[gordec]

The ONLY time I tried the Shangri-La was briefly in Tokyo under the most ideal possible conditions, using a DAVE as source and listening to Chesky binaural albums. That was like nothing else I've experienced from headphones. The 3D image was way outside the headphones, as if the instruments themselves were playing around me. Again, 100% ideal set-up and music for that. I wish I'd tried a range of genres, but it was a brief visit and other people wanted to have a listen.

I would agree with that statement, I heard them at CES last year in the Hifiman booth and was amazed; it was more like just being in a room full of beautiful sound. I did get to pick the song, but can't remember what it was now. That being said it is like a drug, always trying to get that same high without the very large pricetag that is on the Shangri-La

That's the same experience I had recently when I got to audition the HE1 at the San Francisco Sennheiser store. I had 1 hour all by myself with my own tracks.The 3D imaging is so real that I can't explain how it could be from a pair of headphones. I'm forever chasing that sound. Welcome to read my review in the signature of the HE1. My guess is the Susvara is not going to touch HE1 or Shangri-La's 3D imaging regardless of amp and source.

 

[seaice]

I'm thinking about getting the Susvara. I have a rare opportunity to get it at cost from an authorized dealer. It's still more than the $3500 everyone is quoting. I would have to sell HeK v2 and HD800s. I absolutely love the HeK with McIntosh mha100. Would imagine it will drive the Susvara well through the speaker taps. What do you guys think? Worth it?

Go for it. But compare it to your HeK V2 first - ask your dealer for a home demo. Susvara is much better than HD800s. I do not regret buying it. I am enjoying it more and more, really great heaphones.

 

[seaice]

That's the same experience I had recently when I got to audition the HE1 at the San Francisco Sennheiser store. I had 1 hour all by myself with my own tracks.The 3D imaging is so real that I can't explain how it could be from a pair of headphones. I'm forever chasing that sound. Welcome to read my review in the signature of the HE1. My guess is the Susvara is not going to touch HE1 or Shangri-La's 3D imaging regardless of amp and source.

I have not heard HE1 or Shangri-La but imaging of Susvara is very good. With the crossfeed of Dave ON, I am sometimes verifying that my speakers are not really playing at night. The out of head experience with Susvara is really something!

 

[AnakChan]

The last time I listened to the Susvara, it sounded so speaker-like I was utterly astounded. As I sit 90° to my speakers, even the Susvara even simulated that...music was reaching to one side of my ear faster than the other. Then I realised, I was on speakers....I forgot to flip my ORB switch - doh!

 

[Dopamine63]

I would love to try these one day.

 

[gordec]

I have not heard HE1 or Shangri-La but imaging of Susvara is very good. With the crossfeed of Dave ON, I am sometimes verifying that my speakers are not really playing at night. The out of head experience with Susvara is really something!

That's interesting. I wonder if the 3D imagine is more of the product of the DAC/amp implementation than the headphone. Is there any reason why electrostats may produce better speaker-like presentation than planars or dynamic headphones from technical standpoint?

 

[seaice]

That's interesting. I wonder if the 3D imagine is more of the product of the DAC/amp implementation than the headphone. Is there any reason why electrostats may produce better speaker-like presentation than planars or dynamic headphones from technical standpoint?

Not sure about this from the technical point of view. But the crossfeed in Dave is contributing to this a lot - I use the strongest setting (3) often and it is implemented really good. I am awating iFi Pro iCan soon so I am curious how the headamp duel Dave vs iFi will end from the crossfeed perspective among others.

 

[gordec]

Not sure about this from the technical point of view. But the crossfeed in Dave is contributing to this a lot - I use the strongest setting (3) often and it is implemented really good. I am awating iFi Pro iCan soon so I am curious how the headamp duel Dave vs iFi will end from the crossfeed perspective among others.

I really wish there is a sub $10k setup that can get 90%-95% of HE1. It even made poor recorded tracks come alive with the 3D rendering. That was something else. Maybe the Dave is that good, but I have never heard it. I really like my McIntosh-> HeK setup. Susy probably isn’t going to be ground breaking from HeK. But at this point in this hobby, I can only chase better. I think the high end companies know what.

For those who currently own the Susy and driving out of speaker taps, do you think the HE Adapter is necessary? I’m currently running the HeK straight out of the McIntosh MHA100’s speaker taps with banana plug to XLR adapter. There a number of McIntosh owners doing this. The speaker taps put out 50w per channel, and the general consensus is that it’s unlikely to damage the HeK. I would assume the same is for Susy since it’s even harder to drive.

 

[Jaab]

I really wish there is a sub $10k setup that can get 90%-95% of HE1. It even made poor recorded tracks come alive with the 3D rendering. That was something else. Maybe the Dave is that good, but I have never heard it. I really like my McIntosh-> HeK setup. Susy probably isn’t going to be ground breaking from HeK. But at this point in this hobby, I can only chase better. I think the high end companies know what.

