Me too! That’s why I love my Atrium! 
It’s a great point of contrast with the Utopia.
Our hobby is so much fun, isn’t it?
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Agree that “Utopia is like Clear only more so” (and I really like the phrasing!). I would add that Utopia is famously (infamously?) sensitive to the upstream chain, I really think a lot of people who say they don’t like it are listening to it on the wrong gear. I know that may sound like “gatekeeping” but it’s not intended that way. I can tell you firsthand Utopia sounds incredibly different on Valhalla vs Lyr vs Stellaris vs Bliss, and I could totally see someone really disliking it on one of them but liking it on another.
I can also totally see Andris’s position that Utopia is the one and only headphone that he needs, it’s just in my nature to try to optimize everything and in the process I nitpick even the best of the best and have to find that “other” thing that fills in the gaps. 
My fatal flaw is that my primary musical interests are on opposite ends of the spectrum, so there really is no one device that’s going to cover it all optimally.
My time with Susvara is very short, so I don’t have any firmly formed opinions on it yet, but I will certainly share them when I do. I owned Arya for a couple of years, so I’m very familiar with the hifiman sound. The only reason I sold it was because once I had Utopia, Arya came up short every time I listened to it. I’m hoping Susvara takes what Arya did, does it better, and adds some special magic on top for good measure.
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I have and really like both, They are just very different. The only real issue I have with the Utopia is it’s sensitivity is so high, getting a completely black background on some amps is sometimes tricky.
The Utopia is pretty magical on DNA and EC amps, they open up the stage a bit more than most options, I use mine mostly on my Studio T, occasionally on the Viva, which is what I primarily use to drive the Susvara.
The Utopia can’t compete with the Susvara on resolution, but the staging has it’s own magic, and I like the overall presentation.
The way I listen to headphones is I tend to cycle through my collection and listen to one for a couple of weeks before swapping, sometime they stay out longer than that. The only TOTL headphone I own that rarely makes it 2 weeks is the 1266 which I’m not a huge fan of.
The only ones that make it a lot longer than 2 weeks on a regular basis are the Susvara, and the MySphere’s, with the MySphere’s pretty easily being my favorite headphone.
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Yep, Utopia + DNA is practically a case study in synergy, and I’ve seen both people who first had a DNA amp and then got a Utopia as well as people who had a Utopia and then got a DNA amp say that. Basically both sides agree they were made for each other.
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I’m not going to admit how long it took me to try the Utopia on the Stratus when I had it here, I certainly owned it for months before I thought to try it and was stunned how good it was.
FWIW the Utopia is the ONLY Focal headphone I like on tubes, I think they tend to make the Clear/Elear/Elex sound like a bloated mess.
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I agree, I like the Utopia (both versions) on tubes too. And also the Stellia, which makes sense since it shares the same driver as the Utopia, even though they don’t sound alike.
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Another beautiful headphone stand from Casey https://midwinterdesignworks.blogspot.com
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I like! They’re very nice 
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Let’s see how long it takes for these to be finished and arrive in Germany.
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Probably a while, so buckle up and be patient…
I ordered my Eikon(ic) on 12/21 and naively thought it would come quickly, as it was a built set. But I didn’t get it until 2/7! Boo 
But it will be worth the wait I think.
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Hmm. As a fellow Stellaris owner, I’m curious what you’ll think of the Susvara/Stellaris pairing.
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So, it’s early yet, so I retain the right to change my mind with more time to analyze & consider, but initial impression is that Susvara is magnificent on 8/10 on Stellaris. On 10/10 it’s deafening. Need more time to consider the dynamics, speed, timbre, etc. of Sus on solid state vs tubes, but initial impression is that Stellaris drives it “competently” at worst.
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Ok I’ve been meaning to ask…Zach says the Eikon(ic) is the OG Eikon with the new driver, but no Atrium Dampening System. Is that what yours is? Or does yours (and others from ZMF November) have the ADS?
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My new Eikon doesn’t have ADS, and Zach has said he wasn’t going to incorporate ADS into the new production Eikons. That would be a whole other headphone! No doubt requiring a complete redesign.
The extent of the upgrade is the new driver. The Eikon sounds pretty great as it is, which is a really fun headphone particularly for rock, electronic, reggae, etc. Anytime you really want to feel that bass in a recording.
It’s still very good for other genres, it has luscious mids and nice definition in the treble as well.
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Not headfi but I’m pretty stoked to upgrade my Denon S720w receiver. I’ve been looking for awhile now for a new AVR but not really needing/wanting to spend on something new. Came across a somewhat local deal yesterday on usaudiomart for the Marantz Cinema40 I couldn’t pass up. Seller shipped it in the afternoon and bammm!!….
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I think it is headfi. 
Try the headphone out. It might be a decent OPAMP in there. 
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Very nice, congrats! I have a mid-grade Marantz (NR1710) and really like it, though the HEOS app leaves a lot to be desired (which can easily be solved with Roon)
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So, they don’t have a box for this yet - it just came in a plain brown box. Sherri told me that I had the option to wait for the boxes, manuals, etc. to come in from the printers, or just have it shipped out and get PDFs of the documentation later… So, without further ado:
They will typically come with an aluminum face plate, but I wasn’t one of the cool kids who got to enjoy the aesthetic of the J2, so I requested plexiglass, and the lovely people at Geshelli were able to accommodate. Also pictured are the Sparkos SS2590 Pro Op Amps - 8 in total. This thing is a monster! Sounds great! Runs all of my amps simultaneously, so I can listen with friends… now I just need to make some 
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