[rsbrsvp]

I am not a technically minded person. Can someone tell me if a headphone amp rated at: 3W per channel @ 32 ohms is powerful enough to drive a Susvara well?

 

[iFi audio]

I am not a technically minded person. Can someone tell me if a headphone amp rated at: 3W per channel @ 32 ohms is powerful enough to drive a Susvara well?

My strong suggestion would be to backtrack in this thread a fair bit (hundreds of pages of meaningful feedback) and read what its participants say about Susvara and power in general. Not much is needed to get these cans really loud (3W into 32 Ohms will do), but that's not the same thing as hearing them well-driven I'm affraid

 

[ken6217]

I am not a technically minded person. Can someone tell me if a headphone amp rated at: 3W per channel @ 32 ohms is powerful enough to drive a Susvara well?

Just based on the power number, no. I'm sure someone will come forward and say that that is what their amp puts out and it sounds great.

 

[MikeLa]

Currawong posted the following power graphs in the LCD-5 thread. He was explaining the LCD-5 might not be as easy to drive with portable gear as some folks thought. I'm using the Flux FA10 with my Susvara and getting ready to upgrade to the Volot. I asked Vitaliy if the Volot could drive the Susvara at 120 dB with the minimum 5012 mW, 17.94V, 289mA required in Currawong's graph. His reply was yes, the Volot can produce those values, and slightly more, specifically 8500mW, 23.5V, 380mA. And that they primarily set up the Volot to work with the Susvara, that the Susvara's were the main test headphones during design. I thought I would share.

 

[MatW]

I'm sorry but I cannot help reacting to this graph again. I fail to see the relevance of the graphs, because one should not listen over 80 dB anyway.

 

[ken6217]

I'm sorry but I cannot help reacting to this graph again. I fail to see the relevance of the graphs, because one should not listen over 80 dB anyway.

 

[MikeLa]

I'm sorry but I cannot help reacting to this graph again. I fail to see the relevance of the graphs, because one should not listen over 80 dB anyway.

I assume Currawong posted the graphs so folks can pick the dB they listen to and see if their amp has the mW, V, and mA specs to drive it. I think his point was it's not only the mW spec you need to look at and that the requirements grow logarithmically as the dB demand increases.

 

[dleblanc343]

Has someone compared all the Dekoni pads with the Susvara?

And do they all come with the plastic ring?

Hi there, I got the fenestrated leather ones and they sound good, but they make susvara a bit more technical and these are my "laidback" listening headphones.

They're built like the stock pads (pads premounted on the plastic ring), but the plastic is much more sturdy.

If you're looking for these and since I don't use em, I could let them go half off for you

 

[eskamobob1]

BHSE is quite a round and musical amp, and it really helps the Stax 009 (and HE60) a lot

TBH I dont think the BHSE is the best pick for the HE-60. It pushed the miqs quite far and took already not massive headphone and made it even more intimate. While I wouldnt want a WES for them either I think a bit less mid emphasis and a bit more stage (and bass control) would be more ideal for them.

Someone was just selling a 009 for 1800 a couple days ago on Head-Fi too, absolute steal of a price if you're willing to commit to a system.

Yah, but keep in mind 009 and 009S are very different experiences. TBH I wouldn't buy an 009 even for 1k while i think the S is worth RRP.

the Shangri-la Jr. showed me that e-stats now have to be on my radar in a big way.

The completely absence of bass bleed was surprising to me. I've never heard anything at all with just 0 bleed and it still had some slap too!

I'm looking to replace my Utopia with something that offers more contrast to the Susvara, and Shangri-la Jr. is a leading candidate right now. What's another $6-7k (after I sell the Utopia) with all the money we've already sunk into this hobby, or perhaps lifestyle is the appropriate word in our cases!

ROFL. Yup. Im looking at an AIC-10 for sus and now im going "well jumping to shang sr+BHSE/Crabon/Z10E isnt that much more"

I've not seen the Shangri-la in any of the local shops so an audition will probably be super hard or impossible.

It is exceptionally hard to find a demo. I have been unable to find one inside the US thus far but it seems like there is an option in Europe and may be some in asia too on permeant demo.

The utopia and wa33 sounds perfect to me, so not sure if I was at all surprised at their conclusions or not, but because of the above, i did end up questioning myself if I was running the susvara adequately or whether I'd get better sound through the bakoon/ferrum.

Wow. TBH I hate utopia on WA33. That said, I didnt like the wa33 in general. Its to the point where im questioning if maybe it was the unit I demoed (have gone 3 times now with all sorts of different cans and have at least 15 hous on the thing). FWIW, the ferrum and bakoon sound super different. Both quite good but very different presentations.

