[SolarCetacean]

I think there are a few ways to think about cable rolling and those last-inch upgrades. On one hand, yeah, they're small changes overall. Like going from 99% quality to 99.9% quality. If a stock Susvara is that 99% quality level at $4500 or whatever the market price is, then is it really worth spending $5K for that last sub-1% improvement in quality from a cable?

There's another way to think about it, and that's to think about sound quality as an SLA (service level agreement) for audio enjoyment. That 99% sound quality is your agreed uptime on the service when you're guaranteed to enjoy the audio, while downtime by analogy is when a given system fails to provide enjoyment in the music. A 99% SLA means 3 and a half days of downtime per year, or roughly 15 minutes per day. A 99.9% SLA means less than 9 hours of downtime per year, or only 1.5 minutes per day. A 99.999% SLA means less than 1 second of downtime each day, and only 5 minutes per year. How much are you willing to pay for enjoyment uptime? How important is it that nothing ever takes you out of the zone? In the finance world, some companies spend millions per year maintaining old school, big iron mainframes so that they get those 6 or 7 nines of availability. Others wouldn't notice if their systems went down for an hour each day.

To mangle this analogy further, if you're annoyed by treble sizzle on the Susvara, and at stock (99% quality), the Susvara that sizzle occurs once every 30 seconds in a song, then an upgrade cable that gets you to 99.9% quality reduces the sizzle to once every 5 minutes, enough to get through many songs without annoyance. Of course, this is a very abstract way to view the issue, but that's where the mindset of spending thousands on a cable could be logical. Now the other question is if cable rolling is the best way to get those last few nines of quality as opposed to DAC or amp pairings or EQ or pad rolling, but that's a separate discussion.

 

[psy472]

I think there are a few ways to think about cable rolling and those last-inch upgrades. On one hand, yeah, they're small changes overall. Like going from 99% quality to 99.9% quality. If a stock Susvara is that 99% quality level at $4500 or whatever the market price is, then is it really worth spending $5K for that last sub-1% improvement in quality from a cable?

There's another way to think about it, and that's to think about sound quality as an SLA (service level agreement) for audio enjoyment. That 99% sound quality is your agreed uptime on the service when you're guaranteed to enjoy the audio, while downtime by analogy is when a given system fails to provide enjoyment in the music. A 99% SLA means 3 and a half days of downtime per year, or roughly 15 minutes per day. A 99.9% SLA means less than 9 hours of downtime per year, or only 1.5 minutes per day. A 99.999% SLA means less than 1 second of downtime each day, and only 5 minutes per year. How much are you willing to pay for enjoyment uptime? How important is it that nothing ever takes you out of the zone? In the finance world, some companies spend millions per year maintaining old school, big iron mainframes so that they get those 6 or 7 nines of availability. Others wouldn't notice if their systems went down for an hour each day.

To mangle this analogy further, if you're annoyed by treble sizzle on the Susvara, and at stock (99% quality), the Susvara that sizzle occurs once every 30 seconds in a song, then an upgrade cable that gets you to 99.9% quality reduces the sizzle to once every 5 minutes, enough to get through many songs without annoyance. Of course, this is a very abstract way to view the issue, but that's where the mindset of spending thousands on a cable could be logical. Now the other question is if cable rolling is the best way to get those last few nines of quality as opposed to DAC or amp pairings or EQ or pad rolling, but that's a separate discussion.

Costs of cables add up. A few hundred here and few thousands there. By the time you are done, you’d spent enough money for a Chord Dave but you’d still have that sub 2K DAC.

Hidden costs of smaller components can become a big problem.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I just can't imagine spending that kind of money for things that are minimal in return. For $5k you could damn near have the new Imannis that everyone is raving about lol, or another TOTL headphone. My brain can't process not putting significant money towards things that offer more ROI, although I get fine tuning an end-game system.

Yeah, it's crazy extravagant, but this is for people who already have the rest of their chain and headphones set.

