an average db level of high 70’s low 80’s , so I am typically fine. Someone (with hearing loss perhaps) that needs to turn up the volume will need watts as the calculator shows.
He also makes the point that the quality of the power is very important. If an amp produces 5 watts but at 1%or greater distortion vs an amp that produces 3 watts at .01% distortion the likelihood is the lower wattage amp may sound better.
Agree I found it a very useful YT video, though I am not sure where to find the kind of THD x output power charts that he shows in the video when considering a new amp, to indicate the degree of distortion that occurs at higher power levels— it would be good if every amp maker that purports to ‘drive the Susvara well’ produced one of those!
His point was that there are transients that can hit much higher in db level even though the average sound level you use may be 80db or so. So he was advocating to use 110 db if you listen at an average db level of 85. You will still only adjust the volume to the db level you are comfortable with and that will also not be dangerous to your hearing.
Using the calculator I get 500 mw for the Susvara. However that changes dramatically should you need the transients to be much louder.
110 db for transients: 500mw - .09 amps
115 db for transients: 1.58watts - .16 amps
120db for transients: 5 watts - .29 amps.
I usually listen at an average db level of high 70’s low 80’s , so I am typically fine. Someone (with hearing loss perhaps) that needs to turn up the volume will need watts as the calculator shows.
He also makes the point that the quality of the power is very important. If an amp produces 5 watts but at 1%or greater distortion vs an amp that produces 3 watts at .01% distortion the likelihood is the lower wattage amp may sound better.
What you said assume 35DR playback... Something that doesn't exist. Hardly does most tracks go over 10DR. Most of Hans Zimmer's popular stuff is around 10DR so that's just hit 95dB...in reality it's just going to be 90dB.
not necessarily my formula s/powerman does a fantastic job with my abyss tc and its power rating Is modest...on balance I do agree however that susvara needs power
His point was that there are transients that can hit much higher in db level even though the average sound level you use may be 80db or so. So he was advocating to use 110 db if you listen at an average db level of 85. You will still only adjust the volume to the db level you are comfortable with and that will also not be dangerous to your hearing.
Using the calculator I get 500 mw for the Susvara. However that changes dramatically should you need the transients to be much louder.
110 db for transients: 500mw - .09 amps
115 db for transients: 1.58watts - .16 amps
120db for transients: 5 watts - .29 amps.
I usually listen at an average db level of high 70’s low 80’s , so I am typically fine. Someone (with hearing loss perhaps) that needs to turn up the volume will need watts as the calculator shows.
He also makes the point that the quality of the power is very important. If an amp produces 5 watts but at 1%or greater distortion vs an amp that produces 3 watts at .01% distortion the likelihood is the lower wattage amp may sound better.
the ability to play loud has absolutely to do with how an amp sounds with the susvara..I do not understand why people referring to this silly discussion...while it is true that lower powered amps can sound better than higher powered amps for sure the ability to play loud is not an indication of the quality of an amp
Curious about your chain. Did you put the iFi iCan > WA22 > AHB2 and control based on iCan or WA22 or is the WA22 your pre > AHB2 without iFi iCan in the chain or do you flip between the two.
Was curious how you set these up, if RCA or XLR to AHB2.
I was using DAC>ICan>AHB2. Then ICan crapped out on me and is under repair. So now DAC>WA22 as preamp (through the headphone outputs) >AHB2.
At the end of the day, I'm going to have optionality re pre-amps as you suggest via splitter cables. Either Woo or ICan controlling. Woo is a lovely sound, but ICan produces a little more punch with its Max Bass feature. Pondering whether to chain DAC>Woo>ICan>AHB2. Seems crazy, but all these products are very quiet and transparent, so perhaps no downside.
All cabling is XLR.
But, as another reader suggested, you gotta be careful with AHB2. I practically blew my ears off putting together this new configuration. Forgot to turn the volume down on the Woo as pre-amp.
Speaker amp makes Susvara really sing. Some pushback on this thread, but one hears notes and details you didn't even know were there.
I was using DAC>ICan>AHB2. Then ICan crapped out on me and is under repair. So now DAC>WA22 as preamp (through the headphone outputs) >AHB2.
At the end of the day, I'm going to have optionality re pre-amps as you suggest via splitter cables. Either Woo or ICan controlling. Woo is a lovely sound, but ICan produces a little more punch with its Max Bass feature.
All cabling is XLR.
But, as another reader suggested, you gotta be careful with AHB2. I practically blew my ears off putting together this new configuration. Forgot to turn the volume down on the Woo as pre-amp.
Jeez, mate you just got a string of bad luck don't you? lol
Hope when you got all that sorted out, you're back to happy times.
I was just curious what your WA22 was doing if there was an iCan but makes sense you're just swapping between the two and using the HD800 w/ WA22 when not used in the AHB2 chain.
I was just curious what your WA22 was doing if there was an iCan but makes sense you're just swapping between the two and using the HD800 w/ WA22 when not used in the AHB2 chain.
Those look correct. However many people here do not believe in engineering principles or science in general and prefer to base electrical requirements on feeling and their ears. So YMMV I suppose.
What you said assume 35DR playback... Something that doesn't exist. Hardly does most tracks go over 10DR. Most of Hans Zimmer's popular stuff is around 10DR so that's just hit 95dB...in reality it's just going to be 90dB.
Good point. Though I have read that some of Zimmer’s stuff goes up to 16 DNR. However other music can have a higher DNR:
A study of dynamic range in different musical styles conducted in 2016 revealed that dynamic ranges in jazz generally varied from 13 dB to 23 dB.
As a group, classical recordings have the widest dynamic range of any genre. The same study cited above found that recorded classical music typically offers between about 20 dB and 32 dB of dynamic range. While that might seem like a lot, it’s still quite a bit smaller than that of a live symphony orchestra performance, which can be as large as 90 dB.
Just for better understanding, what you mean by DNR, is it diff between lowest signal and highest signal on the track or diff between average signal of the track to highest signal on the track?
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