For me, the preference for Susvara vs. Utopia is consistent no matter the system context, as long as Susvara has been adequately powered.

The one thing that made my opinion of utopia change vastly was the Mogwai and Forge. Off of those 2 amps its an entierly different headphone than off of other amps IMO.

The Susvara gets slagged a fair amount around here for relative "lack of punch", but I really don't hear it that way.

Impossible to say without knowing your points of reference. Compared to 1266, older Hifiman or older Audeze it doesn't slam that hard.

I mean, they were directly being compared to 009S though which I think they very comfortably slam and rumble harder than

I believe there’s a smaller SMD version of CFA3

Yes there is! Check the CFA3 thread. Its quite small

Utopias punchy? Tell me what city you’re in and I’ll Google an audiologist for you.

...... do you not think utopias are punchy?.....

At least I haven't yet heard a class A amp that would sound harsh and piercing.

GSX MK2 is bright and sharp as hell

I'm sorry but I cannot help reacting to this graph again. I fail to see the relevance of the graphs, because one should not listen over 80 dB anyway.

I assume Currawong posted the graphs so folks can pick the dB they listen to and see if their amp has the mW, V, and mA specs to drive it. I think his point was it's not only the mW spec you need to look at and that the requirements grow logarithmically as the dB demand increases.

Yall are both missing a couple things. Yes, no one listenes at 120dB but also HP amps dont perform very well without overhead. Just look at audio GD stuff for examples of crazy high THD spikes as power rises. On top of this amps rated wattage is often peak not sustained.

 

[jlbrach]

I'm sorry but I cannot help reacting to this graph again. I fail to see the relevance of the graphs, because one should not listen over 80 dB anyway.

i did a test of my headphones with a volume meter and found it in the area of 80 for most listening but with spikes higher in certain passages...actually you would be surprised how loud people listen to music

 

[MatW]

i did a test of my headphones with a volume meter and found it in the area of 80 for most listening but with spikes higher in certain passages...actually you would be surprised how loud people listen to music

Yes, I get the headroom argument, but surely 120 dB exceeds the headroom needed... My listening volume is around 70 dB, and I listen for hours a day. It's the combination of high volume and a longer period that is detrimental. I hope headfi folks are aware of this and don't sacrifice their future music enjoyment for extra dB today.

 

[jlbrach]

120 is clearly not something people can listen to safely but in excess of 80 is and many people do listen far louder than you think

 

[Benno1988]

Hi there, I got the fenestrated leather ones and they sound good, but they make susvara a bit more technical and these are my "laidback" listening headphones.

They're built like the stock pads (pads premounted on the plastic ring), but the plastic is much more sturdy.

If you're looking for these and since I don't use em, I could let them go half off for you

Only issue is I'm in Australia?!

 

[MikeLa]

Yes, I get the headroom argument, but surely 120 dB exceeds the headroom needed... My listening volume is around 70 dB, and I listen for hours a day. It's the combination of high volume and a longer period that is detrimental. I hope headfi folks are aware of this and don't sacrifice their future music enjoyment for extra dB today.

Now I'm confused. Let's assume then 100dB gives you enough headroom. Then looking at Currawong's graph, it would only require an amp that outputs 50mW to drive our Susvara's effectively. Or is that Currawong's point? The 1.73V and 28.9 mA requirements are what disqualifies amps from effectively driving Susvara's, and it's impossible to find an amp that outputs 50mW and 1.73V and 28.9 mA? I can't remember anyone recommending an amp with 50mW of max power for the Susvara.

Any engineers on this thread?

What specs do we look at to narrow down the amplifier search for our beloved Susvara's?

 

[MatW]

Now I'm confused. Let's assume then 100dB gives you enough headroom. Then looking at Currawong's graph, it would only require an amp that outputs 50mW to drive our Susvara's effectively. Or is that Currawong's point? The 1.73V and 28.9 mA requirements are what disqualifies amps from effectively driving Susvara's, and it's impossible to find an amp that outputs 50mW and 1.73V and 28.9 mA? I can't remember anyone recommending an amp with 50mW of max power for the Susvara.

Any engineers on this thread?

What specs do we look at to narrow down the amplifier search for our beloved Susvara's?

That is what half this thread is about. Most seem to think that a lot of power is needed to make the Susvara shine, hence the use of speaker amps. Not everyone agrees with this theory.

Personally, I am agnostic. My headphone amp has 1.5W (into 60 ohm) and I am very satisfied with how it drives the Susvara.

Having said that, I bought a Ferrum OOR for my setup 2, where I normally don't listen to the Susvara. It is very powerful, 8W into 60 ohm, and it will be interesting to see what the extra power does for the Susvara. Maybe I'll end up switching the two amps out...