I'll be getting the new Immanis, and the Valkyria and Shang Sr are extravagant as well, but those are headphones, with a much bigger change in sound. The cable world is crazy though. I'll say it is a really well made cable. I don't know if it's $1k better than my Nirvanas, but we shall see upon further listening this weekend.

Side note: that new Waxachatee is really good. I love her voice.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Yeah, it's crazy extravagant, but this is for people who already have the rest of their chain and headphones set.

Definitely get it if you're a one headphone over all type of person. Even with headphones better than the Susvara, I'd buy a Susvara before a cable of that cost for the others lol

But it's all personal preference. I don't knock anyone, just can't get my brain to operate that way.

 

[Tubewin]

Yeah, it's crazy extravagant, but this is for people who already have the rest of their chain and headphones set.

I'll be getting the new Immanis, and the Valkyria and Shang Sr are extravagant as well, but those are headphones, with a much bigger change in sound. The cable world is crazy though. I'll say it is a really well made cable. I don't know if it's $1k better than my Nirvanas, but we shall see upon further listening this weekend.

Side note: that new Waxachatee is really good. I love her voice.

I really like "The Wolves" and "Right Back To It" so far.

 

[jlbrach]

Yeah, it's crazy extravagant, but this is for people who already have the rest of their chain and headphones set.

I'll be getting the new Immanis, and the Valkyria and Shang Sr are extravagant as well, but those are headphones, with a much bigger change in sound. The cable world is crazy though. I'll say it is a really well made cable. I don't know if it's $1k better than my Nirvanas, but we shall see upon further listening this weekend.

Side note: that new Waxachatee is really good. I love her voice.

lets be honest, for the average person spending the money to buy a susvara or any other TOTL HP Is an extravagance that the average person doesnt understand...to spend 5k or incredibly 14k would have the average person questioning sanity...as one who has spent more money on equipment than I care to admit the thought of spending more on a cable than the HP itself is bonkers...for crying out loud you can buy a used Feliks envy for the same price!

 

[Tubewin]

lets be honest, for the average person spending the money to buy a susvara or any other TOTL HP Is an extravagance that the average person doesnt understand...to spend 5k or incredibly 14k would have the average person questioning sanity...as one who has spent more money on equipment than I care to admit the thought of spending more on a cable than the HP itself is bonkers...for crying out loud you can buy a used Feliks envy for the same price!

I think it's worth it. I think the Voila is enough of an improvement over the Nirvana with the Susvara to warrant the price increase.

 

[JTbbb]

lets be honest, for the average person spending the money to buy a susvara or any other TOTL HP Is an extravagance that the average person doesnt understand...to spend 5k or incredibly 14k would have the average person questioning sanity...as one who has spent more money on equipment than I care to admit the thought of spending more on a cable than the HP itself is bonkers...for crying out loud you can buy a used Feliks envy for the same price!

A few years ago I had an African chap looking after me, I asked him to be careful while handling my Susvara’s and I told him what they cost….he ran around my living room slapping his forehead, stamping his feet, shouting expletives, some I could distinguish all at the same time, then said he could buy an Efin house for that where he comes from!

 

[jlbrach]

I think it's worth it. I think the Voila is enough of an improvement over the Nirvana with the Susvara to warrant the price increase.

yes, if one has 100 million dollars

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

yes, if one has 100 million dollars

Lol ..... would 99 million dollars be ok ?

 

[jlbrach]

sure why not but then only the 5k cable not the 14k one

 

[jlemaster1957]

I think there are a few ways to think about cable rolling and those last-inch upgrades. On one hand, yeah, they're small changes overall. Like going from 99% quality to 99.9% quality. If a stock Susvara is that 99% quality level at $4500 or whatever the market price is, then is it really worth spending $5K for that last sub-1% improvement in quality from a cable?

