[jlbrach]

why do people feel they can make themselves feel better about their purchases by maligning other HP's?

 

[nwavesailor]

If you had told me, 2 short years, that I would have a Susvara and T+A, P hp as well as a decent DAC and amp system I would have said you were nuts!
I was using a modest HM 400S and then an Audioquest Nighthawk powered by a Garage 1217 amp.

I am fortunate to have been a good saver, watched my expenses and with decent investments realized I could spend more on some things that give me pleasure w/o fear of running out of money.

 

[jlbrach]

that is a great pairing, the sol p is criminally underrated I think because it is so expensive in the us

 

[nwavesailor]

that is a great pairing, the sol p is criminally underrated I think because it is so expensive in the us

Yeah, the 'street' price of a new susvara from an authorized dealer is way less than the MSRP of $6K. Too bad the P was, in my case close to full MSRP.
Tachyon88 may be right that ALL the TOTL hp are overpriced but I get great plaesure everytime I listen to the susvara as well as the P.

 

[jlbrach]

if you can afford it and it gives you pleasure then go for it...you only live once

 

[LarsMan]

Whatever makes him feel better about his Utopia

I've got both Susvara and Utopia! They each have their strengths. I've never heard any headphones with the 3-D, holographic, deep soundstage space of the Utopia, WITH the right gear, of course, and oh that bass!

I use an Auris Nirvana amp, which has plenty of quality power for the Susvaras.

Today I switched DAC's though, as an experiment. I had been using a DAVE + M Scaler in my 2-channel setup as a DAC, and a Holo May KTE as the DAC for the headphones. Switching them around, the Holo May sounded totally awesome in my 2-channel setup, better than the Chord gear did (to me, anyway), and putting the DAVE + M Scaler as the DAC to the Nirvana, and while the sound through both headphones was still excellent and highly detailed, it took all that magical 3-D, deep soundstage from the Utopias and the Susvaras just didn't sound as wide open.

The difference in DAC's was the difference between listening to music and experiencing music. The Holo May delivered aural crack (just ONE more song!). The Chord gear did not. Looks like I'll be putting the DAVE and M Scaler up for sale. Now how can I use my Magical May in both systems at once?

 

[IZONE]

Why must it always be brother vs. brother? They're both worthy kings

I'm obviously biased as I'm going through a honeymoon phase with the Susvara while I've owned the Utopia for like three years but they're both wonderful.

Btw the A90 seems to drive the Susvaras much better than the SA-1 very comfortable at 12pm to 2pm depending on the dynamic range of the song. Bass is powerful deep and everything is super transparent, which is a trait the A90 has but with the Susvara and even the Utopia it's just so clean it doesn't feel like there is anything between the headphone and the DAC. Having said that I've ordered some powerful giants from Norse Mythology to power the Susvaras... Stombreaker is coming!

 

[IZONE]

Some more beauty shots from the iPhone 13 Pro Max

What do 24K Gold voice coils sound like? They sound like Susvaras

 

[FractalSound]

Hi everyone, newie and noobie here. Got my Sus last Wed. so just to register with the community and say hello.

Started getting into "HeadFi" last Dec with SMSL SU-9 - Topping A90 - Focal Stellia... Sold my Focal Stellia this Oct because closed-back isn't for me. Bought Arya Stealth but had to return it because it's too shouty.

With the Sus, I'm hoping that I'm settled with the front end. On the look out for dac/amp upgrades. I'm having iDSD and iCAN Signature coming in next week. Hoping for a significant step up in SQ

 

[No Days Off]

With the Sus, I'm hoping that I'm settled with the front end. On the look out for dac/amp upgrades. I'm having iDSD and iCAN Signature coming in next week. Hoping for a significant step up in SQ

Bad news, I don't think you'll hear a step up in SQ since that stack is already very transparent and the A90 has plenty of power. But also good news, you can also skip all the audio-nervosa associated with DAC/Amp pairings that people on this forum go on forever with once you prove this to yourself. When you get the "upgraded stack" you'll swear it'll be an improvement and most stop there as the differences are "too obvious" to bother with blind testing. But if you actually work on doing a careful level matched blind-test with a simple & cheap switch box to compare stacks - most likely you'll hear no difference (unless one component of any of the stacks are bad) and this can be a complete shock.

I've personally done this with my Susvara and many many amps, especially since 80% of the content on this thread is amps for Susvara. I was able to personally satisfy (along with six local audiophiles who over the months brought their own amps and blind tested with me) that there's actually very little mystery to properly amping a Susvara.

Note that this has been said by a few others on this thread here but they eventually get too much hate for this opinion and they get frustrated and leave, so I had to find out for myself and eventually saw their unpopular opinions were correct. The difference is very very few on this thread have ever went through a properly setup blind comparison between stacks. Since you mentioned you're a newbie and new to head-fi I wanted to have you consider this before you get bombarded with suggestions of much more expensive pairings as "upgrades" for your setup and we continue with the regular amp discussions.

 

[FooFighter]

While I think of course bias plays a role I think it's a huge generalization saying amps sound the same with Susvara
Power aside there are specifics like stage presentation, coloration, detail, etc which can clearly be differentiated without even considering tube vs solid state.
From what I read here about Susvara I think A90 is a decent entry amp but I haven't read much good news about Ifi Pro Ican synergy tbh.
For that money you should better look for a benchmark amp or the Ferrum stack I am using myself

 

[LarsMan]

Bad news, I don't think you'll hear a step up in SQ since that stack is already very transparent and the A90 has plenty of power. But also good news, you can also skip all the audio-nervosa associated with DAC/Amp pairings that people on this forum go on forever with once you prove this to yourself. When you get the "upgraded stack" you'll swear it'll be an improvement and most stop there as the differences are "too obvious" to bother with blind testing. But if you actually work on doing a careful level matched blind-test with a simple & cheap switch box to compare stacks - most likely you'll hear no difference (unless one component of any of the stacks are bad) and this can be a complete shock.

