[Makiah S]

If you have a treated room yourself and not bothering anyone in the house, speakers are way better, and a 10k system is hell of a system already but it could always go much further than that

right! sadly the wife doesn't want speakers in the house so onward with headphones lol, here's top hoping the Susvara impress and maybe I'll luck out an win one lol

I'd love an upgrade to my HE 4 lol

 

[Edwood]

If they couldn't get the lettering correct, I can only imagine how poor the build quality is...

Although being from China, I would assume this is par for the course

Build quality is just fine, I've posted high res detailed photos, and the ONE thing people point out is the font for the BOX it somes in. And the made in China comment at this point is just racsist, as the vast majority of high tech toys are made in China now, including everyone's precious iPhones, which I almost never hear people claiming they're poorly made since they're made in China.

 

[Edwood]

If you have a treated room yourself and not bothering anyone in the house, speakers are way better, and a 10k system is hell of a system already but it could always go much further than that

Some of us live in very expensive small apartments or condos in congested cities where there is no way any amount of room treatments would allow the use of speakers.

 

[Energy]

I wonder how the SUSVARA will compare to the HE-1000V2, HE-500, and HE-6. I've had the pleasure of owning each for awhile.

One would assume that more time has to pass for them to burn in, in order for more exact impression to be given.

 

[beowulf]

Oh boy, the potential for entertainment in this thread is going to be massive.
/subscribes and grabs popcorn

 

[beowulf]

I'm not sure why the lettering is offset like that. Glad I'm not the only one that noticed it, but then again, the kerning of the fonts is less important than sound quality and the headphones themselves.

I noticed it too, even before reading the posts. Lettering alignment/machining is of course somewhat irrelevant. Still, given HFM's reputation in terms of build and reliability (I'm totally ignoring the sound aspect here) it is not surprising that people worry about materials/build.

In this particular example, I see a lack of attention to detail. I like attention to detail in little things, as they are often a good sign towards care with the rest of the product.

It might seem insignificant, but at such premium rates (this thing costs the same, or even slightly more than an MDR-R10 at launch, adjusted for inflation) the buyer will certainly expect A LOT of rigor in every aspect of the product. I'd expect a human looking at it and QC'ing it with some care, both in design and assembly, for a start.

Hopefully it is just an early production/sample issue, which would be clumsy, but understandable. And ignoring that, I would certainly like to have a listen and see if there's a reason to even dare going that high, considering the state of the art and what the top competitors are offering.

 

[thatonenoob]

Did you buy these headphones yourself by paying the full MSRP?

Sorry if I missed the post, but what is the answer to this?

 

[Canadian411]

Have you looked at the Woo website, the WA7 is Max output: approx 1 watt @ 32 ohms

Not enough for the Susvara, even 1.5w @ 32 ohms from a solid state is not enough.

You need a good 4w per channel really.

If you have a treated room yourself and not bothering anyone in the house, speakers are way better, and a 10k system is hell of a system already but it could always go much further than that

True, at one point I have to stop, seriously. I was even looking at the Focal Utopia Evo with some McIntosh Amps !, then I have to sell my house to get a bigger house for a dedicated listening room.
For now I stop here, I am happy with what I have.

 

[Whitigir]

I noticed it too even before reading the posts. Lettering is of course somewhat irrelevant. However, given HFM's reputation in terms of build and reliability (I'm totally ignoring the sound aspect here) it is not surprising that people worry about materials/build.

In this particular example, I see a lack of attention to detail. It might seem insignificant, but at such premium rates (This thing costs slightly more than the MDR-R10, adjusting for inflation) the buyer will certainly expect a lot of rigor in every aspect of the product. I'd expect a human looking at it and QC'ing it with some care, both in design and assembly.

Hopefully is just an early production/sample issue. And ignoring that, would certainly like to have a listen and see if there's a reason to even dare going that high considering the state of the art.

Production sample ? If it was, then the sound impression would be changed too....lol

The MDR-r10 is priced the way that it is now because it was built to last well in the 20-ish years.... sound quality aside

 

[Kramer01]

We're already beyond that. Electrostatic headphone and amp combinations far exceed $10K already, and I'm not even talking about the $55K Sennheiser is asking lately. Amp and Headphone synergy is important, buying 4 figure headphones and then powering them with an underperforming amp is doing the headphones a huge disservice. Electrostatic headphone and amp pricing combinations seem to be reversed from dynamic headphones. Headphones are cheaper than the amps.

I totally agree with the "Amp and Headphone synergy is important, buying 4 figure headphones and then powering them with an underperforming amp is doing the headphones a huge disservice" point. I've had exchanges with people regarding this on head-fi when they say that their LCD's or Sennheiser headphones are being driven properly by their portable setup.

I wasn't even thinking about electrostats when I wrote the comment, but here is my counter argument, HD800S + Yggy + V281 = $6000 and will the Susvara be hugely better than this combo NO.
Or
Aqua la scala MkII optologic + Pass labs HPA 1 + HD800S = 11800$ for less than twice the outlay you have a world class headphone system, and I can bet on this, for this price a similarly performing system cannot be built around the Susvara . My 2500$ comment wasn't aimed at the whole head-fi setup, its was just taking the cost of the headphone into the equation.

The low sensitivity of the Susvara means the majority of amps on the market will not be able to drive it and one will NEED to look at some low power high quality speaker amps.

 

[Kramer01]

Although being from China, I would assume this is par for the course

Oh come on this argument again...Apple products are manufactured in China and everyone harps on about their build quality. Questyle is from China and they have SOLID build quality, same applies for OPPO digital.

Someone wrote earlier in this thread that I can let Stax get away with the high price because it's made in Japan, well in the 70's "made in Japan" meant its junk. Among many shoppers the notion still persists that “Made in China” indicates—to put it bluntly—junk, but it's simply not case. It's not where its manufactured it's about how good the quality control is.

Need I remind everyone about the recent controversy about the Made in France Focal Utopia or Made in USA Audeze LCD-4.

 

[Whitigir]

I have no problems with my Utopia, and anyways Apple recent products suck.....since iPhone 5S, everything has gone down hill, and yes I had been using apple year after year. My iPad Pro 12.9 iPhone 7s colors are trash....I miss Steve job and his apples products

 

[Thenewguy007]

Please avoid comments like that, it's not constructive. Plenty of amazingly well built brands come out of China, such as Audio GD.

Name another company besides Audio GD.

I think Audi GD is an exception, The fact they have pictures of their workers & their workstations as if to sell they craftsmanship along with the product in their website.

edit:

Oh come on this argument again...Apple products are manufactured in China and everyone harps on about their build quality. Questyle is from China and they have SOLID build quality, same applies for OPPO digital.

I'll give you OPPO, never heard QC problems with them.

 

[thatonenoob]

Name another company besides Audio GD.

I think Audi GD is an exception, The fact they have pictures of their workers & their workstations as if to sell they craftsmanship along with the product in their website.

A decent number of products made in China come out fine? It's not that it's made in China, but who's making it in China.

 

[Makiah S]

A decent number of products made in China come out fine? It's not that it's made in China, but who's making it in China.

all of this, it's not where but who

Also, kinda happy/sad to see the return of Hifiman low sensitivity drivers, that doesn't limit the amp options, I always shy'd away from the HE 6 because I don't have the amp or budget for said amp to drive it