I’m curious.
Solid points. I agree based on my experience.
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Sound advice, thanks. Ultimately, I’m pretty sure a two amp approach is ideal - but that’s a tough pill to swallow when you’re talking about summit-fi prices (and my not-so-summit-fi wallet).
I look forward to your DNA + Susvara results. 
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I own both, and a Stratus, I’ve tried both headphones on it, they both get loud, neither is a good match, the 1266 sounds less gimped on it than the Susvara does, but I haven’t felt the need to plug either back into it.
If you have to do it, you want to drive them from the 1/4 inch socket on low gain, because that actually has the highest current delivery.
Tube amps that work well with those specific headphones are less common, I use a WA33 with mine.
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There are differing schools of thought on what to prioritize in the chain, majority say transducer first, a few say source first, and for me I committed to headamp first with the Stratus.
Even with that in mind there are compromises to be had as it is not the one to rule all headphones, do you value the transducer first, or the amp, or the source?
Heed the other suggestions provided with these two headphones, have you ultimately determined these two are in your future or are they something you would like to head towards?
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It’s easy to think that way, but you are trading things off.
I prefer the D8KP on the Stratus over the WA33 for example. You’re not going to find an SE 2A3 or probably even SE 300B tube amp that will work well with a Susvara/1266.
The WA33 is push pull, the Viva Egoista is 845 based, there are probably EL34/KT88/KT120 amps that would drive them well.
But they are all going to be very different sounding than a lower powered 2A3 or 300B SET amp.
I really do think you want to settle on what headphones you are using before you jump into the end game amp space.
There was a point I regretted not splurging for the Stellaris instead of the Stratus, but now I’m wondering if I can justify keeping the Stratus (an amp I love), because most of the headphones I use frequently it doesn’t drive well.
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I’ll be very interested in your comparison between Stellaris and EC Studio B. Having own Starlett , I think the Stellaris and Stratus would be a better comparison for the EC. Personally I find the Starlett is not a match in terms of technicality though a very different tonality but that much should be expected given the price difference. I’m very tempted to get a 1266 myself to run with my EC but not sure if it would be a good match for it though Abyss did used to run the 1266 with their own 300b wa5 amp in shows before the wa33 was released.
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I am going to do a comparison and post reviews on them, but short answer is the Stellaris is a good couple steps above the Studio B imo. Studio B is great, but Stellaris is on a different technical level.
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That’s pretty much what I expected. Thank you for confirming firsthand.
Absolutely agree. Headphone first, then amp not far behind. Verite is staying with me forever; Utopia and 1266 are very likely additions in the not terribly distant future. Arya is good enough for now.
All solid advice, thank you. I think I need to give 2 things more consideration before before I commit to anything: 1) is there DEFINITELY a 1266/Susvara in my future?, and if so 2) is a two amp solution the way to go (1 for dynamics + 1 for planars)? Ugh, every time I think I’m on the verge of making a decision it’s right back to square one. lol Thankfully I’m remarkably happy with my mid-fi two amp solution for the time being.
I appreciate all the thoughts & advice offered here. You have all definitely given me more food for thought.
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Yeah, those are always going to be questions for anyone considering summit fi or higher can related gear. Ive had a passing interest in the 1266, not so much the Sus. My decision making process was similar to @Roark in that I sort of went amp first when I decided to pursue the audiophile game. I accept that it will limit what I ultimately will be able to drive but I may be one of the odd ones who just decides to optimize a one can one amp one dac chain. There are a few of us out there without naming names.
Outside of higher sensitivity planars, like the Rad, or lower end references cans, like the HD600/650, my only current real interest in new headphones lies with tech that requires specific amps like estats or ribbons and thats another expensive outlay. However, if Focal comes out with a new Utopia that I think bests the OG then there’s some thinking to do.
Good. Keeps the bank account happy!
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I’m really all about use case scenarios - I need a headphone for jazz; a headphone for electronica/techno; a headphone for classical. For optimized performance, that’s going to require at least 2 if not 3 different headphones and, as I am coming to accept, probably two different amplifiers.
Adding complication is the fact that you have to decide on a high end boutique tube amp based entirely on second hand subjective descriptions and then wait a YEAR to actually receive it. It’s enough to make me rethink summit-fi altogether, especially given that I have no way whatsoever to quantify how much improvement a $6K summit-fi amp would be over my lowly yet entirely satisfying Schiit Valhalla OTL. 
I think there’s a VERY good chance they’re going to do exactly that at Can Jam next month. 
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I understand that. I have very limited ability to try before I buy anything, so relying on as much info that I can glean from others is all I can basically do. Unless you are upgrading within a product line, say from a Starlett to a Stratus/Stellaris where the questions are not as big.
The Verite does scale up to an extent but its still a valid concern and will depend upon your entire chain. If you are going to summit fi your amp you may have to make similar changes with your DAC. It turns in to a larger commitment to maximize potential. Once you get past a certain point, bottlenecks seem to be a larger issue.
I have the same thought, the question is whether it will be “better”. Not everyone was happy with what they did with the Clear. Id wait for a while before I made any move on a new one anyways, until enough reviews came out to make some kind of triangulation possible.
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My wallet will be very sad if they do.
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Here’s hoping I don’t do anything rash like ordering a Stellaris.
I do wonder how the mogwai and bigger ben range of amps would compare to the DNA and EC especially with driving Verite and dynamic in general. Their amps seem to accommodate a wider range of headphones driver types given the range of output impedance but appear to have more emphasis on driving planar given the massive power delivery on some of their higher priced amps. Seems appropriate in the current climate given the prominence of planar flagship level headphones which in contrast to DNA and EC 10-15 years back was filled with mainly dynamic driver headphones. Will be interested in hearing one in future.
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Sounds to me like you have some INSIDER information?? One should not tease out in public, especially with me around. I have a unique skill set applicable to withheld information 
lol No, no insider info, just an observation that they’ve refreshed their entire headphone line this year with the exception of the Stellia, which is still fairly new to the market, and Utopia, which is getting a bit long in the tooth. It makes sense to me that they would want to steal headlines at CanJam by announcing an upgraded flagship, Utopia 2.0
We shall see
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Can you really call it “rash” when you have to wait a YEAR for delivery, though? 
Thank you everybody for the fantastic feedback. I’m going to order a stratus shortly, does anyone have a dac recommendation to go along with it
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If you could share a budget range and sonic preferences, that would help a lot. My generic answer is dCS Vivaldi. 
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Any budget in mind? Also your sound preference helps too.
I think there are a couple DACs that pair well.
- Budget: BF2
- Yggy A1/GS
- Holo Spring 3
- Rockna Wavelight
- Holo May
Those are some that either I personally have used, or others I know and trust have used with their DNA amps with great success. I am sure there are others out there that pair nicely.
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