[BassicScience]

I purchased and received a Benchmark HPA4 a few days ago as a potential "hot weather" complement to my Audio Research Ref 6 SE preamp, which runs rather hot (we have no A/C at our SF Bay Area house). I'll have much more to say about the HPA4 in the next few weeks, but I wanted to briefly share an experience I had for those worried about driving Susvara with a powerful speaker amp.

I quickly discovered that using the HPA4 as a preamp into my NAD M22 V2 amp was clearly superior to driving the Susvara from the HPA4's (4-pin) headphone jack. This was not a comparison that required me to wonder whether I was really hearing a difference. Anyway, after listening to the HPA4/NAD combo over a range of music, and being very favorably impressed with it, I decided to go back to the original chain with the Ref 6 SE as the preamp. Because I wasn't paying enough attention, I inadvertently plugged the interconnects to the NAD into the Record Out jacks on the Ref 6, which do not attenuate the signal from the DAC!

Needless to say, when I hit Play, I nearly jumped out of my shoes (which is hard to do when sitting down!). My first instinct was to try to lower the volume, followed by hitting the mute button. When neither of these things worked, I quickly located my phone and hit Pause on the Roon app. All in all, the music was playing full volume through the headphones for at least five seconds, maybe ten. I'm glad to report that neither the headphones nor my ears appear to have sustained any damage. The other good news is I will never make that particular mistake again.

While I'm not sure whether a longer duration at full volume would have harmed the Susvara drivers, it is comforting to know that they can indeed withstand short duration abuse. FYI.

 

[iFi audio]

Or the Susvara a super HD650
and the Utopia a Super HD600.

I'd stick to the Utopia as a higher-tiered HD 800

 

[Pashmeister]

I purchased and received a Benchmark HPA4 a few days ago as a potential "hot weather" complement to my Audio Research Ref 6 SE preamp, which runs rather hot (we have no A/C at our SF Bay Area house). I'll have much more to say about the HPA4 in the next few weeks, but I wanted to briefly share an experience I had for those worried about driving Susvara with a powerful speaker amp.

I quickly discovered that using the HPA4 as a preamp into my NAD M22 V2 amp was clearly superior to driving the Susvara from the HPA4's (4-pin) headphone jack. This was not a comparison that required me to wonder whether I was really hearing a difference. Anyway, after listening to the HPA4/NAD combo over a range of music, and being very favorably impressed with it, I decided to go back to the original chain with the Ref 6 SE as the preamp. Because I wasn't paying enough attention, I inadvertently plugged the interconnects to the NAD into the Record Out jacks on the Ref 6, which do not attenuate the signal from the DAC!

Needless to say, when I hit Play, I nearly jumped out of my shoes (which is hard to do when sitting down!). My first instinct was to try to lower the volume, followed by hitting the mute button. When neither of these things worked, I quickly located my phone and hit Pause on the Roon app. All in all, the music was playing full volume through the headphones for at least five seconds, maybe ten. I'm glad to report that neither the headphones nor my ears appear to have sustained any damage. The other good news is I will never make that particular mistake again.

While I'm not sure whether a longer duration at full volume would have harmed the Susvara drivers, it is comforting to know that they can indeed withstand short duration abuse. FYI.

Thanks for sharing, this is a scary enough reminder for us to also avoid the same mistake.

 

[Pashmeister]

I purchased and received a Benchmark HPA4 a few days ago as a potential "hot weather" complement to my Audio Research Ref 6 SE preamp, which runs rather hot (we have no A/C at our SF Bay Area house). I'll have much more to say about the HPA4 in the next few weeks, but I wanted to briefly share an experience I had for those worried about driving Susvara with a powerful speaker amp.

Or the alternative — install an A/C (or a portable air cooler )

 

[thecrow]

1. What is the best amplifier for driving the Susvara?

Do these appear to be tough questions? Well, this particular forum was opened in June of 2017, and any discussion which has been going on for nearly 4 years ought normally and/ reasonably, to come up with some consensual answers to question one, at least a few times, so if the question still appears to be too difficult to answer (after 4 years of endless discussions), even for those with the deepest pockets, apparently, then who must carry the blame?

There is some consensual answers on a number of amps.

A number of amps have been mentioned many times that a number of people are impressed with and enjoy owning - no doubt you have read those posts and come across those views a number of times like we all have in this thread

 

[antdroid]

Received a loaner from headphones.com today of the Bakoon Amp-13R to try out with my headphones and also with speakers.

