[the machine]

Also, I had an iPhone on a wireless charger, audible interference was coming through. Removed the phone and it went away. Charger was about 1 foot away from stack. Just for reference if anyone notices interference and is wondering what may be causing it.

 

[wallaby1170]

Is a A90 upgrade over the THX 789 for the Focal Clear? I was not very impressed with the Focal Clear Thx combiner's yes it sounded a bit plasticky lifeless.

I don't think the A90 is an upgrade for the Focal Clear unless you prefer a wider soundstage and an overall warmer presentation. The A90 sounds a little more engaging, more musical, a little more forgiving to poorly recorded music. Overall there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the sound signature between the 789 and the A90. Although I'm certain in a blind test I would be able to tell which headphone amp I was listening to. There are probably some people that would prefer the 789 because they might think the 789 gives a truer sound presentation.

In case if you are wondering, the DAC I'm using is the Topping D90 MQA. Most of the music I have tested randomly today are Apple Lossless audio files.
One Red Thread - Blind Pilot
Nightlight - Wiretree
Winter Vacation - Atlas Sound
Play Nice - Skylar Gudasz
She's Stronger - Nana Adjoa
Lovesong of the Buzzard - Iron and Wine
Until the End of Time - The Fresh & Onlys
Buffalo Nickel - Allah-Las

One thing I noticed recently about the A90 is the sound signature sounds slightly more bright than the first day I listened to it. It didn't sound bright when I first listened to it and I don't think it sounds bright now, only slightly brighter as if the sound is filling out.

 

[the machine]

I don't think the A90 is an upgrade for the Focal Clear unless you prefer a wider soundstage and an overall warmer presentation.

...

One thing I noticed recently about the A90 is the sound signature sounds slightly more bright than the first day I listened to it. It didn't sound bright when I first listened to it and I don't think it sounds bright now, only slightly brighter as if the sound is filling out.

To me, these are opposite descriptions. Maybe you're meaning something other than I'm interpreting. I too, think the A90 is warmer than the 789. I had a sense of a little more meatyness to the sub bass. Warmer refers to lower than neutral, and brighter is higher than neutral, at least as i interpret it. I've never really heard others, or myself, describing a piece of audio equipment as cold, but will label something as bright. Dark and warm may not be referring to the same thing, but I'm confused as to how you're referring to warm, and also bright in the same description.

 

[Racheski]

To me, these are opposite descriptions. Maybe you're meaning something other than I'm interpreting. I too, think the A90 is warmer than the 789. I had a sense of a little more meatyness to the sub bass. Warmer refers to lower than neutral, and brighter is higher than neutral, at least as i interpret it. I've never really heard others, or myself, describing a piece of audio equipment as cold, but will label something as bright. Dark and warm may not be referring to the same thing, but I'm confused as to how you're referring to warm, and also bright in the same description.

How can the 789 and A90 be warmer/darker/brighter than the other? They are both linear amplifiers and don't color the sound whatsoever.

 

[the machine]

How can the 789 and A90 be warmer/darker/brighter than the other? They are both linear amplifiers and don't color the sound whatsoever.

From page 8 or so in this thread

This was exactly my feelings as well. 789 was so neutral, A90 brought out just a touch more warmth and bass depth to my focal clears. Could be placebo, or the D90 vs D70 DAC's as well as I didn't try the D90 on the 789. I'm very satisfied with A90 D90 stack

I'm not 100% sure why it felt this way, could be placebo, could be THX vs non THX, could be the fact that I didn't use D90 with the 789. But, to my ears, the A90 D90 stack was better than my 789 D70 combo when I used focal clears.

 

[HarveyKrisz]

I'm using my Arche exclusively with Focal Stellia, which pairs rather nicely. On the other hand, with Stellia, I did not get enough volume play/control even on low gain setting on XLR HP out on the A90. I did not test 1/4" SE out.

Arche is smooth non-offensive and very quiet even with low impedance cans. Hybrid/Voltage mode makes it flexible to use with HPs of various impedance, and Focal preset is a nice touch. Pure class A topology makes it quite warm though during operation.

A90/D90 can be tad bright with HPs with HF emphasis, but you might like that. I had some issues with interference/noise on RCA interconnect, but XLR works flawlessly. And the pre amp section I think is mediocre.

