[BassicScience]

I don't know why people get so triggered when someone writes something negative about a piece of gear they like/love. Be secure in your own tastes!

It took me a few minutes of listening to an SR1a through a speaker amp at Canjam to know it's not for me. I don't care how "accurate", the bass may be, it isn't enough in quantity to convey the emotion of most of the music I listen to (jazz, rock, EDM). The rest of the frequency spectrum didn't really wow me either (disclaimer: I was at a noisy show) and I didn't love the ergonomics, so just crossed it off my list to explore further. If it works for YOU, that's fantastic.

Any other currently hot products that folks want me to "slag" while I'm at it?

 

[BassicScience]

"While the HE1000SE sounded superb, this is where the Susvara showed its superiority. The performance of the HE1000SE is 95% of the performance of a Susvara. What the Susvara adds when driven properly is texture, imagery, and a final layer of detail. While this is slight, it makes a difference. "

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/hifiman-he1000se-headphones/

Would you guys agree with those statements ?

From my experiences listening to the HE1000 (non-SE) at shows, I never found it particularly close to the Susvara in overall performance. The bass impact was somewhat lacking (tubby), and it just didn't have the overall clarity and dynamics of the Susvara. (Note that I hesitate to make definitive statements based solely on show listening, but those were my impressions. I actually preferred the Utopia by a margin over the HE1000.) I don't believe I've ever heard the SE, but why not spend the extra money and go for all the gusto? I bought my Susvara used for around $3500. One of the best investments in audio equipment I've ever made, period. If the SE is significantly easier to drive, that might be a consideration for some, however.

 

[jlbrach]

I don't know why people get so triggered when someone writes something negative about a piece of gear they like/love. Be secure in your own tastes!

It took me a few minutes of listening to an SR1a through a speaker amp at Canjam to know it's not for me. I don't care how "accurate", the bass may be, it isn't enough in quantity to convey the emotion of most of the music I listen to (jazz, rock, EDM). The rest of the frequency spectrum didn't really wow me either (disclaimer: I was at a noisy show) and I didn't love the ergonomics, so just crossed it off my list to explore further. If it works for YOU, that's fantastic.

Any other currently hot products that folks want me to "slag" while I'm at it?

FWIIW the first time I listened to the sr1a was at canjam in nyc at a very noisy spot and I was underwhelmed...the design of the HP means any and all noise is going to be emphasized and in this case it certainly was...I got to listen to it a second time in a quiet environment with better equipment and was wowed....I dont think anyone objects to people having differences of opinions the objection, at least in my case comes when somebody makes a sweeping declaration that a product is awful etc...again, I speak as one who owns both the abyss TC and the susvara and I have no interest in the sr1a other than opinion

 

[Shahrose]

Seriously you got my attention , i have the Master 9 and i cant imagine how the Susvara could be better
i came to conclusion that if i want to improve my M9 i just need to upgrade to the HE9 but now i am very tempted to try speaker amps,

So i would love to know if you connect your source directly to the Kinki EX-M1+ what do you loose over the M9 as a pre-amp with the Kinki ?

I am asking because i tried the M9 as a pre-amp to other amps and i found it lacking in transparency and details, so if i buy the Kinki i would prefer using the built-in volume knob,,,, what do you think ?

In theory you're absolutely correct. The Master 9 as a preamp to a speaker integrated (with a built-in preamp) would degrade the sound. For some reason, perhaps due to the M9 imparting its tonal balance and sound signature, both speaker amps sound better (more holographic, balanced, refined ie. less grainy) with the M9 as a preamp. Direct to amp is great too and we're talking subtleties here but I prefer my setup. I've just moved into a new place, so don't have a chance to A/B again to confirm. I'll post once I repeat the exercise.

Also, one major advantage of having the M9 in the chain is more fine/precise volume control. A lot of speaker amps have pumped up gain that isn't ideal for headphone listening.

