I’ve had my SR1a for a few months now and can echo @MokhaMark’s excellent advice and add a few additional thoughts.
The first time I heard the SR1a was at Schiit’s table at CanJam. Schiit had the Jot R with built-in multibit DAC (which is no longer being offered) next to a stack with the Jot R being fed by the Bifrost 2. Both pairings were outstanding. The SR1a, as @tmarshl notes, benefits from superior sources. This is because it’s incredibly revealing, and even in the loud conditions of the CanJam exhibition space, I could readily appreciate the superior sound quality afforded by the Bifrost 2.
This isn’t to say the internal DAC is inadequate (although I’ve not heard the current DAC that can be installed in the Jot R, which is different from the multibit one I heard). Rather, this is to say that you should be well served by the Jot R with the built-in DAC, but that in the future, you may wish to consider upgrading the DAC, as and when pennies permit. The Bifrost 2 is a good pairing as it imparts a rich, warm, and bassy sound.
I hear you on this; an external DAC, though, won’t necessarily lead to a degradation in sound quality. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of comments about the old multibit DAC not sounding as good as its separate, standalone Modi Multibit DAC (the same board used to go in each) when paired with the regular Jotunheim or Lyr amps.
In addition to @MokhaMark’s observations, my understanding is that some folks like to add a bit of tube flavor to the chain by using a tube preamp. I’ve yet to try this.
I was concerned about these very issues myself and asked Danny of Raal Requisite about the dangers of dust getting into the drivers on head-fi. He responded that it’s not a problem and that he has had his pair out on his workbench for ages without any problem.
That Raal Requisite sells replacement parts is also a strong part of the SR1a’s appeal to me; the drivers cost only $450 to replace (for a pair), if anything should happen to them. Compare that to the Utopia, or Stax headphones, which would cost thousands to replace the drivers.
The one key thing to look for is the condition of the carbon fibre “wings.” I wouldn’t buy a pair from a seller I didn’t know or trust without seeing good pictures of the SR1a.
What follows are some brief thoughts about the Jot R vs the TI-1a interface box with other headphone amps, in case they’re of interest. I started out with the TI-1a and my Monoprice Liquid Gold X amp (which I have for my Audeze headphones) and my Schiit Mjolnir 1 amp. Both put out a lot of power; the interface box still needs amps with a good amount of power - over 2W at 32 ohms, I believe (please verify this for yourself) - to drive the SR1a properly. This means you’d need to spend the $750 on the interface box and then more money on a suitable amp.
I found that the protection circuit in my Liquid Gold X would trip when playing certain pieces of bassy music. I realize that the SR1a isn’t well suited to music with lots of sub-bass, but there were moments when such a piece of music came up next on my playlist and the amp’s protection circuit would get tripped. This, I suspect, is because the amp is designed to be as well protected as possible, and its protection circuit, as a result, is quite sensitive. In other words, you do need to be careful about amp pairings.
In addition, the flavors of the amps you use will also influence the overall sound from the SR1a, which would be something else to consider if you were to go down the TI-1a interface route. This could well require careful component matching.
I decided to try the Jot R because I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the TI-1a pairing with my amps. Frankly, I prefer the Jot R over the interface box with the two amps listed above. The Jot 2 is very dynamic sounding and it adds a bit of low-end heft to the sound, which is a good thing. It’s highly resolving, and as @Torq noted in his review and impressions, it makes for a really great pairing.
The Jot R can be a bit relentless, though, in its presentation of music. I’ve heard the SR1a from the HSA-1b and the VM-1a amps, and they both offer a slightly warmer, more rounded presentation that was richer and sightly mellower and less fatiguing. I mention all this only to point out two things: 1) you may find it helpful to listen at lower volumes than usual with the Jot R because doing so will make the sound less fatiguing (and the SR1a, thanks to their revealing, highly resolving qualities and low distortion, sound great at lower listening levels), and 2) the SR1a are such excellent transducers that they keep scaling with ever better source gear, be it amp or DAC. The SR1a could serve you wonderfully well for years and years, I should think, especially if you’re able to upgrade your chain.
I’m currently experimenting with the TI-1a + Phonitor X pairing vs. the Jot R. Alas, I missed out on @MokhaMark’s recent sale of his HSA-1b amp!
Ok, this is getting too long. I hope the above helps. And I hope the SR1a bring you lots of joy. I’m sure it will!