With Susvara as the main pairing, I wrote this as my initial 15 minutes impression vs my current Audiolab Integrated Amp I am using now:

Bakoon and Audiolab’s general tonal balance is quite similar, but Bakoon pulls out more resolution and depth out of nowhere. the treble is also sweeter, which is saying a lot because i think the audiolab is pretty sweet as is compared to other headphone amps ive tried.
Bakoon somehow is very resolving, and ultra smooth at the same time. yet brings out this interesting tactile sound to even the lightest cymbal hits. (this is based on listening to Bill Laurance and Go Go Penguin thus far)

I also tried listening to this with the Sennheiser HD600 and Hidition Viento CIEMs. My impressions with both are fantastic. Very smooth and highly resolving sound. Very natural, and effortless presentation that is spacious and detailed.

I also ran some squiggle magic to see if there was any Output Impedance changes, and there were none on both the HD600 (which can change with high impedance amps) and with the Viento CIEM which can change with small impedance changes. So that tells me this amp has very low impedance in the 1 ohm range if not less. One of the headphones.com folks, Netforce, found the impedance to be 0.4 Ohms through reading a review online that quoted the manufacturer.

I also ran a line level converter (car stereo thingie majiggy) to run speaker output to my powered monitors. I had to turn the gain down on the converter to almost 0 to reduce noise, but it sounds really solid with my IK Monitors.

The Bakoon Amp-13R has some little quirks which others like driftingbunnies has mentioned. The power button/volume knob on the unit itself is interesting. Its much easier to control with a remote.

Changing from low gain to high gain doesnt always set for me. Maybe I’m doing my combinations wrong, but it doesn’t always set, even though I think it does. Eventually Ill get it switched over.

Changing the volume does have a short mute-relay click each time you change it. There’s 50 steps, so that’s a lot of clicking. It does remember your volume level for each gain setting and input, which is really nice, but it does go through the volume clicking regime to get there.

Despite the little quirks, my initial reaction to this amp are really good. Sound-wise, this is fantastic.

 

[jlbrach]

the quirks are minor...once you set high or low gain it doesnt need any more fiddling....the clicking for me is a non issue....soundwise it is fabulous IMHO and it is a really nice looking unit that takes up almost no space

 

[mammal]

Changing the volume does have a short mute-relay click each time you change it. There’s 50 steps, so that’s a lot of clicking. It does remember your volume level for each gain setting and input, which is really nice, but it does go through the volume clicking regime to get there.

Thank you for pointing this out. As a person with certain neural condition, clicking sound drives me mad. Most reviewers never call out these relay clicks and when I purchase a device, I then need to return it / sell it for a loss. I was seriously considering Bakoon, but this is a no go for me. I know I am "weird" use case, but really thank you for telling me about this.

 

[Unichu]

I know that bakoon amp 13-r and holo may would be great for the Susvara. Would this combination also work well for some of my other headphones such as my hd800s?

 

[BassicScience]

Thank you for pointing this out. As a person with certain neural condition, clicking sound drives me mad. Most reviewers never call out these relay clicks and when I purchase a device, I then need to return it / sell it for a loss. I was seriously considering Bakoon, but this is a no go for me. I know I am "weird" use case, but really thank you for telling me about this.

Just a heads up then never to audition the Benchmark HPA4, as the volume control is the switching relay type. I'm auditioning one now, and while it's not an absolute deal breaker for me, it's definitely on the negative side of the ledger. Amazingly, there is no interruption of audio as the volume changes, just mechanical noise. FYI.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Just a heads up then never to audition the Benchmark HPA4, as the volume control is the switching relay type. I'm auditioning one now, and while it's not an absolute deal breaker for me, it's definitely on the negative side of the ledger. Amazingly, there is no interruption of audio as the volume changes, just mechanical noise. FYI.

I'm surprised that this Feature has Such negative Reception.
I really like relay attenuation and half if my gear uses it.

On the other hand I don't change my volume much.

 

[iFi audio]

Despite the little quirks, my initial reaction to this amp are really good. Sound-wise, this is fantastic.

After reading a fair bit about this amp, I'd try it with speakers as well.

 

[BassicScience]

I'm surprised that this Feature has Such negative Reception.
I really like relay attenuation and half if my gear uses it.

On the other hand I don't change my volume much.

Don't get me wrong, from a technological standpoint I think the Benchmark volume control is brilliant. However, I have very acute hearing and am bothered by even faint noises like a ticking clock or transformer hum in an otherwise silent room. Relay volume control mechanical noise is far more tolerable because it is not constant and you only really notice it when music isn't playing. Still, I'd prefer the Benchmark to be quieter when changing volume.

 

[mammal]

I'm surprised that this Feature has Such negative Reception.

Quotation from WebMD:

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.

Unfortunately, for me clicking sounds cause this.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Quotation from WebMD:

Unfortunately, for me clicking sounds cause this.

I'm sorry to hear that, must be unpleasant.
However I would think that Misophonia is incredibly rare, yet I read about the General dislike for those clicking noises a lot lately.

Both for relay volume attenuation as well as DAC circuitry changes when the Bitrate changes.