I don’t believe that I am competent to make a meaningful suggestion. I have not tried cables that fit your criteria, and don’t know your taste in music nor your other equipment. Nevertheless I suspect you will know when you have landed on the various parts that make a great whole. You are certainly well on the way!
Thank you Rickruss for your post. I agree with you. You may like Chocolate and I may like Strawberry ice cream. Both are good, but for whom. I noticed Danacable has a Lazuli Reference cable that is close to my price range. I’ve been reading reviews about it and some say it is a pretty good cable too. So I’m thinking I give it a try. Cheers.
Here is a track that just made for the Susvara - incredible sense of space, with clear instrumentation separation, I love early into song the deep organ drone in the background then open up rich but simple guitar riff that steps forward in the mix
New Order Low Life Elegia.
Going back to the RAD-0 can feel congested in a compressed volume of space.
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The one and only phone I have that sounds acceptable on pure silver is the HE6se, but considering its rock-bottom sensitivity…
On all others I have it’s a mish-mash of copper, aluminium and silver. Aluminium is good for taming silver but on its own…eesh!
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Ah, with regards to aesthetics there are no two more easy on the eye headphones in the world. Just IMHO of course. The missing third would be the Elear with Utopia pads. You gotta see it to believe it.
Here we have the modern yet already timeless classic shared by all Elear-Class Focals in sharp contrast with the decidedly art-deco inspired Susvara. Another oddity from Hifiman is the HE400i-inspired frame, with a superior headband goes without saying. But still, on that model one would have expected the same headband that equips both the HE6se and the Sundara.
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You really as mad as me you not? I got the Elegia last Fall in my rush to complete the part of my collection devoted to the Elear-Class Focals. No worries I’m not spoiling it for you with an impromptu review 
I was talking about a track from New Order an 80’s band. ; ) . Not the. Headphone
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I’m sorta curious with the talks on cables. Wouldn’t internal recabling also be something to consider?
FWIW, the internal wires on my Susvara are oxidizing as from day 1.
ROFL that’s a good one. 
I should have guessed it wasn’t the headphone because only collectors would buy the two of them, it’s one or the other. Anyway since there is nothing left to spoil I’m feeling free to voice my opinion: of all Elear-Class Focals the Elegia is the poorest sounding. I would buy the Hifiman Sundara over the Elegia any day because, well, the Sundara sounds A LOT better Elegia has absolutely nothing in common with the Stellia except for overall Focal signature styling. I don’t think you would have liked the Elegia that much. It’s not that it sounds bad per se, in fact it does not, it’s just a little too muffled for my taste save for the infamous Focal Scream, which is not much better. Last but not least with that phone you gotta turn preamp gain down (with DSP) otherwise it clips even at moderate levels, as if the drivers housing was too small. But that could be due to unbroken cans as well I reckon.
I always get new cables for Hifiman headphones, I just do not like the cable that come in the box.
so the 789 on balanced xlr out will suffice for the susvara?
You’ll have about a watt of spare power from the THX AAA 789 at 120 dB/SPL, so it should have ample power.
Scratch that, it’s pre-coffee time so I missed a couple of important points …
First, the THX AAA 789 only delivers 3.2W into 60 ohms, not the full 6W. So that’d cap at 118 dB/SPL (not really a meaningful difference, as its well into “stupidly dangerous” territory anyway).
Second, I’m not sure what the voltage rail limits are on the unit - from memory I’m pretty sure it hits at least 16V, and may go higher, but I’d have to go digging through my measurements to be sure.
One of the reasons the Susvara has such a reputation for being a massive power hog is less to do with the headphones (though they are extremely inefficient), and more to do with the fact that most headphone amplifiers that are rated as powerful enough, technically, to hit normal listening levels are pushing up against their limits to do so. Where with most other headphones they’ve still have plenty of headroom and be operating within their sweet-spots.
Amplifiers rarely perform their best anywhere near their limits.
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Ah, yeah in that case I agree. I have also replaced my cable though I just re-terminated an older cable to work with the Susvara.
What I meant was if one believes cables to have a noticeable impact on the sound, wouldn’t one also consider to replace the internal wires? I ask this because the internal wires on my unit were already oxidizing from day 1, and I would assume that oxidation would be detrimental to the sound. On that note, I would like to know if other’s Susvara’s internal cables are also oxidizing.
Edit: Sorry, I realize you didn’t necessarily take this stance. I just saw a few posts about that above.
