[beemerphile]

You are in the right direction. One thing is watts and another is amperes (current). You can have high watts output with low current and the amplifier is going to struggle with difficult loads.

Neither you nor the amplifier have independent control over the relationship between amps (current) and watts (power). They are related by a formula. Assuming for simplicity that your headphones represent a constant resistive load (which the Susvara largely does), then the missing link is the voltage provided by the amp. Given the nominal 60 ohm impedance of the Susvara, to put 5 watts through the phone would require 0.29 amps. To deliver .29 amps to a 60 ohm load the amplifier would have to develop 17.2 volts. For any other power level you want to consider, there is only a single voltage and current combination that would supply the power, given the 60 ohm load that is not yours to control. The only thing that puts current through a load is voltage. Power is voltage times current.

 

[yolosauce]

The gangs all here! Probably time to buy a headphone stand..

 

[yolosauce]

Quick follow up. Using the susvara with my severely under-powered el amp 2 I can say these sound better than the he1000se and verite. Crazy to think what a stronger a amp will do.

 

[Focux]

Quick follow up. Using the susvara with my severely under-powered el amp 2 I can say these sound better than the he1000se and verite. Crazy to think what a stronger a amp will do.

pls don’t tempt me to upgrade from HEKSE..

 

[yolosauce]

pls don’t tempt me to upgrade from HEKSE..

The detail and comfort is incredible. The SE has more bass but I attribute that to my susvara being way underpowered. The el amp 2 is basically a jds atom with a better knob lol.

 

[llamaluv]

Ok so I've just spent the past few hours with the susvara. Using the wa22 and gsx mini as pre amps and ahb2 + speaker taps.

Am I missing something? Because I seem to prefer the sound from the headphone out directly, over the power amp speaker taps option.

Direct from the wa22/mini, sounds like I'm getting similar dynamics, but with an overall weightier, thicker and warmer sound which is quite nice, as opposed to a bit leaner but more distinct/cleaner sound from the AHB2.

Or is it just the sound from the AHB2? Maybe try other speaker amps? Or is this a lesson in futility and I should just get a wa33 and call it a day....?

You already know the sound character of the WA22 compared to the AHB2, so naturally, those characteristics and differences will carry over to the Susvara or any other headphone (or other transducer) that you power it with. The AHB2 (and HPA4) is extra-clean and lean even compared to other solid state amps and is pretty much the antithesis to a tubey-tube amp.

Speaking only for myself, for the longest I let the fact that a speaker amp has moar power than a typical headphone amp overly shape my expectations with the Susvara in terms of dynamics and other characteristics, too. This undoubtedly also colored my impressions. I no longer think it's that cut-and-dried so much.

The WA33 with its 2A3's has a very clean sound for a tube amp and is generally just-barely-warmer than neutral. Again on the power question, despite the fact that it has (low-power) speaker-amp levels of power, IMO its dynamics are great but not hugely different from some other headphone tube amps, nor is its soundstage size. I liked it a lot when I had it, but never loved it, so ended up selling it in order to experiment with other things. But that's just me (like literally, it almost seems like it is just me, as so few people seem to do this, lol).

 

[Focux]

The detail and comfort is incredible. The SE has more bass but I attribute that to my susvara being way underpowered. The el amp 2 is basically a jds atom with a better knob lol.

I have a space constraint, are there any compact enough amps which drive the Susvara well?

optimal 24W into 8ohm not necessary*

 

[yolosauce]

I have a space constraint, are there any compact enough amps which drive the Susvara well?

optimal 24W into 8ohm not necessary*

I ordered a asgard 3 and it should arrive next week. Based on specs small amps like sp200 and topping a90 have the power. I wouldn't consider the asgard 3 a small amp but it's small in comparison to the other giants i've seen posted here.

edit:I talked to a schiit rep and he said the asgard 3 puts out 2.5w into 60ohms

 

[Focux]

I ordered a asgard 3 and it should arrive next week. Based on specs small amps like sp200 and topping a90 have the power. I wouldn't consider the asgard 3 a small amp but it's small in comparison to the other giants i've seen posted here.

edit:I talked to a schiit rep and he said the asgard 3 puts out 2.5w into 60ohms

i'm sure those 2 produce enough power on paper but feedback isn't the best with regards to susvara pairing i think?

as for schiit, rag 2 seems good!