What headphones do you plan on using with this combo? If it's mostly higher impedance cans, I would use the A/D 90 stack.
And If you want the latest chipset or if you're a Tidal user, I also recommend the A90/D90 stack.

If you'll be mainly using Focal HPs, I recommend the Arche.

Overall, since Arche is an all-in-one unit, A90/D90 stack may fair better in the long run. Arche uses dated AKM4490 - not that it matters one bit as implementation is more important - in dual mono.

I think sound difference between well-made solid state amps/DACs will be minimal .
I recommend focusing on the setup you want and the features you need.

I have a Focal Clear, Audeze Lcd-2c, Sennheiser 660s. The Clear is my main hp and its a keeper. I really like it just want to get the most out of it. Never heard an overall headphone from clear. I'm mainly using Tidal. The Arche is very nice looking all in one unit that's what I thought it would be good option and after that I won't need to look for another amp or dac only maybe for new headphone or IEMs

 

[reiserFS]

Listening to the A90 paired with a D50 right now as my Modius should be delivered tomorrow. D7200 is on XLR, but man this combo alone is so much better than the Atom. Micro details, slam and soundstage increased for sure but I'll report more on that in a few.

One note though: I too got static and noise when using the RCA out of my D50. Was fixed right away though by using a USB wall adapter. Edit: Got better, but still there. XLR with the modius should fix this.

 

[jpanic4]

Has anyone tried the A90 with an E30 DAC?

 

[Arniesb]

How can the 789 and A90 be warmer/darker/brighter than the other? They are both linear amplifiers and don't color the sound whatsoever.

Power supply makes more difference than Topology and Topping power supply is mind blowing when it comes to noise floor. Same reason why HPA4 sound noticably better than cheap thx amps with poor power supplies.

 

[wallaby1170]

To me, these are opposite descriptions. Maybe you're meaning something other than I'm interpreting. I too, think the A90 is warmer than the 789. I had a sense of a little more meatyness to the sub bass. Warmer refers to lower than neutral, and brighter is higher than neutral, at least as i interpret it. I've never really heard others, or myself, describing a piece of audio equipment as cold, but will label something as bright. Dark and warm may not be referring to the same thing, but I'm confused as to how you're referring to warm, and also bright in the same description.

When I mentioned brighter in the last paragraph I was referring to the treble. I thought the treble sounded like it was slightly rolled off the first time I listened to the A90. After numerous listening sessions I realize that is not the case.

 

[JanisR]

Mains conditioners - any of you guys tried those or planning to with your A90 or A90+D90? What I have in mind is the Tacima CS947 - probably the cheapest of them.
Same question about ferrite ring cores - do you think the A90 puts us in the territory where it's worth considering those?

 

[Racheski]

Power supply makes more difference than Topology and Topping power supply is mind blowing when it comes to noise floor. Same reason why HPA4 sound noticably better than cheap thx amps with poor power supplies.

Not with RCA connection on the A90 as I have posted about earlier because the noise floor was audible for me. I was even using the Topping P50 linear power supply to power my DAC.

 

[NickT23]

Wow, you have so much blind faith in a reviewer that promotes audio equipment. Never quite understood this.....

Hello thank you for pointing out. I realize this even from Flux review. And usually he is bias and not straight forward. Very interestingly, i can usually if he is sincere and non bias or not, this time i can honestly say for the A90. Have you heard or own ths HPA-4. Lets face facts here, nobody will know if they dont do A/B testing silmultenously. Review can be misleading amd bias at times. Fairness and professionalism is eveything as a reviewer so there must be a balance of powitivamd negative review. All of his review for some reason are all positive from every audio product.

 

[NickT23]

Clearly it’s not blind faith, unless he didn’t watch the video or read the review. What is your agenda against Sandu?

Biasness. Every product he reviews are all positive. Some products are not straightforward on which is better. It is to avoid misled information to his readers and I can understand that.

 

[NickT23]

I have nothing against Sandu. Taking someone else's word for it without experiencing yourself is blind faith. It's just funny how some people take reviewer's words as if they're word of god. To each his own I guess.

Problem: where to experince this yourself ? Audio companies are full of corporation greed. Most are small companies that unable to have their owm subsidaries or associate with physical dealers around the world.