Just an update on the Primavera: it took 4-5 days for the bloody thing to figure out how to present the soundstage. For the first few days, the vocal was borderline inside my skull with little to no depth to the stage. Initially, the sound in front was also placed way too high, which is typical of lower end systems ( it is a characteristic that i personally despise, makes me feel like my mother is scolding me ). There are some headphones that place the vocal lower on most systems, but the vast majority don't. I think Dan Clark flagships do that, or it might've been LCD5, I don't quite remember. It still is a bit higher than on Headonia, but it's perfectly acceptable. Still, finally the soundstage is as big as I expected, with great depth ... in fact maybe more depth than width, which is kind of surprising. I personally love that aspect, to me depth is one of the more important pieces of the puzzle.
I've only tried an unused pair of 6C45Pi Electro Harmonix Gold-pin Tubes and it probably needed that much time to warm up.
Given that the soundstage expanded massively, the sound is less intimate and the texturing isn't as apparent as it was before - but that is pretty normal, as soundstage gets bigger and sounds get placed further away, they also tend to get slightly less defined and smaller. That being said, sound sources are still large and very well defined. Headonia managed to do something I've never heard on any other amplifier, which was a really impressive placement of instruments behind the listener. Sounds come from surprisingly far behind me and it places them more or less on the correct height. It's not very common in recordings and it's probably very polarizing, due to how "involving" it sounds(as it places the listener in the middle of a recording, instead of making you sit in the front row), but I personally really enjoy it ... sometimes. Primavera doesn't do it. It can place sounds behind, but they are way less clear, closer and the way it places them feels inconsistent ( in terms of height and depth ) when compared to the rest of the stage. That being said, I don't even know if what Headonia does is "correct", so it's not really a big deal. In fact, when I first heard it, I thought something might've been out of phase due to how unexpected it was ... but as far as I can tell that wasn't it.
Bass goes low and deep, but doesn't seem to overpower. It isn't as hard slamming as for example the SuSy Dynahi, which could honestly relocate your eyeballs, but it's still great, deep, powerful, extended and fun. My modded HE-6 are subbass monsters, but Primavera controls them really well. The midrange just sound pretty. Open, airy and yet it has the body, the scale and the texture. It's not tube-like though. It doesn't feel overly warm, overly lush or overly thick. Very impressive stuff, I honestly love it. People who prefer presentation like in old pre fazor LCD2s should probably look for a different tube amp though, maybe a 300B one? As for the treble - I like a slightly smoother than normal treble, as I listen quite loud. The treble on Primavera isn't too sharp, but it definitely doesn't smooth things out. While well recorded violin sounds magical, low quality samples may get unpleasant. It's probably "the way it should be", but I'd still prefer just a bit more fuzzy smoothness. That being said, low quality electronic music and low quality metal are probably the only things that I have to skip on my playlists. Most of the time, even music from youtube sounds exceptional.
It's probably not the most resolving amplifier I've ever heard, but I have a resolving DAC and honestly I cannot complain, especially for a tube amp. To me, resolution only matters to a certain level. It's either good enough or not good enough and it clearly is the former here. The sound is clean and background is black, but it never reaches the clinical side of things. In general, the amp is extremely organic sounding.
For a tube amp, it's very dynamic, you can really feel that it has a lot of power. Both on micro and macro level. It doesn't feel as dynamic as for example Headtrip II, but that was probably the most dynamic, aggressive and dominating amplifier I've ever heard. Everything sounded like Stax 507/L700 - both of which i really dislike as they've caused me huge headaches.
In general, the biggest difference between Headonia and Primavera is the overall "edge" that Primavera has due to more power. It slams harder, has more definition, more texture, feels more precise, while still creating big, beautiful sound. Headonia is more liquid, relaxing - better for evening listening sessions, but Primavera is more versitile and overall (dare i say) objectively the better amp, at least with the tubes I'm using. That being said, it's not better at everything, which is a shame, because for now I don't really feel like parting ways with Headonia, even though I probably should from a financial standpoint.
As for other headphones:
So fair I've only tried the T+A Solitaire Ps with Primavera and I didn't love it. Brilliant headphones when it comes to technical aspects, especially attack and detail, but I can't for the love of me figure out why they sound so ... veiled or maybe cold. It may be the case, that I got so used to colored sound, I can't stand true neutrality anymore, but I've auditioned some other headphones in the shop before borrowing Ps ( 1266TC and Expanse ) and Ps were the only ones which sounded "wrong" to me. Primavera has a very open, beautiful sound and even that didn't help. The effect was even worse on the T+A HA200 amplifier. Next in line are 1266TC and possibly Expanse, but I'll need a free weekend.
I had owned Susvaras twice in the past and both times I did not listen to them at all and focused entirely on the modded HE-6. Modded HE-6 aren't as good on a technical level, but their signature is perfect for my taste and that seems to be enough. That being said, I'd love to at least try Susvaras again with my current setup and they are my no1 potential candidate. I'm also kind of hoping to see a successor at some point ... cmon Hifiman, it's been years.
I better brace myself for a long wait then 