There's another way to think about it, and that's to think about sound quality as an SLA (service level agreement) for audio enjoyment. That 99% sound quality is your agreed uptime on the service when you're guaranteed to enjoy the audio, while downtime by analogy is when a given system fails to provide enjoyment in the music. A 99% SLA means 3 and a half days of downtime per year, or roughly 15 minutes per day. A 99.9% SLA means less than 9 hours of downtime per year, or only 1.5 minutes per day. A 99.999% SLA means less than 1 second of downtime each day, and only 5 minutes per year. How much are you willing to pay for enjoyment uptime? How important is it that nothing ever takes you out of the zone? In the finance world, some companies spend millions per year maintaining old school, big iron mainframes so that they get those 6 or 7 nines of availability. Others wouldn't notice if their systems went down for an hour each day.

To mangle this analogy further, if you're annoyed by treble sizzle on the Susvara, and at stock (99% quality), the Susvara that sizzle occurs once every 30 seconds in a song, then an upgrade cable that gets you to 99.9% quality reduces the sizzle to once every 5 minutes, enough to get through many songs without annoyance. Of course, this is a very abstract way to view the issue, but that's where the mindset of spending thousands on a cable could be logical. Now the other question is if cable rolling is the best way to get those last few nines of quality as opposed to DAC or amp pairings or EQ or pad rolling, but that's a separate discussion.

This is imo a good principle for personal reflection. Given your SLA metric what if one is already, at the level of one’s experience thus far, while still owning only an upper mid-fi chain and the stock cable — at 99.999%? If one is fully happy with the SQ experience one enjoys, what would be the benefit of investing ANY more in the system (most especially if one does not have unlimited disposable income to invest on the last 0.001%, probably the case for the majority of users)?

The problem (mine anyway) is that there is the ever-recurring promise of ‘something more’ that one has never heard, like postcards from a country one has never visited, that call to us, that drive us to invest money in this Susvara sub-hobby, expenses that prove nearly impossible to justify or even explain to a non-initiate. Or perhaps we actually -do- get a chance to hear a much better amp like the Envy, and are ‘ruined’ thereafter with respect to enjoyment of our sub-optimal system (we then think)?

If I am ‘missing’ that something more, though, maybe my SLC feels more like 50% because there is constantly something I am looking for, that I believe is missing and could be better (say soundstage, imaging, bass impact/texture).

One then asks oneself (and we all know we have gone down that path) how one can afford to take the next step, and because Susvaras scale so well, the next and the next and so on.

It seems if one can get to a point where one says ‘that’s good enough for me’ and really mean it, one may be able to invest in other headphones or even other pursuits altogether eg travel, live concerts. I say this not because I am there- I am still a fellow traveler on this path. But it’s a repetitive cycle that I think one may aspire eventually to step off. Maybe that’s why they call it audio Nirvana.

 

[UntilThen]

I nearly picked up a new set of WE's but the other hobby took precedence and it was a no go! So i have to settle for some older GEC CV6 and some spares of Mullard CV6. SO i'm Susvara / GustardR26 / Elrog ER-MO and currently White Print Mullard CV6 - I love it!! Occaisionally i roll Orange Print Mullard CV6, National Union 2c22 and Kenrad 7193 - I dont understand people stating the Susvara is thin and peaky ... not at all. This is just perfect. Im now selling the Tungsols BGOP, spares of original 300b / 22de4. TIme for consolidation!

Another lover of rabbit ears. I approve. They go by many names - CV6, 2c22, 7193, DET20, E1148, CV1135 and the russian 6s8s and Chinese 6C8P.

 

[Ciggavelli]

I really like "The Wolves" and "Right Back To It" so far.

Her previous album is amazing. This new one is good too, but I like her previous one better. Check it out

 

[BillinSF]

Her previous album is amazing. This new one is good too, but I like her previous one better. Check it out

FWIW, I love it when people suggest artists. I check out every one. Amazing talent here.