 

[jlbrach]

It's the standard, the JPS version does seem like a solid deal since it includes the tube upgrades. I do still use HPA4 to A/B for fun, but mainly listening to WA33 now.



I did, it's an amazing SS amp but I wanted to try some tubes.

and how do you like the susvara with tubes ?

 

[koven]

The WA33 with its 2A3's has a very clean sound for a tube amp and is generally just-barely-warmer than neutral. Again on the power question, despite the fact that it has (low-power) speaker-amp levels of power, IMO its dynamics are great but not hugely different from some other headphone tube amps, nor is its soundstage size. I liked it a lot when I had it, but never loved it, so ended up selling it in order to experiment with other things. But that's just me (like literally, it almost seems like it is just me, as so few people seem to do this, lol).

It's funny because the fact that you sold your WA33 last year made me hesitate on WA33 for the longest time, but alas, curiosity finally overwhelmed me. Did you have the KR tube upgrades on yours? If not, I wonder if that would have taken your 'like' to 'love' as most impressions I've read think it's a dramatic improvement.

and how do you like the susvara with tubes ?

I think it pairs great w/ Susvara. I agree w/ @llamaluv that WA33 seems only slightly north of neutral, more like a warm SS as opposed to more gooey OTL or SET tube amps. The bass and stage is remarkable on the WA33. I think overall similar to the Bakoon signature but maybe a touch richer across the board.

 

[musicman59]

I have a space constraint, are there any compact enough amps which drive the Susvara well?

optimal 24W into 8ohm not necessary*

If you have space constraint look at the Wells Audio Milo.

 

[llamaluv]

It's funny because the fact that you sold your WA33 last year made me hesitate on WA33 for the longest time, but alas, curiosity finally overwhelmed me. Did you have the KR tube upgrades on yours? If not, I wonder if that would have taken your 'like' to 'love' as most impressions I've read think it's a dramatic improvement.

I only had the EML Mesh 2A3s in there (as you know since you bought them from me for another amp heh) and could never bear to part with the dough for a quad of KRs.

I will say though a certain pal who's on here... His WA33 (using EML solid plates + Holo Spring L3) sounds really great, better than I remember mine ever sounding. I think my particular power quality situation -- living in a high-rise in the middle of the city -- drags my system down too much until late into the evening. This is very tragic for me, but a separate topic.

 

[lithiumnk]

I only had the EML Mesh 2A3s in there (as you know since you bought them from me for another amp heh) and could never bear to part with the dough for a quad of KRs.

I will say though a certain pal who's on here... His WA33 (using EML solid plates + Holo Spring L3) sounds really great, better than I remember mine ever sounding. I think my particular power quality situation -- living in a high-rise in the middle of the city -- drags my system down too much until late into the evening. This is very tragic for me, but a separate topic.

Do you still have p12 power regenerator? I was under the impression that p12 solves all the power related issues. Do you think is it worth spending 5k$?

 

[llamaluv]

Do you still have p12 power regenerator? I was under the impression that p12 solves all the power related issues. Do you think is it worth spending 5k$?

Argh, I find that the PS Audio P12 most decidedly does not make my system impervious to power quality issues, and my system still sounds hugely better at 1AM compared to the middle of the evening on a weekday.

I get improvements with qualities like clarity and separation compared to going straight from the wall, and it's also a noticeable improvement over the P3 I used to own. I got it used at half of list price, and it's nice that the warranty follows the device, not the original owner, but even at that price, its value to me is right on the edge of being not-quite worth it.