[ESB1]

Hey everyone! I got my Project Polaris back in 2016 to help drive the HE-500s that I had at the time. It's served me really well. Fast forward some time and in the last year I got what I think will be my last / endgame headphones: Arya & Clear.

When I got Arya I remember reading a lot about how well it scaled with higher-end amps and more power. Looking at some old notes it seems people were recommending minimum 2.5-3W per channel.

I know that Polaris only outputs 1.4W for a 32ohm headphone like Arya. But my question is whether this matters if I am not maxing out the volume with Polaris.

For example if on Polaris I listen at 50% volume, am I using up only half of the 1.4W (0.7W) ? And so if I got a 3W amp and wanted to listen at the same listening level/volume would I need to be at ~23% on that amp? And still only be providing 0.7W? If so, it would seem a more powerful amp wouldn't be useful to me if I continue to just ask for ~0.7W (in this example).

Truth be told I am happy with the sound I'm getting but I am wondering what I may be missing out on by not pairing Arya with a more powerful amp. Has anyone been in a similar position?

My Polaris settings are:
- 0.1R output resistance
- high bandwidth
- high gain for Arya (& mid gain for Clear)
- I've been experimenting with the attenuation module. I read a few pages back where it seemed the recommendation is to put it in the top slot ("NA" I think it says)

 

[Hyde00]

- I've been experimenting with the attenuation module. I read a few pages back where it seemed the recommendation is to put it in the top slot ("NA" I think it says)

It sounds like you're setting everything correct, though for me personally I find using without attenuation module open up the sound, and you gain more treble clarity.

If you find it too loud I'd actually go with bypass attenuation and lower the gain setting. But test both since I'd imagine it would most likely produce different sound signature.

As for if you're missing out by not running an super powerful amp, that I'm not too sure. I typically have the opposite problem where it's just too loud too fast and I have no usable volume range LOL.

Good luck!

 

[ESB1]

That's exactly what I'm saying haha! I feel like I have great volume control with Polaris and I'm wondering what the point would be of upgrading to a more powerful amp if I don't need the extra volume / power.

....other than the fact that gear like Topping A90, Schiit Jot and the like often get hyped for pairing well with Arya headphones. But surely not everyone is listening at deafening volumes??

I've happily been pairing the headphones with Polaris for over a year so I'm not even sure what got me to go down this rabbit hole again

 

[Hyde00]

That's exactly what I'm saying haha! I feel like I have great volume control with Polaris and I'm wondering what the point would be of upgrading to a more powerful amp if I don't need the extra volume / power.

....other than the fact that gear like Topping A90, Schiit Jot and the like often get hyped for pairing well with Arya headphones. But surely not everyone is listening at deafening volumes??

I've happily been pairing the headphones with Polaris for over a year so I'm not even sure what got me to go down this rabbit hole again

lol I mean I'm pretty sure there's still better gear out there. But you're definitely hitting diminishing return, so here onward you probably need to spend 3-4x the cost of Polaris to get any meaningful upgrade.

That being said, I've been resisting tubes forever due to inconvenience. Like you have to wait for tube to warm up also they have limited life and finding the right tube.......etc. But I've decided to give it another chance and I can't go back to solid state amp anymore LOL. If you've never tried I encourage you to try tube amp at least once.

I'm currently using Project Solstice and Lyr 3, and I haven't touched any solid state amp since I switched. Was using Project Polaris, Asgard 3, and Violectric V200. Recently also borrowed my friend's Jotunheim 2 to try, and I have bought a Magni Piety just out of curiosity.

For you Project Ember II probably would offer more power. But for easier to drive headphone I like Project Solstice better. But in your case I would say probably give Project Ember II a try lol.

Also not sure what dac you're using, try R2R dac. See there's more ways out there to destroy your wallet.

 

[jbarrentine]

My Polaris is in classifieds

 

[ESB1]

I'm currently using Project Solaris and Lyr 3, and I haven't touched any solid state amp since I switched. Was using Project Polaris, Asgard 3, and Violectric V200. Recently also borrowed my friend's Jotunheim 2 to try, and I have bought a Magni Piety just out of curiosity.

For you Project Ember II probably would offer more power. But for easier to drive headphone I like Project Solstice better. But in your case I would say probably give Project Ember II a try lol.

Also not sure what dac you're using, try R2R dac. See there's more ways out there to destroy your wallet.

Interesting you say that! What headphones are you using with the tube amps? I actually have a Valhalla OG that’s almost 10 years old. I have it paired to an HD650 that I got at around the same time.

The reason I got Polaris to begin with back in 2016 is because I read that tube amps play well with high impedance headphones (like HD650) but don’t play as well with lower impedance headphones which I was getting into with HE500s at the time.

These days I still use the Valhalla on my computer with the HD650s for work/zoom and gaming. Maybe that’s the setup that I could try an Ember II in the future, though truth be told I do most of my music listening on the Polaris + current low impedance headphones (Arya/Clear).

My Polaris is in classifieds

Curious how long you had it for and what you upgraded to?

 

[jbarrentine]

Used it a couple years on and off and it sat in the closet longer till I decided to move on. I'm on an Element 3. Not as dynamic but I love the channel balance.

 

[Hyde00]

Interesting you say that! What headphones are you using with the tube amps? I actually have a Valhalla OG that’s almost 10 years old. I have it paired to an HD650 that I got at around the same time.

The reason I got Polaris to begin with back in 2016 is because I read that tube amps play well with high impedance headphones (like HD650) but don’t play as well with lower impedance headphones which I was getting into with HE500s at the time.

These days I still use the Valhalla on my computer with the HD650s for work/zoom and gaming. Maybe that’s the setup that I could try an Ember II in the future, though truth be told I do most of my music listening on the Polaris + current low impedance headphones (Arya/Clear).

I'm using Lawton TH900. So yeah usually OTL tube amps have high output impedance so you need 300 Ohm headphone.

Ways to get around it is to use hybrid tube amp. Hybrid implies input stage is tube, output stage is solid state. So it can have low output impedance like solid state. Trade off is that it's usually only half tube sounding..... since it's literally...... half tube...... LOL.

Project Ember II is hybrid tube amp, same with Project Solstice and Lyr 3. But yes Valhalla would be good for HD650 but probably won't work well with Arya and Clear. But you can use Arya and Clear on Ember II. Lyr 3 and Project Ember II have different pros and cons, so I can't say which is "better" it depend on your taste. Ember II is probably more tube sounding but not as refined as Lyr 3, but Lyr 3 is probably not as tube sounding but still good.