For those who currently own the Susy and driving out of speaker taps, do you think the HE Adapter is necessary? I’m currently running the HeK straight out of the McIntosh MHA100’s speaker taps with banana plug to XLR adapter. There a number of McIntosh owners doing this. The speaker taps put out 50w per channel, and the general consensus is that it’s unlikely to damage the HeK. I would assume the same is for Susy since it’s even harder to drive.

The only case where the he-adapter is mandatory is when you use a tube amplifier using output transformers
If you connect your headphone to the speaker terminals you will fry your output transformers! (the most expensive piece from your amplifier, the headphone can perhaps be damage too but I'm not sure of that!) because your headphone are not a load (like the speakers are).
The he-adapter contain a big resistance acting as a load

 

[TheAttorney]

Not sure about this from the technical point of view. But the crossfeed in Dave is contributing to this a lot - I use the strongest setting (3) often and it is implemented really good. I am awating iFi Pro iCan soon so I am curious how the headamp duel Dave vs iFi will end from the crossfeed perspective among others.

I'd be interested in that comparison. The "3D" setting on my ifi iDSD is nothing like DAVE's cross-feed (and nothing like as good either IMO), The iDSD's 3D is one of those that give a larger, more diffuse, soundstage, where the images lose their edge definition, which may be fine for some types of background listening, but not for critical listening IMO. However, I think the Pro iCan has a variety of cross-feed settings, and is a higher end product than the budget iDSD, so it may have something more to my liking.

 

[seaice]

I'd be interested in that comparison. The "3D" setting on my ifi iDSD is nothing like DAVE's cross-feed (and nothing like as good either IMO), The iDSD's 3D is one of those that give a larger, more diffuse, soundstage, where the images lose their edge definition, which may be fine for some types of background listening, but not for critical listening IMO. However, I think the Pro iCan has a variety of cross-feed settings, and is a higher end product than the budget iDSD, so it may have something more to my liking.

I will let you know once I receive and test the iFi Pro iCan carefully. I really like the crossfeed implementation of Dave (compared to several foobar2000 crossfeeds I tried and never really used or liked in the past) and keep it ON most of the time now. However, I would like to see the crossfeed of DAVE active on XLR and RCA outputs.

 

[x RELIC x]

I will let you know once I receive and test the iFi Pro iCan carefully. I really like the crossfeed implementation of Dave (compared to several foobar2000 crossfeeds I tried and never really used or liked in the past) and keep it ON most of the time now. However, I would like to see the crossfeed of DAVE active on XLR and RCA outputs.

It is active on the RCA / XLR as long as you leave it on when you disconnect the headphones but there is no display indication or option to turn it on/off without headphones plugged in. It’s a glitch, but there are those that find it useful.

Yes mia culpa; I had intended that crossfeed control would get disabled when not in headphone mode; but lots of people prefer the option to be there (I have once or twice found it useful myself with some speaker set-ups), so I decided to keep the mistake in place. But you need to remember to unset it though when going back to speakers.

 

[seaice]

x Relic x: thanks! Very good news. I find the Dave crossfeed very useful with Susvara. I need it on XLR/RCA outputs when transporting audio signals to external heaphone amps.

 

[AnakChan]

So yesterday I was given a private listening session to the MASS-Kobo 406 amp. This is one hefty amp that has copious amount of power to drive the Susvara. It drove it very cleanly, transparently, and had the agility to handle mellow or fast paces. I enjoyed it immensely (except for it's price...let's just say north of $18,500). Although I spent less than 1 hr listening, it was time well spent. This isn't the amp for most due to its price but despite that, the maker has sold 3 (delivery times are approx 3 months primarily due to the faceplate/chassis).

I've finally found one sonic gripe about the Susvara too. Now in the past as most notably in this thread, I've had nothing but praise for the Susvara sonics (my gripes were with the pricing, and aesthetics). But in this most recent demo, there were 2 Susvara's (the amp maker's and my demo unit). To my surprise (or maybe I shouldn't have been?) there were differences between the two. Although I liked my demo unit, the maker's Susvara was a little airier and sounded more spacious). Talking to the amp maker, he said it's not the first time someone had mentioned that to him too (referring to feedback in a recent show he did in South East Asia, Singapore or Jakarta, I believe).

if folks have the opportunity to try out a few different Susvara's, could you try to see if you hear differences across multiple units?

 

[gordec]

Do you find your ears touching the driver with the Susvara? I had an issues with HeK v1 but the v2’s deeper pads took care of that. It’s not a deal killer but part of the consideration for me. Thanks.