What do you mean with 3 diff susvara? Did you have issues with them and have to be replaced 3x?
I own Susvara and have heard it on both A90 and the Bakoon. The A90 is life support for Susvara, and thatās about all. Itās good enough that Susvara sounds good, but itās still a bottleneck.
FWIW, the 13r is warmer and lusher than I expected* and may filter some quieter details, but Susvara sounds eminently musical and vivd. I can see why this became a much beloved combination. Imaging is immaculate. Bass is tight, controlled, and forceful. The leap from A90 is both small in magnitude and immediately obvious. The Bakoon just sounds cleaner, more focused. More perfect (and with a splash of subjectively tasteful richness). Itās the type of improvement thatās only important if youāre going after every iota of musical goodness. But if you own Susvara, why wouldnāt you?
On the flipside, if spending in excess of $10k on an audio chain seems like an alien concept, A90 is a wonderfully clean amp with plenty of power and a black background. Itās not overpowered, like the expensive behemoth amps, but itās plenty for Arya, which remains one of my favorite headphones sub-$2k. Itās currently my daily driver on my desk; Iāve mostly been listening to MEST MkII lately (though broke out 1770s for some slammy bass). Anyway, itās a good amp.
FWIW, the āspeaker ampā option for me was easyāthe heart of my home theater is a McIntosh 8207 surround amp (7 channels x 200 wattsāabout 25W at Susvara impedance), but I only have 5.1 surround. I got a Goldpoint stepped attenuator and allocated the spare 2 channels to driving Susvara. Itās in the same room as my A90, so I can compare them side by side. Theyāre not the same.
Tuning is similarāless warm and more āclean referenceā than the Bakoonābut the speaker amp chain has tighter imaging and more controlled bass than A90. Itās an improved version of the same fundamental experience. Susvara seems to breathe more naturally, dynamics are a bit more exciting, bass extra grippy. Itās the little thingsālike a meal from scratch vs something really excellent, but pre-made.
Anyway, that was a first listen. Iāve had my Susvara for over a year now and recently brought it to CANJAM SoCal, where I got to enjoy it on several amps at the show. The Ferrum Oor was mighty impressive for a small desktop footprint (has a similar sound to my McInchain), and the AmpsAndSound Nautilus was killer for tubes.
If youāre jumping into Susvara and remain unconvinced by the amp argument, do this:
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Consider that getting the best may well require spending thousands more on your chain (i.e., set some expectations and prepare for wallet hemorrhage so that itās not a painful surprise)
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Get an A90 as a holdover, if you need one, and then bring your Sus to an audio show or meetup where you can listen on more expensive / more powerful chains. Try some tubes. You may be surprised.
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- Note: the DAC we used for Bakoon was BiFrost 2, so not sure if / how much that may have contributed to warm & rich attributes of that chain, but bear in mind w/ impressions posted above
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Well, somehow Iāve managed to not hear the Mini yet, so will skip that.
The Oor impressed me mightily and will be replacing the A90 on my desktop. It reminded me of the same general presentation as A90, but punchy! Susvara slams on Oor!
The 13r had a richer, more lush style (trade some realism points for musicality points). Itās more expensive and harder to find, but itās a very enjoyable combo.
Which to get maybe depends on your preferences. I generally prefer ālean and cleanā for solid state and go tubes for warm and lush, which is what landed me at Oor. But if both were readily available and similarly priced ā¦ well, Iād probably own both, lol. It would be a tougher call.
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Thanks. I actually managed to find both for very substantial discounts and will be getting both in a couple of weeks. So Iāll be able to test them and decide which I prefer. Will report back on this thread when I do.
Hopefully I donāt have to replace my DAC too. I currently have a Naim uniti atom HE which sounds very nice and is super convenient to use. But since the rest of my audio chain is getting into TOTL territory I hope my DAC wonāt be holding me back. Otherwise one more thing to buyā¦
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Wow, congrats! Thatās serious gear!
I donāt know the NAIM except by brand reputation; Iād expect it will be fine. The BiFrost 2 we had feeding the 13rr at CANJAM is only about a $700 DAC. Was my first time hearing that DAC as well, but with 13r it sounded fantastic.
Once into uber-high-end, the game shifts toward feeling out personal preferences and building chains that synergize well and deliver what you like. Like, Holo DACs seem to deliver a natural, refined, but relaxed presentation with great staging. Other high-end DACs can be more strident and punchy, which sounds great in an altogether different way.
Comparing those two amps side by side sounds enlightening. Iām definitely interested to hear about that experience when you try it. And if you have more than one DAC available, it would be interesting (after youāve had some time to acclimate to your NAIM) to hear whether changing things up modifies the end result much and how.
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Thanks Iāll definitely be relaying my impressions. Especially since I also have an LCD-5 incoming. As for the DAC I agree, iāll try the Naim for now and then if I feel iām missing out Iāll try another DAC to see if it enhances the setup.
TBH the Naim is SO well executed and user friendly (great build, looks, super stable, takes Roon/Airplay/Chromecast) that another DAC would have to sound much better for me to replace it. If it sounds just a little better Iāll just keep the naim, as I know of no other all in one in that price range that does what it does.
In the end Iāll only be able to keep one pair of HPs, a DAC and an amp. So it will be interesting what i end up withā¦
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Very cool. Thatās another can I want more time with.
I heard it at CANJAM, but their setup wasnāt the greatest, and I was mildly underwhelmed. I would like to hear that on other chains and with a better selection of music. Iām sure itās capable of more than what I got out of my brief audition.
Weight savings was very welcome, though. And overall comfort was pretty great.
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Thanks for the info. Iāll def check both the LCD5 and Susvara when I have them, i think the system will do them justice and let them both shine to see which one is really the best, unless my Naim DAC somehow makes everything sound average, but i doubt it.
Sorry, late reply to this. Iāve tried the perforated leather and the hybrid Dekoni pads with Susvara. My personal opinion is the stock pads are the best. The others reduce the soundstage and make the mids much more foward. The FR starts to resemble more like the Abyss TC-1266 so thatās why probably some people who own the TC1266 and Sus like those pads.
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curious to see how the hybrid dekoni pads compare to stock if you have that graph as well 
I cant find my squiggle for it, and I donāt have it anymore. But I think it measured very similarly to the perf leather.
All good mate. Need to be quick around these woods. I sold them already!
Werenāt quite my sound.
LCD-5 is incoming sometime soon. And picking up a TT2 tomorrow too, that neat desktop setup.
Ive heard great things about the LCD5ā¦ I want to try one for science.
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My interest is also science based.
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Thatās what I tell my wife - for science and learning.
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LCD5 is the real deal, but itās quite technical.
Ultimately itās probably going to be moving on as Susvara is still the overall better HP
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question is when would you pick up your sennheisers 600 series when you have all those juicy flagships to choose from?
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One of those is the HE60 electrostat (baby orpheus) which is probably my favorite of the lot!
HD580 and HD580 Jubilee even more so (if valuing tone), are just the best headphones ever made for a natural timbre and neutral response - just donāt expect deep bass or top of the line detail from these.
Musicality is sometimes more important than technical ability. A balancing act of both is what makes a headphone very special - only a handful of those exist.
Cheers 
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with all the new HPās it appears nothing has yet bested the susvara or abyssā¦