Someone here compared the Eddie Current Super7 and the DNA Sonett 2 ?
I'm officially in the market for an amp upgrade and I'm looking for a transparent & neutral tube amp ( something like a Solid State sound without the edginess and with this very specific tube presentation ) . Nothing overly warm or tubey
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Last Saturday evening , we did a mini-meet with two friends of mine. The one offered the house & diner and the second brought his Jdslabs Abyss, Eddie Current Balancing Act, TotalDAC D1 Dual and a Fostex TH900....
. I personaly was generous enough to bring my ears and my HD800 with my little AudioGD NFB12.1.
So we did serious listenings.
The first point is the Abyss is very impressive. the greatest bass (Fast , deep, precise , clean ) I've ever heard from "headphones" and better soundstage & imaging capabilities than our beloved HD800. Don't get me wrong ,the Abyss don't blow the HD800 Out the water but it's definitely a step above the Senn. impressive! . i found that Abyss & HD800 was on par for impact and dynamics but IMO HD800 stays the king for resolution , probably due to its slightly analytical signature while the Abyss is little bit ( very very slightly) on the dark side of neutrality.
But that's not my main point here.
We firstly compared HD800 + NFB12.1 combo against abyss + BA + Totaldac combo. and the difference was huge! I saw desperately my HD800 seriously dominated in every area. Then, i plugged the Senn to the Balancing Act+ Totaldac combo and was immediately blown away. I didn't really believe in Hi-end gear so when I say i was blown away, you can take it seriously. This moment really changed my mind. Suddenly , all main flaws af my HD800 disappeared. I usually use a combo with which I'm very happy: REGA DAC + MG Head and I really like to listen to music with my rig ( unfortunately I didn't take it saturday evening so I couldn't compare directly) but HD800 kept some harshness sometimes. Although the added warmth counterbalance the slight harshness, this harshness stays. With the BA+Totaldac , i immediately noticed that all harshness has disappeared withou any artificial warmth added. HD800 Sounded crystal clear & sweet with a far higher level of transparency. I was stunned from the first seconds of listening. my HD800 sounded so "right". I've never heard this before.
After this discover, I've thrown the NFB12.1 in my bag and we've done more listening. HD800 was then far more close to the Abyss. My above comparison is based from listens done on Balancing Act/Totaldac combo both for HD800 & Abyss.
Then, you know why I'm now in the market for a new amp.
. I really can't have enough money for a Balancing Act. So, less expensive options are welcome !
My favorite so far is the DNA Sonett 2 against Super7 because of the price and the form factor but I can wait a bit more to save money if the S7 is clearly better. Thoughts about it ? other options ?