[simorag]

I was a little bit concerned that the Immanis would be very good 'only' at the genres where my Valkyria are already great, like classical and jazz, with the addition of electronica where the 3-ribbon immediately showed up their talents as well (crazy detail, 3D effects, bass quantity and quality).

My initial source pairing likely was not the most synergistic for my tastes, as the sound signature was too cold for me, detracting from the emotional involvement which is my first and foremost aim with this hobby. After revisiting my DAC with a warmer one, I have achieved a much better balance, and I can now confidently say that the Immanis has become an all-rounder of the likes of e.g. Susvara, HE 1, for my preferences.

Even less than perfect recordings are now ejnoyable as well, as their flaws are still exposed but not in such a punishing way to disrupt the enjoyment of the music.

Few headphones can cope with the variety of material below with consistent prowess, and the Immanis surfed through this playlist with eager enthusiasm and joy.

My listening sessions extend to several consecutive hours, and both physical and aural fatigue are a non-issue. I find that the venting astutely implemented by @Aleksandar R. , apart from the open, speaker-like spatial presentation quality it provides to the Immanis, also helps tremendously with listening fatigue, as it relieves significantly the pressure buildup in the pad chamber.

And, to add to the eye-candy lately seen on this thread, here is another shot.

Very excited to see that new owners are taking delivery of their Magna / Immanis, you are in for a treat

 

[BTD1]

Yes, agreed. My SR-1b sounds best using the Ti-1b at the 16 ohm input impedance with the HPA4 at its maximum power output, especially in bass slam and dynamics.

So the label above the Immanis 4 pin female connection on the interface to the headphone amp says 32Ω. I assume that I would select this value on my HA 200?

 

[rlawry]

So the label above the Immanis 4 pin female connection on the interface to the headphone amp says 32Ω. I assume that I would select this value on my HA 200?

Yes, that is correct. Also, since you have the option of 16 ohms on your amp and the transformer interface, I would try this as well just to insure the optimal configuration.

 

[BTD1]

Yes, that is correct. Also, since you have the option of 16 ohms on your amp and the transformer interface, I would try this as well just to insure the optimal configuration.

Thanks for your help. After the Aperio, x9000, Susvara and Solitaire P, I am really looking forward to experiencing the Immanis. So many on this forum have praised Raal headphones that I have always wondered what I was missing. I can’t wait to try these!

 

[rlawry]

Thanks for your help. After the Aperio, x9000, Susvara and Solitaire P, I am really looking forward to experiencing the Immanis. So many on this forum have praised Raal headphones that I have always wondered what I was missing. I can’t wait to try these!

After that lineup of superb TOTL phones, it becomes a matter of personal tastes, although I am confident that any of the RAAL offerings will be a great addition. The SR-1b is my favorite headphone although I have not yet heard the Magnas nor the Immanis.

 

[yyzSB]

Yesterday, I tried my new Benchmark HPA4 preamp with the TI-1b and CA-1a. It was lacking power. The Benchmark AHB2 amp was much better on the CA-1a. Though I used a warmer preamp in that setup.

It really does not matter though since the HPA4 is for the Immanis and I will be selling my CA-1a (with Star8). A little sales plug there.

 

[rlawry]

Yesterday, I tried my new Benchmark HPA4 preamp with the TI-1b and CA-1a. It was lacking power. The Benchmark AHB2 amp was much better on the CA-1a. Though I used a warmer preamp in that setup.

It really does not matter though since the HPA4 is for the Immanis and I will be selling my CA-1a (with Star8). A little sales plug there.

Hmmm, I have a BM HPA4 amp and it outputs 6W into 16 ohms and has plenty of power into my SR-1b through the Ti-1b. I usually listen at levels around -20dB which by my calculations indicate an output of 1.5 mW, so maybe you listen at much higher levels.

 

[yyzSB]

Hmmm, I have a BM HPA4 amp and it outputs 6W into 16 ohms and has plenty of power into my SR-1b through the Ti-1b. I usually listen at levels around -20dB which by my calculations indicate an output of 1.5 mW, so maybe you listen at much higher levels.

I do not listen too loud. I had to crank up my amp to way above normal volume levels to get the sound to around 65dB. In relation to the 2-channel amps I used with the TI-1b and the VM-1a.

BTW - my HPA4 runs really hot compared to the LA4. I wonder if you can turn off the HPA4 amp section when not needed.

BTW2 - I am going to have 3 preamps up for sale later today. The Benchmark LA4 preamp only, Holo Serene preamp with Holo headphone adapter cable, Schitt Mjolnir 3 headphone amp/preamp. I will only need 1 of those 3 so 2 will go to raise cash for the Immanis.

 

[rlawry]

I bought a rack mount HPA4 with the cooling fins and had Benchmark change the rack mount faceplate to the standard narrower faceplate. My amp never gets more than lukewarm, maybe as a result. You can try muting the amp section while using the preamp section to see if that helps.

 

[Axel]

I was a little bit concerned that the Immanis would be very good 'only' at the genres where my Valkyria are already great, like classical and jazz, with the addition of electronica where the 3-ribbon immediately showed up their talents as well (crazy detail, 3D effects, bass quantity and quality).