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Oh yeah, I sure do that as well. Focal cables are just about the only native cables I never replace because, well, they are good and besides, they cost over $200 for the unbalanced pair of the Elear and Clear, not the kind of money to part with especially knowing any third-party replacement is bound to sound worse.
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We must keep in mind that Hifiman’s business model differs somewhat from those in the West. Using cheap but easily replaceable parts on esoteric phones is just but one oddity that helps keep the price down. Another is that said cables are often very short.
One thing I love to try is the RAD-0 Pad on Susvara.
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I look forward to hearing back from you as to how the new Danacables Lazuli Reference sound to you.
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Thanks Rick. I will let you know.
Bobby
Well, I finally received an upgrade cable for the Susvara with 6.5 mm jack.
To test the cable I decided to pull out the RME ADI-2 DAC fs DAC amp TCA HPA-1 ( Using the RME DAC into TCA via XLR)
My question was do these two amps have the juice to drive clean the hungriest Planer headphone I own.
The answer is yes, You will need to run in the Hi-Power/Hi-Gain mode. I have been testing it with EDM & Electronics tracks + classic rock ( Stones, Led Zep, Jimmy, etc) Note you be around -14 dB to -6dB open this headphone up on the RME and 1 o’clock or more on HPA-1. I can get little more drive on RME.
No do I still enjoy this headphone more on Zmf Pendent, but this was still a very good listening experience. Yes I still get deep bass lines These are very good headphones
Very fun track on the RME with great detail. Telepopmusik δp.δq ≥ h⁄4π “L’incertitude d’Heisenberg”
Had to add one more song The Chemical Brothers The Private Psychedelic Reel
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SPL Phonitor x with +12 dB engaged sound great with these headphones, with the RME ADI-2 DAC fs as input DAC over XLR again. You have plenty of room on the gain knob to go deaf. As they say, play music responsibly.
Ok for giggles, I tried the Xduoo XD05 Plus Portable DAC/AMP with Susvara. One thing I would caution is if you distortion on Susvara, mostly likely your amp is clipping. Which can get this amp on gain level 3 with the volume knob a little past 2 o’clock to distort. But the amp has plenty of power to drive the headphone to an enjoyable level I need to measure it but it north of 85 dB clean. Now I have my Susvera Backpack solution when I am on the road.
Remember it is XMOS XU208 with USB-C connector, AKM AK4493EQ DAC, Dual upgradable TI OPA1621 opamps = 1 Watt at 32 Ohms with a 6.5 mm/1/4 inch headphone jack. Three-level of Gain and Bass boost on the front along with analog volume pot
Just reminder on power needs
| 85 dB SPL | Voltage Needed | Current Needed | Power Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stelia | 0.02 Vrms | 0.57 mA | 0.01 mW |
| Utopia | 0.03 Vrms | 0.38 mA | 0.01 mW |
| LCD-4 | 0.11 Vrms | 0.55 mA | 0.06 mW |
| Aeon Flow Open | 0.04 Vrms | 3.08 mA | 0.12 mW |
| AB-1266 Phi TC | 0.15 Vrms | 3.19 mA | 0.48 mW |
| Heddphone | 0.16 Vrms | 3.81 mA | 0.61 mW |
| Susvara | 0.31 Vrms | 5.17 mA | 1.6 mW |
| 100 dB SPL | Voltage Needed | Current Needed | Power Needed |
| Stelia | 0.09 Vrms | 2.57 mA | 0.23 mW |
| Utopia | 0.18 Vrms | 2.25 mA | 0.41 mW |
| LCD-4 | 0.63 Vrms | 3.15 mA | 1.98 mW |
| Aeon Flow Open | 0.2 Vrms | 15.38 mA | 3.08 mW |
| AB-1266 Phi TC | 0.86 Vrms | 18.3 mA | 15.74 mW |
| Heddphone | 0.92 Vrms | 21.9 mA | 20.15 mW |
| Susvara | 1.73 Vrms | 28.83 mA | 49.88 mW |
| 110 dB SPL | Voltage Needed | Current Needed | Power Needed |
| Stelia | 0.3 Vrms | 8.57 mA | 2.57 mW |
| Utopia | 0.56 Vrms | 7 mA | 3.92 mW |
| LCD-4 | 2 Vrms | 10 mA | 20 mW |
| Aeon Flow Open | 0.64 Vrms | 49.23 mA | 31.51 mW |
| AB-1266 Phi TC | 2.73 Vrms | 58.09 mA | 158.57 mW |
| Heddphone | 2.9 Vrms | 69.05 mA | 200.24 mW |
| Susvara | 5.49 Vrms | 91.5 mA | 502.34 mW |
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