LarsMan
Headphoneus Supremus
I'd like to try a WA33 myself some time, but meanwhile staying happy with Eddie Current, and in a few more months, I should be receiving my Donald North Stratus! Delighted you're enjoying Enleum!!
The long and winding road... to endgame: MSB Premier, Riviera AIC10, HF Susvara.
- Thread starter tdx
- Start date
Thanks for this, great read,. I'd been keeping an eye out for it since you said you'd post your thoughts. I have the enleum/ susvara combo and absolutely love it but its always great to read others experienced opinions on how this combination compares to alternatives. For me the enleum with susvaras has a familiiar tubey sound for a SS amp with punchy bottomless bass when compared to my old amp the Cayin HA-6A and i still marvel at how dead silent it is. I also completely agree with your reasons for keeping the susvaras, they do everything well and are very comfortable for extended use. Id feel short changed at this level if comfort was lacking and wasnt a major design factor. Enjoy your new setup!Ok so I finally had some time to gather my thoughts about all the new gear I got so I wanted to publish an update. To keep this short I won't go over the items I covered previously, I will just give my impressions of the new stuff and talk about what I've chosen in the end.
- Lumin M1 Mini: Wanted to try this cause I heard great things about its SQ. It does sound great but honestly, in my chain, not markedly better than my trusted Ultrarendu, and, contrary to that one, it cannot handle network streaming of the higher bitrates that HQPlayer feeds it. So I felt that the Rendu, being smaller, cheaper and more capable made more sense to keep than the Lumin. But for those who are looking for a beautifully made and great sounding streamer, and have no need for high bitrates, this is definitely a good choice.
- Burson Soloist Grand Tourer: Also read good things about this amp, especially how it's a way to get really great SQ for less money than a lot of the other amps covered here. And that's definitely true; by itself, it sounds awesome, great bass, very musical, good to very good resolution, decent mids. But when compared to the other amps I've tried it still feels like a clear step down. And the fan inside the unit is not super loud but is audible, which ruins the experience for me somewhat.
- Bakoon 13R: After I sold the Enleum 23R and chose the Ferrum stack instead, I was really happy with the sound but I was missing a little bit the sweetness and soundstage that the Enleum had over the Oor. So when I came across a great deal for a Bakoon I got it. And upon second listen I have to be honest, I do prefer it to the Oor, not by much, but enough that I thought that I had found my endgame amp. Of course, as you will see below, that was not to be
- Woo WA33: Soon after I got the Woo WA33 tube amp. It's not the Elite version, but it has all upgraded tubes and the volume pot of the Elite so, semi-Elite, I guess? In any case, I think it was @paradoxper who said I needed to try tubes with my gear and boy was he right. Don't get me wrong: the Enleum/Bakoon are amazing SS amps, and if the WA33 was just a good tubey amp I would have probably stayed with them instead. But the WA33 has all the benefits of SS, plus all the things that tubes provide: a bit more warmth (but not overdone), crystal clear but never fatiguing treble, refined mids, insane bass, and even more insane soundstage and dimensionality. In a way it kind of sucks I like it as much as I do, because it is a beast of an amp, in weight, size, heat, price etc. So I would kill for a small SS amp that has the same quality in a more manageable form factor. But the WA33 sounds so brilliant with all the headphones I listed here that there is no way for me to compromise. It's that good.
- Solitaire P: Been wanting to try this forever, as I've read so many good things about it. It's definitely one of the nicest built HPs I've tried, and while somewhat heavy it's not uncomfortable. As for sound, I would say that if I hadn't tried other TOTL HPs I would be more than satisfied; treble sounds great, mids have a lot of body, bass is stronger than the Susvara and the soundstage is at least as wide. In the end though, I felt that all frequencies, while great on their own, didn't sound as well balanced as they do on the Susvara, especially in the lower registers which I felt were somewhat too separated from the rest of the mix. But that could also be because my brain is used to the specific Hifiman sound signature and couldn't make the jump to these. But overall, I felt they didn't offer anything over the Susvaras except maybe bass, so I didn't keep them. If they were cheaper I would say they're a great buy. At their current price, I prefer other choices.
- Abyss 1266 TC: These, like the Solitaire Ps, were a pair of HPs I felt I had to try in order to say I've tried all the best. And they certainly didn't disappoint. As I said the Solitaires had nothing that made me prefer them to the Susvara, but in the case of the TC the choice was much, much harder. As everyone knows, the bass on these is simply the best there is at this price point, and unlike the Solitaires it is perfectly integrated in the mix and never overpowers it. Soundstage and layering was a tad better than the Susvara, the sheer impact and musicality were something else too. I honestly feel it takes everything about the Hifimans and turns it up a notch (or two), it's that good. Alas, there were two reasons I decided to part with it: first, while everything sounded so good and visceral, it made for a more fatiguing listening experience. I think I could have gotten used to it in time, but the second issue was comfort, and that's something that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get used to. I followed all the tips about how to wear them, adjust them etc but I could never really relax with them like I could with the Susvara and to a smaller extent the Solitaire. Maybe it's just my head size or shape, but in any case that was the dealbreaker for me. If you don't have that issue, and are ok with their price, I would not be able to choose between the Susvara and these, they are for me (and for many others I'm sure) the two best HPs out there.
- Last gear standing: Ok so after all is said and done, what did I end up with? Well I'm keeping my upstream gear (NUC 11/Roon/HQPlayer/Ultrarendu) as is. I'm also keeping the Holo Spring 3 as I feel it's the best DAC for the money, period, and haven't heard enough differences in SQ from more high end DACs to justify an upgrade. I'm definitely keeping the WA33 amp for all the reasons I discussed. And finally, I'll be staying with my trusty Susvara. After having tried pretty much all other high end HPs (with the exception of electrostatics and crazy expensive boutique stuff), I can honestly say that, for my taste, I can find no other HP that does everything the Susvara does. Some others have certain things that they do better, but none of them do everything well like the Susvara.
So, this will be my chain for a while. I hope this year-long journey can give some of you some valuable info, and of course as always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need more info about any of this. I have certainly learned so much about all this and made many new friends along the way, so it was definitely worth it. I probably won't be getting any more stuff for a while, as I'm as satisfied as can be right now and don't want to keep upgrading for the sake of it. But then again, that's what I said last time and here we are so, you never know
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Have you tried the Auris Nirvana? I love it with my Susvara. I tried the WA33 at CanJam, and I think I like the Nirvana better but the comparison is based on memory and not in person apples-to-apples.