Jason Stoddard
Sponsor: Schiit Audio
Lyr+ uses a relay volume ladder, which has an entirely different curve than a potentiometer. At noon, it's still -40dB. At 3:00, you still have almost 20dB left. To put that in perspective, most volume potentiometers are -10 to -20dB at noon.I have the Arya Stealth model and find it gets plenty loud at 1-2 o'clock with a modern mastering of "rock" music, and rarely do I push any recording past 2 o'clock.
These specs from the HFM site caught my eye, though:
Arya
Impedance : 35 Ohms
Sensitivity : 90db
Arya Stealth Magnets
Impedance : 32 Ohms
Sensitivity : 94dB
Susvara
Impedance : 60 Ohms
Sensitivity : 83dB
My really old, inefficient HFM (esp. HE-5 LE) definitely struggle to get loud even at 3 o'clock. IIRC, that makes the Susvara even harder to drive, so I'm not surprised by @timsams results. And it's definitely something in the design of the Lyr+, as my new Hel+ on high gain can get the HE-5 LE painfully loud.
All that in tube mode, btw.
Just keep turning it up. It doesn't make it work any harder. It doesn't hurt the amp. It just takes advantage of a proper, completely linear, always-matched volume ladder.
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