My Violectric V280 will do justice to Susvara, and runs everything else well, including 600 ohm 880s. It’s my all-around reference SS headamp. However, there’s still a measure of quality to be had from a really stupendously clean and powerful solid state chain.
I have an A90 on my desk and used that as my initial temporary source for Susvara. Now my reference chain borrows two channels from my McIntosh MC8207 surround amp. Before the speaker amp, Susvara was still clearly something special. With the silly chain, everything tightens up that much more. It’s a clear and noticeable improvement, but nothing that otherwise seems lacking.
Anyway, Holo amp seems like as safe a bet as any. The May is an engineering marvel.
No EQ necessary really, but you could give it a +2.5dB bass shelf around 100hz if you’re into that kind of thing. And maybe a 1.5dB boost around 2khz with a medium Q. All totally optional.
I stumbled upon oratory1990 eq preset (specifically the first 4 bands), does it look good ?
I notice around 5 db boost in bass and 2khz. You think it’s too much ?
HS anyone tried the Susvara with the HSA1b amp and how does it compare to the Bakoon? Also, how does the Susvara compare to the SR1a in terms of detail retrieval?
These gain, for me, a desirable increase in low-end punch/slam and overall presence vs. running them on various other high-end solid-state headphone amplifiers. They “wake up” nicely with the HSA-1b via the SR1a output, in the same way they do running off good speaker amplifiers. You can, of course, drive the Susvara from the HSA-1b’s speaker outputs as well, and doing so enhances the low-end and presence a little more, as well providing a bit more headroom, with the only real trade-offs being convenience and a slight sense of extreme high-end roll-off vs. the SR1a output.
If I was primarily running the Susvara I would go with the Bakoon all the same. The HSA-1b makes a lot less sense without also having a pair of SR1a.
As for detail/resolution … the SR1a is the more resolving headphone. It beats every planar I’ve heard, and most of the electrostatics - even when the competition is driven ideally.
In my personal opinion, I think that if you would like to focus on detail, the THX 888 (the TOTL THXs) amps are a good way to go : the SMSL SP400, and the HPA4 are very capable amps in that regard
Have not tried the Susvara with the HSA-1b, yet! Been using it only with the DanaTone Head-Space for last 8 days while I burn it in. I’m over 100 hours play time and over 25 hours listening time. I’m satisfied that if burn-in has a “significant” effect I’m good to go at this point. The acid test of course would be to put (your number of burn in hours here) and then pull a brand new one out of the box for comparison with it.
The (single ended) Nirvana cable I was sent with the Susvara is one I’m familiar with as I have one (but it’s 4 PIN) for my 1266Phi since March of 2019. The stock cabling that came with the Susvara was not that special, I did not care for the sound but many stock cables don’t deliver the goods for me, and in my experience. (2 exceptions the stock 1266 and SR1a cables are very good).
I’m keeping the Susvara and will order a silver sheathed Nirvana for it with a 4 Pin connector. I already have an 18" 4 Pin to 1/4 " adapter for the Nirvana so I will be good to go with any of my amps that do not have 4 Pin outputs (whether true balanced out or SE only -like my Formula S/Powerman). And, its not about balanced versus SE, I just like working with the XLR style connector. That being said a 4 pin balanced input cable to the Susvara does make a lot of sense considering how power hungry it is and typically a true balanced amp output delivers twice the power of its single ended output so when the new Nirvana arrives I can use the HSA-1b adapter with it to be able to access the full output of the amp section of the HSA-1b. But, to this point I haven’t had to take the volume control past 11 o’clock with the Head-Space in high gain mode with Susvara, so…
As far as overall detail retrieval the SR1a still has the edge top to bottom to my ears but the Susvara has a more satisfying bottom end without having to resort to any EQ-ing (which still won’t push air the same way as a planar magnetic or conventional cone driver type can). The Susvara midrange is excellent. I have noticed it pulls out some fine details in recordings I’m familiar with for decades a bit more obviously than the SR1a (or Phi), making them more noticeable. Now, here it could be just a matter of the frequency response of one phone zigging precisely at the same point where another one is zagging. (So much for my technical jargon, LOL!)
My Phi is the bottom end champ of the 3 but the larger internal volume of its ear pocket sometimes adds a bit more reflections / reverb (kinda like talking with my hands cupped around my mouth while I talk - it’s subtle but I notice it at times with various recordings) than the Susvara does (and the SR1a has none because of the open baffle design).
Trying to compare these 3 phones for me is like trying to compare a steak to an apple to a vegge taco. They are very different in so many ways but have unique presentations that all have desirable qualities I like, and may also have a degree of music genre compatibility that will also be completely dependent on the recorded quality of the source material.
I really hope there will be nothing revolutionary coming my way in a headphone soon so maybe I can spend a seriously long time with these 3. Can’t say if I’ll ever come to a definitive conclusion.
I just got these headphone recently and WOW. They say once you pass a certain point in audiophilia its just 5% improvements. Not with these, more like 50% improvement! I’m really blown away with how good these sound. the Detail is just awesome. Everything sound right in them. Natural. Timbre is exactly where it should be. These are the best headphones ive ever heard.
I’ve been listening to them with the A90 Amplifier. They sound good but are a little thin/empty and bright. They tell me I need a stronger amp for them. I tried them on my Liquid Platinum and they sound a LOT better. It has similar power specs as the A90 with a little more headroom. I got a Siemens tube in it and its a lot more full and has more bass and not as bright. I think this amp should be added to the list of amps these headphones sound great on. I bought a Schiit Vidar and a Cayin HA-6A amps and am hoping to get better performance out of these headphones.
It’s always nice to have options to choose from. And with audio gear one never has to worry. As long as we keep buyin’ they’ll keep makin’ (new stuff).
Congrats! That’s a big step up from all the other gear I’ve seen you post about!
I havent listened to it on the amps you mentioned besides the A90. I think any of them will be improvements. I hear good things about the Cayin amp for planars, and seems like a good value for most of these types of headphones.
