it is very much akin to my listening sessions...I put on an album and whichever HP I choose for that session...when I first press play it sounds glorious but after listening for say 45 minutes I am now "used" to it and find myself thinking maybe I should switch HP's..I need to take breaks to continue to appreciate my system..I take a break and come back to it and it sounds glorious again...it is kind of like drinking a bourbon,first drink is wonderful but then you need to drink more to keep the buzz lol
Agreed - I think having multiple headphones that vary in signature/presentation and multiple amps that drive them differently is key to avoid falling into the pitfall of the neverending upgrade hamster wheel. That's my theory today, anyway.
the sad truth is it is a never ending game of chasing what we do not have...years ago I kept swearing to myself that if I just bought this new piece of equipment that would be it and I would be content...for a short time I was until I heard or heard of new equipment and I starting getting the itch again...I am not even so sure that I am hearing better anymore rather than just different because I have climbed pretty high up the mountain top these days...in truth I regard it more as a hobby these days because I certainly own equipment that cannot be bettered dramatically..but I also realize that I will never quite be satisfied and this will go on for me until I am too old to distinguish any longer and even then who knows lol....I have come a long way from the days of my youth where I bought a Craig tape deck that only played back cassettes and I got my very first album on cassette,the combined cost was 20 bucks!..chicago II....I still have the album and play it often,great album
Reviewer DMS called this the ‘hedonic treadmill’ though he did not coin the term. Having a selection of HPs and IEMs helps some, but I haven’t found it to help me avoid Susvara ‘upgraditis’ because of my belief (affirmed to some degree and thus unintentionally fueled by posts from this thread- though admittedly, ‘that’s on me’) that there is much more to be experienced if only I can get in place the correct amp, server, power conditioner, and so on.
I liked the idea of a poster above to add a component in the chain —I guess this could work for any component— and live with that a while to see how it impacts my experience and enjoyment of SQ in my system before making any other changes. This may not ultimately get me off the treadmill altogether but anything to slow it down at least could decrease the net costs per annum, and give me more chance to save up for the next addition. Anything is better than a continual and insatiable lust for more (and the associated costs of unstinting attempts to slake it). I speak for myself here, YMMV.
Reviewer DMS called this the ‘hedonic treadmill’ though he did not coin the term. Having a selection of HPs and IEMs helps some, but I haven’t found it to help me avoid Susvara ‘upgraditis’ because of my belief (affirmed to some degree and thus unintentionally fueled by posts from this thread- though admittedly, ‘that’s on me’) that there is much more to be experienced if only I can get in place the correct amp, server, power conditioner, and so on.
I thought I had avoided this with my system, feeling quite content that I had all bases covered. Sure, electrostats are a thing, but I am VERY partial to planar bass and have yet to hear an e-stat that can match it, so that rabbit hole did not interest me.
And then I heard Raal Immanis. And now I'm questioning everything I thought I knew. lol
Put time in building the chain rather than focus on the main units. They are depending of that. Weak chain, weak network. It will feel like wasting time when upgratidis hits in. Starting over and over and over.
Put some time into your systems, everything that connects them. This is most valuable and fun part of this hobby. I have used so much time on my chains that I can not imagine upgrading to something else.
At the moment I am in the COAX/SPDIF rabbit hole of cables. I know which one to get, but I wanna try the cheaper options first.
Cables, DDC/Bridges, Network. There is so many factors/pairings that I don´t use my time trying to find a way to replace them.
(All that I am saying above is much more fun on a R2R DAC than deltasigma as the changes are noticeable. I have reached the precision of the deltasigma by upgrading the network chain to perfection.)
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However I do have some systems in mind though I am waiting on Enleum to release the DAC for the "Enlink" - and pair it with the 23R. It this combo could match my system, I am going for it because I want to downsize.- I wish some of you guys had some insider news and could share if they are working on a R2R or Delta
@paradoxper I read this with great interest from you as earlier in the thread you were using/extolling the virtues of Melz 1578 NOS 6SN7 quads on the Freya+ as a pre-amp into CFA3, but more recently it seems you have sold the Freya+ and are now using a Supratek Cabernet DHT pre-amp with 300Bs as a pre-, still into the CFA3.