I've personally done this with my Susvara and many many amps, especially since 80% of the content on this thread is amps for Susvara. I was able to personally satisfy (along with six local audiophiles who over the months brought their own amps and blind tested with me) that there's actually very little mystery to properly amping a Susvara.

Note that this has been said by a few others on this thread here but they eventually get too much hate for this opinion and they get frustrated and leave, so I had to find out for myself and eventually saw their unpopular opinions were correct. The difference is very very few on this thread have ever went through a properly setup blind comparison between stacks. Since you mentioned you're a newbie and new to head-fi I wanted to have you consider this before you get bombarded with suggestions of much more expensive pairings as "upgrades" for your setup and we continue with the regular amp discussions.

No hatred here!

But I fear I must disagree. I've used Auris Nirvana, Eddie Current Studio B, and DAVE+ M Scaler, and they could not be more different, with the Auris easily bettering the other two to my ears. Same with the DAC's I've used - the Holo May DAC I MUCH preferred over the DAVE + M Scaler used as a DAC, and much, much different.

If you're using stuff like Topping, which is fine, you may very well not notice any difference between DAC's and amps at that level, but you sure can with higher-level gear!

 

[OneEyedHito]

Hi everyone, newie and noobie here. Got my Sus last Wed. so just to register with the community and say hello.

Started getting into "HeadFi" last Dec with SMSL SU-9 - Topping A90 - Focal Stellia... Sold my Focal Stellia this Oct because closed-back isn't for me. Bought Arya Stealth but had to return it because it's too shouty.

With the Sus, I'm hoping that I'm settled with the front end. On the look out for dac/amp upgrades. I'm having iDSD and iCAN Signature coming in next week. Hoping for a significant step up in SQ

Welcome!

The A90 is Dry as a Bone. You can improve the sound quality of music through headphones greatly by stepping up that piece in your chain. I have an A90, the Ferrum Oor, and an AHB2 currently along with the Susvara and several other TOTL Headphones. The A90 is a good amp for the money but it lacks that wide soundstage and bit of warmth that the Susvara really excel with in other amps.

I should add that the iFi stack will be an improvement in my experience, I had the Pro iCan and iDSD stack and it is a great kit but the Pro iCan is the better of the two pieces in my experience. There are better DACS to be had than the Pro iDSD for the money for certain. A pre-owned Holo Audio Spring 2 for instance.

 

[FractalSound]

Bad news, I don't think you'll hear a step up in SQ since that stack is already very transparent and the A90 has plenty of power. But also good news, you can also skip all the audio-nervosa associated with DAC/Amp pairings that people on this forum go on forever with once you prove this to yourself. When you get the "upgraded stack" you'll swear it'll be an improvement and most stop there as the differences are "too obvious" to bother with blind testing. But if you actually work on doing a careful level matched blind-test with a simple & cheap switch box to compare stacks - most likely you'll hear no difference (unless one component of any of the stacks are bad) and this can be a complete shock.

I've personally done this with my Susvara and many many amps, especially since 80% of the content on this thread is amps for Susvara. I was able to personally satisfy (along with six local audiophiles who over the months brought their own amps and blind tested with me) that there's actually very little mystery to properly amping a Susvara.

Note that this has been said by a few others on this thread here but they eventually get too much hate for this opinion and they get frustrated and leave, so I had to find out for myself and eventually saw their unpopular opinions were correct. The difference is very very few on this thread have ever went through a properly setup blind comparison between stacks. Since you mentioned you're a newbie and new to head-fi I wanted to have you consider this before you get bombarded with suggestions of much more expensive pairings as "upgrades" for your setup and we continue with the regular amp discussions.

Thanks so much for the initiation! Absolutely will take your advice to heart. Trying to keep my head above the water of SQ hunting. SQ really should be a means to an end which is to enjoy the music. SQ really should not be the end itself. But man it's hard! I know half the ppl on this forum think they know how this movie is going to end: this guy will get the TT2, sell it and get the DAVE and do it all over again and still feel miserable like there is no tomorrow. We'll see, I'm forewarned Thanks again.

 

[DJJEZ]

Bad news, I don't think you'll hear a step up in SQ since that stack is already very transparent and the A90 has plenty of power. But also good news, you can also skip all the audio-nervosa associated with DAC/Amp pairings that people on this forum go on forever with once you prove this to yourself. When you get the "upgraded stack" you'll swear it'll be an improvement and most stop there as the differences are "too obvious" to bother with blind testing. But if you actually work on doing a careful level matched blind-test with a simple & cheap switch box to compare stacks - most likely you'll hear no difference (unless one component of any of the stacks are bad) and this can be a complete shock.

I've personally done this with my Susvara and many many amps, especially since 80% of the content on this thread is amps for Susvara. I was able to personally satisfy (along with six local audiophiles who over the months brought their own amps and blind tested with me) that there's actually very little mystery to properly amping a Susvara.

Note that this has been said by a few others on this thread here but they eventually get too much hate for this opinion and they get frustrated and leave, so I had to find out for myself and eventually saw their unpopular opinions were correct. The difference is very very few on this thread have ever went through a properly setup blind comparison between stacks. Since you mentioned you're a newbie and new to head-fi I wanted to have you consider this before you get bombarded with suggestions of much more expensive pairings as "upgrades" for your setup and we continue with the regular amp discussions.

What is your setup?