paradoxper
Headphoneus Supremus
The crutch is you haven't had opportunity to hear something like Bakoon against your WA33 to gain reference.The above conversation is exactly why I've struggled with the constant blanked sentiment of speaker amps > headphone amps for the Susvara. I'm not an engineer, so it's likely I'm missing something, but specifically in regards to speaker amps.. with it possible for the Susvara to only use up to a certain amount of power .. what specific advantage unique to speaker amps do they have?
Obviously quality of parts and design matter greatly, but that applies to headphone/speaker amps both. This isn't a question to doubt either, if someone has insight they'd like to share, I'm genuinely interested in hearing it.
Lastly, I've always found it interesting how highly revered the Bakoon tends to be, while the GSX Mini/HP4 typically aren't with nearly similar specs. My hunch around this entire topic has been that 'capable' TOTL amps (whether speaker or headphone), within a given price range, it all mainly comes down to preference in comparison to say large increases in performance. But this begs an important question. Is there any general consensus around what people are trying to improve or optimize as they search for a TOTL pairing?
I've talked to a few people via DM and from searching this thread, the topic of 'softness' tends to come up very frequently. I actually happen to enjoy the Susvara's politeness/softness, as it's a really welcoming compliment to say the 009/TC/Sr1a which can be less warm and even a bit harsh at times. Reason I ask, is as I'm searching for options, if I jump on recommendations from people looking to make the Susvara a lot more like the TC, I'd be going in the wrong direction. I know I'm rambling lol, but it just feels like we don't talk a lot about what people are trying to achieve, optimize or correct, from their current baseline if that makes sense. (for me, the only area of improvement I'm looking for is potentially openness/soundstaging.. also acknowledge that it's not always about trying to improve certain things for ppl, could just be X sounds best with Y to me.)
The Bakoon AMP-13R is a perfect example to experience as, while good and rather competent, it is ran at its capacity and still lacks ultimate dynamics and heft.
A bit similar to a tube amp but less about bloom/roundness and flat out more soft.
It's also important to understand the context of these differentials as they're more small than the more important differences of starting with the transducer.
But it is the refinements that make TOTL what they are.
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