AMP for Hifiman Arya

[Ole_S]

Hi guys,

I have just bought a couple of Hifiman Arya.
I have a Qudelix 5K, but I am not sure if the AMP is a great match for these headphones?

Thank you.

 

[FrantzM]

It is you're good to go, and EQ.

Peace.

 

[wunderkind]

Do you enjoy the sound? Are your feet tapping along to the beat. If yes, why the doubt and possibly discontentment?

 

[Dunring]

If it's loud enough, then your good. The only EQ setting I ever used on the original Arya was to shave a little down on the upper mid peak. You don't need additional power if that's all you do.

 

[Ole_S]

Power and EQ are both important to me.
That's why I picked Qudelix 5K for my Sudara.

 

[JIW]

According to Amir's tests, it goes up to 1.5 V RMS at least before distortion rises on the 3.5 mm and probably double that on the 2.5 mm. This is based on maximum current being calculated from 33 Ohm power of 85 mW RMS: 1/33*(85/1000*33)^.5 = 0.05 A RMS, the impedance being measured as 30 Ohm and the fact that 2.5 mm power at 50 Ohm is four times 3.5 mm power.

Amir measures the sensitivity as 94 dB SPL corresponding to a 214 mV input. For the 3.5 mm, this gives a maximum peak SPL of
94 - 20*log10(214/1000) + 20*log10(30/33*(85/1000*33)^.5) + 10*log10(2) = 114.05 dB SPL.
For the 2.5 mm, this is 20*log10(2) = 6.02 dB higher, i.e. 120.07 dB SPL.

For the most dynamical recordings this may be limiting but for almost anything else, it is enough even if you subtract a couple dB for EQ. 1.5 V is 2.5 dB below 2 V so if your volume setting without using EQ does not exceed -2.5 dB, you will be fine. With EQ, the filters ring and thus even if only cutting, peak levels can be higher than without EQ.

 

[campermate]

As an Arya Organic owner, I wanted to take up the topic again. I use the headphones with a Qudelix T71, which has a bit more oomph than the 5k (240mW vs 320mW on balanced). Qudelix has never officially published the figures for the T71, but from the application note of the INA1620 I read the 320mW. The operating range for me is between 40mV and 284mV (all with 5dB pre-amp for EQ considered) which gives me ~18dB (5mW / 320mW) of "headroom" if I can call it that. (calculated with 92dBSPL/1mW).
Why the hell am I even bothering with a more powerful amp? All those videos on YT and luminaries on head-fi made me feel insecure. They like to say that they really "wake up" the Arya and "open up", improve soundstage, layering, etc. Burson Conductor 3X GT make the Arya sing you know.. I don't really know who to believe. I wouldn't mind ordering a $2k AMP on a trial basis just to get that experience, but I can't imagine with the best will in the world that it would make that much of a noticeable difference. For me, an AMP has only one task: to amplify as transparently as possible. I have no experience with tube amplifiers, but I can imagine that they sound different from solid-state (but: different != better).
Has anyone used the Aryas on both a Qudelix and a more powerful amp? Has anyone noticed an improvement? Do I have to learn the hard way and just order an expensive amplifier?

 

[Blorg]

The pre-Stealth Arya was much harder to drive. I think that's where the mythology comes from.

 

[IAtaman]

Qudelix 5K outputs 2V unbalanced and can deliver up to 80mW per channel. So should be good for Arya. If you need more power, you can always get a balanced cable for double the voltage and 240mW power per channel.

 

[IXOYE]

If it's loud enough and you still have some headroom then your good

 

[Verig]

Conductors were fine closer to $1000 point but now 2k is really steep for a hp amp. Sure, go ahead and try, then you know. I for one would never drive my gear with "most likely enough" amps, that makes no sense. There are fine cheaper powerful options to try of course but this is a hobby so...

 

[Blorg]

I would just add, get a balanced cable if you don't have one. That's $10-15 and gets you 4x the power out of the Qudelix. I ran the Arya Stealth of the Qudelix balanced and it was pretty much fine I thought. But as the balanced cable does get you 4x the power for not very much money at all, worth trying that before you splurge on a desktop amp.