[tjkohli]

Double post but — if you do recommend a good DAC/Amp under $500 that can drive Susvara better than the TT2 alone (or possibly just an amp that sits in front of the TT2) please feel free to share.

 

[theveterans]

Double post but — if you do recommend a good DAC/Amp under $500 that can drive Susvara better than the TT2 alone (or possibly just an amp that sits in front of the TT2) please feel free to share.

$500 for an amp is not enough for even 80% of Sus theoretical potential. I'd go for OOR+Hypsos at bare minimum.

 

[psy472]

Double post but — if you do recommend a good DAC/Amp under $500 that can drive Susvara better than the TT2 alone (or possibly just an amp that sits in front of the TT2) please feel free to share.

You are asking for an amp/dac that is 1/10 the price of the TT2 and drive it just as good? When you find a goose that poops gold let me know.

 

[theveterans]

You are asking for an amp/dac that is 1/10 the price of the TT2 and drive it just as good?

TT2 doesn't give the Susvara big and bold sound, but is incredibly resolving though. Needs at least a Zhal HM1 to not bottleneck TT2's resolution

 

[tjkohli]

You are asking for an amp/dac that is 1/10 the price of the TT2 and drive it just as good? When you find a goose that poops gold let me know.

I deserve this comment! But I know what I'm asking — and it's because I have literally no more money for audio right now lol

 

[theveterans]

I deserve this comment! But I know what I'm asking — and it's because I have literally no more money for audio right now lol

You'll actually get a much better sound with lower Hifiman headphones the likes of Arya Stealth/Organic out of the TT2 than a Susvara lol

 

[Exekuhtor]

Maybe a Rebelamp, it sounds quite good. No idea if it's better than what you have...
Next time get an HEKv2 / HEKSE variant because they need way less power and are both top tier headphones.
Susvara won't sound bad, ever, but you won't get the most out of it until you go for the big tube OTC amps.

 

[BassicScience]

Double post but — if you do recommend a good DAC/Amp under $500 that can drive Susvara better than the TT2 alone (or possibly just an amp that sits in front of the TT2) please feel free to share.

At or near that price point, you'd probably be best off looking for a used speaker amp to insert between the TT2 and Susvara. I'm partial to class D amps using Hypex nCore modules, as they are compact, efficient (cool-running), powerful, and offer SOTA performance. Amps using the newer Purifi modules are even a bit better, but probably outside your budget. Note that these amps don't really have "a sound". You'll basically hear whatever is upstream of them, for better or worse, but the extra power will typically give you better bass and dynamics, a bigger soundstage, and more apparent resolution... in my experience.

 

[psy472]

The point of the Susvara is to squeeze every ability you can get out of the headphone using your amp/dac. For me I kept my budget below 5K so I got the Yggy GS2 DAC and the flux mentor x 2. I was able to get the high resolution, lower frequency details, and extra large soundstage. I love how my Mentor creates a large contrasts of sounds between music and dead black background. Anymore than this requires at least 15K worth of gear.

Well if you really really had to keep it below 500 USD, then get the Schiit Jot 2. After getting the Yggy DAC, I realized how underutilized the Jot 2 was. It shined with a better DAC. You can like try it and return to Schiit if you don’t like it. I takes preamp very well.

 

[tjkohli]

You guys confirmed my worst fears — that a Susvara is not a $5K investment, but a $20K one.

 

[psy472]

You guys confirmed my worst fears — that a Susvara is not a $5K investment, but a $20K one.

You don’t mean 108K? There was that heavy as heck tube amp at CanJam.

 

[csward]

A $5k cable off a $6k pair of headphone is kinda crazy though. I mean, I've had $18K headphones at one point, so whatever, but, it's still extravagant. Off the first 15 minutes, I dunno if it's worth the extra $1k over the Nirvana, but more time will tell. The bass does appear to be a little better though, which people would probably like. I need to listen to something other than the new Future though. Waxahatchee tomorrow though. I look forward to hearing these off my TCs too. Hopefully they can bring out some more midrange (a big complaint of the TCs).

If I was to buy these, I'd get the adaptor from Sean for sure. If I had to start all over again with my cables, I'd get the Voila over the Nirvana

(also, I can judge headphones and cables real quick, for those that might be wondering. I don't have perfect hearing, but I can distinguish differences very easily).

Could you elaborate on the make and name of the adaptor, please? Seems a good solution with such an expensive cable.

 

[up late]

You guys confirmed my worst fears — that a Susvara is not a $5K investment, but a $20K one.

this hobby is supposed to be enjoyable so don't be disheartened by what you're reading here. you could look into amps from topping and smsl that have ample power to drive the susvara and may not exceed your budget too much. i think they're worth considering as a possible short term option at least.

 

[alxw0w]

Needs at least a Zhal HM1 to not bottleneck TT2's resolution

Interesting

 

[walterboss]

You guys confirmed my worst fears — that a Susvara is not a $5K investment, but a $20K one.

I think about $12k (£9k) is doable. And that's a Chord Dave and Feliks Envy.
You could get a Holo May for $3k, or a Spring for $2.5k
And you could drive Susvara very nicely from a Cayin ha300mk2 which would be about $1k less than an Envy.
You need to quite active on Classifieds searching though to make it happen. The great buys go fast.