 

[jlbrach]

A lot of speaker amps have pumped up gain that isn't ideal for headphone listening.

spot on and the reason why I have decided to try the power amp route with the Ragnarok 2 a speaker amp that is also set up as a headphone amp with the kind of power one cannot get from almost any headphone amp....I recognize that there are obviously higher level speaker amps available but I imagine I will get a taste of the difference the ample power results in

 

[ra990]

A lot of speaker amps have pumped up gain that isn't ideal for headphone listening.

spot on and the reason why I have decided to try the power amp route with the Ragnarok 2 a speaker amp that is also set up as a headphone amp with the kind of power one cannot get from almost any headphone amp....I recognize that there are obviously higher level speaker amps available but I imagine I will get a taste of the difference the ample power results in

I PM'd you this comment previously, but I find the Rag2 as an incredible head amp that made almost all my headphones sound bigger and better - except the Susvara. It's nothing to complain about, they sound great, but I am hoping that they will scale with a higher quality speaker amp. The bass and dynamics are lacking at anything below loud volume. The soundstage is also not as great as I was expecting based on other comments about its capabilities. Looking at the Pass XA25 next, just haven't found one at a decent price yet.

It really is strange because with every other headphone, from HD650 to Aeon 2, I get an instant upgrade in bass, dynamics, stage, warmth from plugging them into the Rag2. Susvara is just fussy with amps.

Listening to the A2O right now out of the Rag2 on medium volume. There is a nice meaty sound, pressure that I can feel with every bass note, and they sound fully open even though they're just semi open cans.

 

[jlbrach]

maybe you should try the high gain

 

[ra990]

maybe you should try the high gain

Honestly don't hear much of a difference between medium and high gain. I actually prefer medium, there's a little less noise and just as punchy as high gain. I have some albums like Muddy Waters - Folk Singer, which has a huge dynamic range and requires me to put the amp into high gain but most other albums are fine at medium gain. I have also tried the Qutest at all three output levels and prefer 3v out into Rag2's medium gain.

 

[jlbrach]

I am using the dave so I will see the results I get

 

[jlbrach]

out of the balanced output it is a hell of a lot of power being outputted

 

[dstubked]

Anyone here driving the Susvara with the SuSy Dynahi care to post their impressions?

 

[GU1DO]

"While the HE1000SE sounded superb, this is where the Susvara showed its superiority. The performance of the HE1000SE is 95% of the performance of a Susvara. What the Susvara adds when driven properly is texture, imagery, and a final layer of detail. While this is slight, it makes a difference. "

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/hifiman-he1000se-headphones/

Would you guys agree with those statements ?

95% of the fun factor , but not the performance .... Susvara is on another level but the HE1000se still very enjoyable and super easy to power , you could say the HEKse could work as a portable Susvara specially if powered with somthing clean like Hugo2 for example.

 

[smodtactical]

From my experiences listening to the HE1000 (non-SE) at shows, I never found it particularly close to the Susvara in overall performance. The bass impact was somewhat lacking (tubby), and it just didn't have the overall clarity and dynamics of the Susvara. (Note that I hesitate to make definitive statements based solely on show listening, but those were my impressions. I actually preferred the Utopia by a margin over the HE1000.) I don't believe I've ever heard the SE, but why not spend the extra money and go for all the gusto? I bought my Susvara used for around $3500. One of the best investments in audio equipment I've ever made, period. If the SE is significantly easier to drive, that might be a consideration for some, however.

Was that the V1 or V2 that you heard ?

Ya if susvara is just barely better than HE1000SE that would make that price even harder to swallow.

 

[smodtactical]

I PM'd you this comment previously, but I find the Rag2 as an incredible head amp that made almost all my headphones sound bigger and better - except the Susvara. It's nothing to complain about, they sound great, but I am hoping that they will scale with a higher quality speaker amp. The bass and dynamics are lacking at anything below loud volume. The soundstage is also not as great as I was expecting based on other comments about its capabilities. Looking at the Pass XA25 next, just haven't found one at a decent price yet.

It really is strange because with every other headphone, from HD650 to Aeon 2, I get an instant upgrade in bass, dynamics, stage, warmth from plugging them into the Rag2. Susvara is just fussy with amps.

Listening to the A2O right now out of the Rag2 on medium volume. There is a nice meaty sound, pressure that I can feel with every bass note, and they sound fully open even though they're just semi open cans.

Have you heard susvara on a nice speaker amp to know how far it scales?

 

[BassicScience]

Was that the V1 or V2 that you heard ?

Ya if susvara is just barely better than HE1000SE that would make that price even harder to swallow.

Pretty sure I auditioned both. The V2 was an improvement, but still too sloppy to my ear in the bass region. But again, this was at various Canjams, so there were many variables in play. Just a hunch, but if the Susvara were only marginally better than the HE1000SE, Hifiman's pricing strategy wouldn't make much sense to me. But I'm not a marketing guy, so who knows?