[BillinSF]

Please understand I'm trying to do the forum a favor..not bitch. No complaints about any product.

But if AHB2 or any power amp using speakers taps is going to blow up Sus, then folks shud know.

I guess from the other direction..any problems with Envy or Mass Kobo blowing up Sus?

 

[theveterans]

Please understand I'm trying to do the forum a favor..not bitch. No complaints about any product.

But if AHB2 or any power amp using speakers taps is going to blow up Sus, then folks shud know.

I guess from the other direction..any problems with Envy or Mass Kobo blowing up Sus?

Been using SET amps for all my HP and none have ever damaged any of my HP. I'm more worried about open loop on the amp killing the transformers itself than the HP

 

[chrisnyc75]

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

This is true. Utopia scales incredibly well, but there is broad consensus as to which amps are ideal pairings. Perhaps this is because it's not really the ABILITY of the amp to drive Utopia so much as its synergy with Utopia's particularities. With Susvara, the question is both synergy AND ability, which seems to complicate things beyond our limited human ability to make rational judgements. ;p LOL

 

[number1sixerfan]

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

I have to say.. this thread had been doing really well with meaningful conversation outside of amps/amplification for quite some time until recently. I almost mentioned it once but didn't want to jinx it lol

It's cool, a bit of the nature of the beast.

 

[chrisnyc75]

I have to say.. this thread had been doing really well with meaningful conversation outside of amps/amplification for quite some time until recently. I almost mentioned it once but didn't want to jinx it lol

It's cool, a bit of the nature of the beast.

This is probably my fault for suggesting Susvara works well with Stellaris. THE NERVE!

 

[number1sixerfan]

This is probably my fault for suggesting Susvara works well with Stellaris. THE NERVE!

Don't you even worry. It's everybody's fault, including me (I asked about the Red October a few pages ago) LOL

 

[joseph69]

Perhaps this is in-line with the "picky" nature of the Susvara, while Utopia is a lot easier to drive from literally anything.

As mentioned already--the Utopia (original in my case) scales excellently with the right gear.

 

[jlemaster1957]

Please understand I'm trying to do the forum a favor..not bitch. No complaints about any product.

But if AHB2 or any power amp using speakers taps is going to blow up Sus, then folks shud know.

I guess from the other direction..any problems with Envy or Mass Kobo blowing up Sus?

@BillinSF iirc you have the WA22 that was released prior to that which had pre-amp outs, no? So did you run the signal out of the headphone outs in the front into the AHB2? Not sure why this would cause a fault though (even if true). If this kind of thing can happen even with AHB2, with all its protective circuits, it certainly raises the level of concern re using other speaker amps to drive Sus (though a lot of folks are doing it anyway).

Using a speaker amp to drive a Sus seems to be like drinking Absinthe or eating puffer fish- done properly it’s divine- but it seems difficult to do that 100% of the time…then not so much.

 

[BassicScience]

Using a speaker amp to drive a Sus seems to be like drinking Absinthe or eating puffer fish- done properly it’s divine- but it seems difficult to do that 100% of the time…then not so much.

Not really. I've been using a speaker amp pretty much exclusively for the last few years for both planars and estats (via transformer box). Not a single issue or driver failure, and I use a 12V trigger from my (remote-controlled) preamp, so I don't even have to power the amp up or down by hand. I'll never go back to headphone amps unless I buy high-sensitivity cans for some reason.

 

[BillinSF]

@BillinSF iirc you have the WA22 that was released prior to that which had pre-amp outs, no? So did you run the signal out of the headphone outs in the front into the AHB2? Not sure why this would cause a fault though (even if true). If this kind of thing can happen even with AHB2, with all its protective circuits, it certainly raises the level of concern re using other speaker amps to drive Sus (though a lot of folks are doing it anyway).

Using a speaker amp to drive a Sus seems to be like drinking Absinthe or eating puffer fish- done properly it’s divine- but it seems difficult to do that 100% of the time…then not so much

Yes. I post my issue re the larger issue for this forum as to whether new folks should be warned of the risk from speaker amps.

Re "puffer fish" .. by amazing coincidence I am watching the Columbo episode where the murderer used puffer fish poison. Fugu sushi.

I'm alright. Will get old HP's repaired. New ones on the way. I like classic sports cars and they are finicky (I budget a repair every couple of years) .. I guess I'll have to be a little more careful, but also keep a spare set of Sus handy.

 

[up late]

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

the focal utopia general discussion thread has had its moments and used to be livelier than it is nowadays. the creation of a separate thread for the 'nutopia' might have something to do with that although it doesn't appear to be all that active either.

this thread is certainly noisy ...

 

[BillinSF]

Hifiman made me messure the cable pins conected to the amp, before replacing the dead driver.

I just got asked a similar question by HFM customer service.

But then in the follow-up email, they had looked up my prior CS request and realized I was inquiring re the replacement product they sent me a year ago and asking me to confirm my shipping address. Fingers are crossed, but I think they are going to send me a replacement of their earlier replacement!

 

[BillinSF]

Not really. I've been using a speaker amp pretty much exclusively for the last few years for both planars and estats (via transformer box). Not a single issue or driver failure, and I use a 12V trigger from my (remote-controlled) preamp, so I don't even have to power the amp up or down by hand. I'll never go back to headphone amps unless I buy high-sensitivity cans for some reason.

FWIW.

Benchmark responded re my problem. They said that a tube pre-amp in front of AHB2 for HPs is NOT recommended.

Fair warning to all.

Discussion is how we all move the ball forward in terms of our nice hobby.

 

[paradoxper]

If you wouldn't have ignored the bright red flashing lights alarming warning, you'd know exactly what went wrong. LOL

 

[BillinSF]

If you wouldn't have ignored the bright red flashing lights alarming warning, you'd know exactly what went wrong. LOL

Wow, what a helpful comment.