Did you get a chance to compare the Susvaras from the Freya+ with your upgraded tubes vs the Supratek with the 300Bs before you sold the Freya+?
It seems that the Supratek could provide an alternate upgrade path for those more interested to use the 300B in a pre-amp (with whatever else they use as a poweramp thereafter eg AHB2 or other) vs an AIO like the Envy. Not that I imagine there are many out there who have both to A/B compare!
I am still using the MELZ 1578 with Cabernet as well.
It's quite different comparatively once you introduce the 300B especially with the finer things like more smooth yet resolved.
I look at the Freya + MELZ 1578 as a stopgap whereas something like Cabernet opens endgame doors.
The real key is the complementary amplification as with the right components, you yield little to tube headamps.
My caveat evidently are these paths are much, much better suited with planar drive specifically in mind.
I agree that we want to maximise the value of the headphone by using the absolute best electronics we can. No argument from me there.
I was just saying that if we list all the great amps as being “best for Susvara” then it’s just a list of really great amps. It doesn’t go into detail about particular synergy or strengths as a system with Susvara.
I can see some people having very strong preferences for one or two of these amps over another one or two, hence the list not really helping - how long can a shortlist be?
There’s nothing wrong with the list at all. They’re wonderful amps. I wasn’t saying there’s a problem with the list. I’m saying the bigger the list gets, the more it’s applicable to all TOTL headphones.
That list could be an answer to the question, “I’ve got a TOTL headphone, and I’d like some advice about what TOTL amplifiers are out there I should try”. It’s not a particularly Susvara-exclusive list.
The Utopia doesn’t need the kind of power on tap that many of those amplifiers provide, but it will certainly benefit from the sophistication, low noise, wide frequency response, minimised cross-talk, phase accuracy and soundstaging some of those amplifiers can do better than a lower class of amplifier. It’s not all about power, right?
My post / list of "best" or highly regarded amps for Susvara, was in reply to @jlbrach 's post "that many seem to think 20K USD is needed for a great amp for Susvara." All those amps I listed are highly regarded and often as the "best" and they all cost way less than $20K with some being half that price. That was my only point and not meant to be an actual end all list of amps for Susvara or in general.
One thing is for sure — Susvara owners definitely seem a lot more opinionated than Utopia owners — LOL. I check back after a couple days and there are 4 pages of Amp debates to catch up on!
Perhaps this is in-line with the "picky" nature of the Susvara, while Utopia is a lot easier to drive from literally anything.
Needless to say, I'm excited to give Susvara a serious try and share my experiences
One thing is for sure — Susvara owners definitely seem a lot more opinionated than Utopia owners — LOL. I check back after a couple days and there are 4 pages of Amp debates to catch up on!
Perhaps this is in-line with the "picky" nature of the Susvara, while Utopia is a lot easier to drive from literally anything.
Needless to say, I'm excited to give Susvara a serious try and share my experiences
One thing is for sure — Susvara owners definitely seem a lot more opinionated than Utopia owners — LOL. I check back after a couple days and there are 4 pages of Amp debates to catch up on!
Perhaps this is in-line with the "picky" nature of the Susvara, while Utopia is a lot easier to drive from literally anything.
Needless to say, I'm excited to give Susvara a serious try and share my experiences
Utopia’s tonality is more widespread with different amps than Susvara which is closer to its tuning on different amps (due to linear impedance). However, technical performance scales limitless with Susvara while with Utopia, a handful of synergetic amps can bring its 100% technical potential hence why amp scaling is far more opinionated with Susvara thread
My Sus just crapped out. Left channel dead. Bought used - then one channel failed. Sus replaced for a few hundred. Now another failure.
This time around I just bought open box from Sus.
If this one fails, I will hunt everyone on this thread down and make you listen to yodelling!!
My Sus just crapped out. Left channel dead. Bought used - then one channel failed. Sus replaced for a few hundred. Now another failure.
This time around I just bought open box from Sus.
If this one fails, I will hunt everyone on this thread down and make you listen to yodelling!!
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I am waiting on Enleum to release the DAC for the "Enlink" - and pair it with the 23R. It this combo could match my system, I am going for it because I want to downsize.- I wish some of you guys had some insider news and could share if they are working on a R2R or Delta 
