[goldwerger]

Here we go again…

 

[PointyFox]

Here we go again…

 

[dusty.ro]

Mine has nearly as much slam as the TH900, the most slammy headphone in existence. "Feeding them as much as I can" will just make them louder and I'll go deaf. Having the ability to make them louder doesn't make any difference if the amp isn't providing that power.

The power is used to deliver volume, headroom (peaks) and bass on hard to drive headphones. You now have volume and some bass. Try to listen to something more powerful like the ones I mentioned and you'll hear what I'm talking about. I've been through this journey. I've switched a lot of amps to make the Susvara sing as it should. I'm trying to open your eyes to trying something else besides the A90.

 

[GoldenSound]

Maybe if you don't volume match.
With the A90 I only need medium gain and have bass extension down to around 24 Hz.

I used to have a HE6se and compared the A90 vs. an Emotiva BasX a2m speaker amp and found them to drive the headphone identically after volume matching even though everyone was saying that it needs a speaker amp.

I do volume match, and have a purpose built blind ABX testing device

https://streamable.com/tuuyzg

It's not as though the amps behave the same, there are plenty of differences in operation and measured result to explain why they sound different. Just that SINAD alone is not at all a thorough metric and is akin to judging the entire driving profile of a car based on nothing but horsepower, and failing to look at any other specs or behaviour

 

[PointyFox]

Think about it this way:

The headphone is a lightbulb and the amplifier is the mains power. The lightbulb will just use what it's given. In this case the mains is giving it 120V and the current is determined by the lightbulb's resistance. Having a 10 amp fuse or a 25 amp fuse in the way won't make any difference because the lightbulb isn't taking whatever it can get. It will be the same brightness in either case.

I've been through this journey. I've switched a lot of amps to make the Susvara sing as it should. I'm trying to open your eyes to trying something else besides the A90.

I've owned many amplifiers such as Violectric and Burson. I've never experienced much difference other than higher power amps having higher noise floors and mains leakage.

Just that SINAD alone is not at all a thorough metric and is akin to judging the entire driving profile of a car based on nothing but horsepower, and failing to look at any other specs

An amplifier should amplify the signal, nothing more. There's only one correct way to do that. Everything else would be coloring the sound, not improving it.

 

[superjohny]

how about a canadian classe delta power ampthe more i research the more power i desire and the more alient brand i have never heard before...and.of course the more expensive.

 

[Roasty]

don't get sucked into it, guys. just move on and think happy thoughts.

 

[dusty.ro]

Gonna grab a beer and do some listening. Happy, of course.

 

[GoldenSound]

An amplifier should amplify the signal, nothing more. There's only one correct way to do that. Everything else would be coloring the sound, not improving it.

Yes, but SINAD alone doesn't tell you if it's doing that or not.
SINAD tells you the total harmonic distortion at 1khz. (and on sites like ASR is usually tested at 4v unity gain which is far above a realistic listening level to begin with)

It tells you nothing about THD+N at 15khz or 50hz instead of the usual 1khz, or intermodulation distortion, crosstalk, output impedance, Dynamic Intermodulation distortion, power output (or behaviour vs output level which can vary a LOT on some devices), and countless other factors.

SINAD is a good check to see if there's a big problem, but it's FAR from a complete picture of a device and is misleading to represent it as such.

 

[GoldenSound]

Additionally, in many cases, products must actually sacrifice performance in other areas in order to be able to achieve a high SINAD value.
This is more an issue with DACs than it is amps, but still, worth mentioning.

 

[number1sixerfan]

don't get sucked into it, guys. just move on and think happy thoughts.

LOL

 

[GoldenSound]

don't get sucked into it, guys. just move on and think happy thoughts.

I don't think there's any hostility going on
It's an interesting debate to have and everyone is being civil

 

[goldwerger]

Additionally, in many cases, products must actually sacrifice performance in other areas in order to be able to achieve a high SINAD value.
This is more an issue with DACs than it is amps, but still, worth mentioning.

with some manufacturers trying optimize for marketable parameters, resulting in amps that sound sterile or just not very good

Oops, did I just get myself into this chain? I’m disappearing back into the bleachers…

 

[PointyFox]

LOL

 

[PointyFox]

Additionally, in many cases, products must actually sacrifice performance in other areas in order to be able to achieve a high SINAD value.
This is more an issue with DACs than it is amps, but still, worth mentioning.

OK, but all you're saying is that even though the A90 tests extremely well, there may be tests that have yet to be done where it doesn't.

However many other high end amplifiers test poorly compared to the A90.

I guess you're saying that either the A90 will test much worse in tests that have yet to be done or that other high end amplifiers will test extremely well in tests that have yet to be done? If so, that doesn't prove anything.