[isquirrel]

I would love a comparison between Stax 009 and hifiman susvara...

Planning on doing that this weekend

 

[Whitigir]

Woa....60 ohms and 83Db >.<.....it needs a superman lol

 

[Whitigir]

Planning on doing that this weekend

Nice! What are you running both out of ? Stax T1 amp for 009 and SusVara with GSX MKII?

 

[isquirrel]

Nice! What are you running both out of ? Stax T1 amp for 009 and SusVara with GSX MKII?

MSB Headphone Amp for the Stax and Woo 234's for the Susvara's, I know its not all SS or Valve but their performance is closer than you would think and anyway that's what I have ATM. I lent my DAVE out. I will try and get it back for the weekend.

 

[Thaudiophile]

Wish you had kgsshv carbon isquirrel, there is also a new mod for SR 009 that increases bass impact and soundstage.
Edit:I Didn't knew that Your estat amp was this good and would cost that much.

 

[DatPixel]

Having listened to the Focal Utopia with a Headamp GSX, I can't say that I agree with Currawong.I think the Utopia has very good, tight bass and beautiful midrange, but the high frequencies are constantly overemphasized. They sound metallic and disconnected, always becoming disturbing to the listening, because they are not cohesive with the rest of the spectrum, and end up sounding incorrect. My impression is that most of the details with the Utopia are dug up simply because of this overemphasis. We have seen this phenomenon several times through the years, with all typologies of headphones.

 

[Whitigir]

Having listened to the Focal Utopia with a Headamp GSX, I can't say that I agree with Currawong.I think the Utopia has very good, tight bass and beautiful midrange, but the high frequencies are constantly overemphasized. They sound metallic and disconnected, always becoming disturbing to the listening, because they are not cohesive with the rest of the spectrum, and end up sounding incorrect. My impression is that most of the details with the Utopia are dug up simply because of this overemphasis. We have seen this phenomenon several times through the years, with all typologies of headphones.

Stock cables ? Beside the cables, what is your DAC ? Interconnect cables ?

 

[antonyfirst]

Been listening to the Susvara for a couple of weeks with a Violectric V281 and my custom Weiliang/Museatex DAC. The Violectric is a very smooth amplifier and the Weiliang/Museatex is a very energic, non-digital type of source.
The Susvara in this configuration reminds me of a SR-007 with a better midrange, although without the same, unparalled plane separation.
The closest thing in which the Susvara remind me of the Omega 2 is the tonal balance and how they convey details. The Susvara is a full sounding phone, very realistic, with powerful, deeply rooted bass and solid midrange. The details are conveyed within the music without sticking out, it's a very organic portrayal. Treble never sticks out, it's smooth and spot on, but it never feels lacking in quantity. The midrange is great, lively, never hollow and never too forward. The SR-007 main limitation is the extreme difficulty to obtain this kind of rich midrange, they are a bit too "liquid" and artificial in this regard, while Susvara is much more realistic.
The Susvara also have the same undistorted quality that the HE1000 v2 have (and similar to electrostatics in this regard) which is due to the diaphragm thinness. There is often the sensation that tiny details are not coming from the headphone itself. This is a rare quality which only the fastest headphones have, and it is almost exclusive to electrostatic headphones. Even with stats there is variability in this regard (SR-007 is the king among all the Stax).
The Susvara, compared to the HE1000v2, is a warmer headphone and has much more deep bass output. Midbass is very linear, though, and never becomes too much.
I will add more impressions as soon as I listen to them with DNA Stratos.

 

[Whazzzup]

cool cool

 

[MacedonianHero]

Having listened to the Focal Utopia with a Headamp GSX, I can't say that I agree with Currawong.I think the Utopia has very good, tight bass and beautiful midrange, but the high frequencies are constantly overemphasized. They sound metallic and disconnected, always becoming disturbing to the listening, because they are not cohesive with the rest of the spectrum, and end up sounding incorrect. My impression is that most of the details with the Utopia are dug up simply because of this overemphasis. We have seen this phenomenon several times through the years, with all typologies of headphones.

All measurements I've seen have the treble spot on, but more importantly my ears find them to have one of the best neutral FR responses I've come across. I'm using a GS-X Mk2, but more importantly with these easy to drive headphones, I'd recommend looking at your source and then cables. The Dana Lanzuli Reference cable is truly end-game territory.

I'm really looking forward to trying the Susvara...I was a big fan of the HE-6s several years ago and really would love to run these on my GS-X Mk2.

 

[up late]

agreed re. the measurements and i've had no issues with the utopia's treble presentation

 

[Whazzzup]

Susvara was warm, mid forward, wide but in your head. Next weekend will get the loner, it intrigued me.

 

[Currawong]

Having listened to the Focal Utopia with a Headamp GSX, I can't say that I agree with Currawong.I think the Utopia has very good, tight bass and beautiful midrange, but the high frequencies are constantly overemphasized. They sound metallic and disconnected, always becoming disturbing to the listening, because they are not cohesive with the rest of the spectrum, and end up sounding incorrect. My impression is that most of the details with the Utopia are dug up simply because of this overemphasis. We have seen this phenomenon several times through the years, with all typologies of headphones.

That hasn't been my experience, as while the treble is a bit strong, if I were determining the level of detail from the level of the treble, then I'd think the HE1000 V2 has more detail, which I don't. I listen for details in the mid-range, like the texture from the pluck of guitar notes, the bow moving across strings, or the harmonics of the decay of piano notes.

Between the two on tonal balance, I prefer the Susvara, as I can enjoy it more easily with a larger variety of music.

 

[roxrite]

it seems like the susvara kinda shifts tonally to the lcd4.

Can somebody compare These two ?
both seem to have Forward mids and good bass and a more round soundstage.

 

[Stars700]

Been listening to the Susvara for a couple of weeks with a Violectric V281 and my custom Weiliang/Museatex DAC. The Violectric is a very smooth amplifier and the Weiliang/Museatex is a very energic, non-digital type of source.
The Susvara in this configuration reminds me of a SR-007 with a better midrange, although without the same, unparalled plane separation.
The closest thing in which the Susvara remind me of the Omega 2 is the tonal balance and how they convey details. The Susvara is a full sounding phone, very realistic, with powerful, deeply rooted bass and solid midrange. The details are conveyed within the music without sticking out, it's a very organic portrayal. Treble never sticks out, it's smooth and spot on, but it never feels lacking in quantity. The midrange is great, lively, never hollow and never too forward. The SR-007 main limitation is the extreme difficulty to obtain this kind of rich midrange, they are a bit too "liquid" and artificial in this regard, while Susvara is much more realistic.
The Susvara also have the same undistorted quality that the HE1000 v2 have (and similar to electrostatics in this regard) which is due to the diaphragm thinness. There is often the sensation that tiny details are not coming from the headphone itself. This is a rare quality which only the fastest headphones have, and it is almost exclusive to electrostatic headphones. Even with stats there is variability in this regard (SR-007 is the king among all the Stax).
The Susvara, compared to the HE1000v2, is a warmer headphone and has much more deep bass output. Midbass is very linear, though, and never becomes too much.
I will add more impressions as soon as I listen to them with DNA Stratos.

So you own the mki version of SR-007?