Thanks for posting your thoughts on the W3000ANV. I'll certainly try it at some point. Do you think it is more of an "all around" style performer as compared to the W1000x? Because I feel that the W1000x has a more broad appeal than the W1000, but not as broad as the W2002. Which is why I recently sold my W2002. I love that specific AT woody sound, and I would rather stick to it, even at the cost of some "genre bandwidth" as it has been called. The W1000x seems to me like a perfect balance between those two. But maybe the W3000ANV is even better?
As promised, my impressions of the Svetlana 2 powering the W1000x. Source is a JF Digital HDM-03S media streamer, coaxial SPDIF out to the Anedio D1 DAC. Music is a mixture, from standard redbook quality all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz.
The Svetlana/W1000x combo is simply brilliant in my opinion. Some of my other amps sound pretty respectable with these headphones: The M-Stage is a good baseline. The Yulong A100 is stunningly detailed but a bit on the crispy/thin side. The Violectric V200 is excellent, to the point where I wouldn't expect much improvement. But the Svetlana does just that.
Lows are not exactly the strong suite of the W1000x, but they are far less objectionable than the W1000. This still wouldn't be my top choice for bass heavy music like dubstep, but it sounds very pleasing with blues and jazz. The Svetlana has the ability to dig very deep. Textures are clearly rendered, and control is seemingly absolute. It approaches the low frequency performance of the Violectric, and honestly you need a headphone with better bass reproduction to discern the small advantage possessed by the solid state design.
Mids are just lovely on this setup. Despite the overall romantic feel of the headphone as a whole, the mids are largely uncolored. There is a smooth transition between mid-bass and mids. Vocals are extremely articulate, to the point of sounding lifelike on better recordings. At the same time, upper mids never sounded edgy. Ultimately the tube advantage is still evident here in the mids - the amp section of the Anedio D1 presents things in a sort of "matter of fact" way, while the Svetlana has more of a liquid, whimsical, airy presentation that just oozes with emotion. There's nothing wrong with the amp in the D1; in fact for certain headphones I prefer it. But this headphone is happiest with the Svetlana. It is hard to put into words though.
Highs are another chief advantage of the Svetlana with the W1000x. Things can get a bit sharp up top under certain circumstances, and you really need an amp that controls them well, without taking too much of the edges off. The Svetlana is that amp. While the Anedio can sound a bit harsh, and the Violectric a smidge too restrained, the Svetlana has the perfect balance. It really brought out the capabilities of the Grandioso while minimizing grain and glare. This was similar to the way I felt with the HiFiMAN HE-500 when paired with Svetlana.
Soundstage size and instrument placement, as usual for this amp, was phenomenal. These sealed cans are not the last word in spaciousness but they do a very nice job for a closed model. The Svetlana has a wider and deeper presentation than any of my other amps. It doesn't strike me as artificially stretched though, which is something that popped up on occasion with my DarkVoice 337SE. I really like this combo for classical music.
In conclusion, I think the Svetlana 2 is a perfect match for the W1000x. It's like they were made for each other. This assumes of course that the listener is a fan of the Audio Technica W-series sound. I recognize that not everyone is. But for me, this setup is a keeper. Some people build their system around the LCD-2, HD800, or HE-6, choosing the specific source and amp to compliment those models. I strongly believe that the ADLabs Svetlana 2 is the perfect amp to build a system around the Audio Technica W1000x. For my tastes, this headphone is good enough to justify its own rig.
This combo might not be the best all around performer for every type of music - it isn't perfect. The Violectric V200 pairs better with the LCD-2. The Anedio D1 amp section is the best I've heard for high end customs like the UM Merlin or my new Heir Audio 8.A. But the Svetlana is my first choice for the W1000x as well as the HE-500, and it is never leaving my system.
By the way, I noticed some new pictures posted on the Analog Design Labs website:
With Ultrasone Edition 10
Some feel that Edition 10 is too harsh - perhaps Svetlana can help tame it?
Finally, good pictures of the output transformers. I tried to get some when I had the case open but it
didn't turn out very well.