My initial source pairing likely was not the most synergistic for my tastes, as the sound signature was too cold for me, detracting from the emotional involvement which is my first and foremost aim with this hobby. After revisiting my DAC with a warmer one, I have achieved a much better balance, and I can now confidently say that the Immanis has become an all-rounder of the likes of e.g. Susvara, HE 1, for my preferences.

A bit OT, but how did the new DAC affect the sound of the Valkyria?
The Valkyria already has that "warm" sound as part of its signature.

 

[BassicScience]

Yes, that is correct. Also, since you have the option of 16 ohms on your amp and the transformer interface, I would try this as well just to insure the optimal configuration.

OK, it appears T+A specified the "output impedance" settings of the amp where they really meant "load impedance". This makes much more sense, and negates my earlier comment about using the highest impedance transformer. Apologies for any confusion, but in my defense I hadn't had any coffee before my initial response.

 

[rlawry]

OK, it appears T+A specified the "output impedance" settings of the amp where they really meant "load impedance". This makes much more sense, and negates my earlier comment about using the highest impedance transformer. Apologies for any confusion, but in my defense I hadn't had any coffee before my initial response.

Wouldn't the "load impedance" settings on the amp merely change the output impedance levels of the amp to better match the load impedance? On a tube amp such a switch would change the output transformer taps to match the load. Sorry for the off-topic question.

 

[BassicScience]

Wouldn't the "load impedance" settings on the amp merely change the output impedance levels of the amp to better match the load impedance? On a tube amp such a switch would change the output transformer taps to match the load. Sorry for the off-topic question.

I strongly doubt the T+A amp uses transformers, but it's entirely possible the switch settings do change its output impedance nonetheless. However, designing it such that the amp's output impedance equals the load impedance at a given setting makes very little sense, as you'd be cutting the power available to the load dramatically, not to mention killing the amp's damping factor (see my previous comment about flabby bass). If you want definitive answers, contacting T+A is probably the way to proceed, as I'm just speculating on their implementation based on general principles of solid-state amp design.

Apologies to the thread for the digression. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming........

 

[simorag]

A bit OT, but how did the new DAC affect the sound of the Valkyria?
The Valkyria already has that "warm" sound as part of its signature.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/spirit-torino-valkyria.951421/post-18092584

 

[XVampireX]

I was at axpona 2024 and this headphone with its own raal amp was absolutely amazing. If I ever bought this headphone, I'd just buy that amp. Did anyone actually like a different amp OVER the Raal amp for the Immanis?

The show stoppers for me at the whole Axpona were the Grand Focal Utopias, the Borreson X3s (what a freaking value), and the Raal Immanis.

Side Note: I was never a Raal fan until today.

I see that you like the Focal Utopia's, I have the OG, you have the 2022 version, though I briefly had a listen to it while traveling, not from the best setup either, but I guess they are similar enough in the idea. Could you make a comparison to what you heard from Immanis vs your Utopia?

An Empyrean driver died outside of warranty for a relative, it was 1200 EUR repair fee (they had to replace both drivers, since they had to match the second one). It was 2022.

From what I read, replacing Elite drivers is 1800 EUR.

And to think that those are our drivers (Ukrainian) ... lol, why did you list the Caldera as former gear?

Warranty is 5 years on materials and workmanship, non transferable.
All warranty claims and other request for repair will be accepted only through the original point of purchase.

We want to try to make the warranty claims as comfortable as possible, so feel free to communicate with me (simultaneously with a dealer) any problems you might be experiencing.

Whenever possible, we will just replace you the cup for a new one at the dealership, on the spot.
If you purchased online, the old cup must be returned first.

If we get a consecutive warranty claim by the same user, there will be no immediate replacement, we will have to get it back for a repair and may not offer a replacement at all, just repair.

For out-of-warranty RAAL 1995 items, we will not charge much for a repair, but we won't offer replacements.

General care of the ribbon based drivers:
Please don't do bass EQ or use excessive power.
Ribbons will politely warn you of their excursion limit by starting to buzz, slap and/or rattle in sync with bass, so make it easy for them and reduce the level when you hear that.
If you do so, they will last for many years with a very low failure rate.

Just be aware they you are getting a racing machine, not your granpa's Merc 300D Automatic.
Racing machines require much more maintenance, in this case - more careful use, and everything will fine.
For all mishaps, we're here to help...It's racing, after all, so your pit-crew is always ready and won't judge you if you run off the track...

I haven't heard them yet, but almost ready to press the trigger, while I'm not an EQ guy, I might play around with it, I don't do speaker amps to headphones, but I do own a fairly powerful headphone amp (Bliss KTE, with 12 Watts at 32 ohms IIRC), I also listen sometimes to rock and metal, and sometimes like to crank it up, I wonder if the Immanis can handle the volume (less than when it starts getting painful, but Bliss is good on SINAD and other stuff, so it doesn't distort at high volumes), I wonder how Immanis would fit me in regards to that cranking sometimes, rarely