The A90 either has enough power to get a certain dB headroom out of the Susvarna or it doesn't. The rest of this waxing poetic anecdotal subjective crap is just that. Don't let these golden ears fool you into thinking there's magic involved here. There isn't.
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Amp for Susvara?
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Zenairis
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I can confirm this from my A90, Can run comfortable volume levels at Medium gain 48% on the volume nob. I'm still thinking about getting the PRE90 for my stack though and skipping the 2nd set of Silver Dragons until I can actually afford them.
Trust me if you have a D90/D90SE and it's paired with a A90 it will still take your breath away. I find myself constantly hearing things I've never heard in music or even games with my Susvara. It's sad that it kills the Gen 2 Arya this much, Yeah given it's MSRP almost 4 times the price. Still though the harmonics on this headphone ESPECIALLY on a neutral DAC/AMP/PREAMP are absolutely insane.
It's also interesting to note pure silver cables seem to drive it even more neutral at least to my ears over copper. I don't know why the Silver Dragons do, but over pure copper and copper with silver plating. Even though Moon Audio themselves recommends the Black Dragons (Copper with Silver) I personally prefer the Silvers on them-it adds smoothness (strangely enough) and makes the details more revealing. My warning if you buy the Silvers BREAK THEM IN FIRST. Back when I bought them for my Arya they actually hurt my ears until after breaking them in they smoothed out a lot after break in once that's done it's pure bliss.
It actually makes me wonder how colored DAC/AMPs effects the Susvara amp wise seeing how sensitive this headphone is to a good signal.
Uh huh
Another foolish golden eared bat joining ASR to expouse their hearing abilities or, a troll
Goobly gook. There is no difference in cables other than the resistance of the conductor(s). You are imagining things that are not there.
Zenairis
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Sure,
Not quite sure why everyone tends to argue this when a few guys who laughed at people and started making their own cables to prove people wrong and up shooting themselves in the foot when they themselves ended up hearing a difference.
Differences in conductors and gauges are noticeable especially on current hungry headphones.
This applies to Ethernet cables as well. I recently solved a friends issue where he was calling up his ISP and telling them to fix his service dropouts and severe ping issues. I had him replace his current CAT5E cables with a newer higher grade/shielded CAT cable, his ping decreased by almost 50% and if you don't believe it I'll just post pictures
Conductors and shielding make all the difference in the world to equipment, arguing it with someone who works with electrical engineering is futile I'll end there.
The comment that I replied to was detailing that the metal(s) that the conductor are made from change the sound. Other than a larger or smaller voltage drop across that cable due to the resistance of the conductor there will be no change in sound quality. There was no mention of shielding or CAT cable.Sure,
Not quite sure why everyone tends to argue this when a few guys who laughed at people and started making their own cables to prove people wrong and up shooting themselves in the foot when they themselves ended up hearing a difference.
Differences in conductors and gauges are noticeable especially on current hungry headphones.
This applies to Ethernet cables as well. I recently solved a friends issue where he was calling up his ISP and telling them to fix his service dropouts and severe ping issues. I had him replace his current CAT5E cables with a newer higher grade/shielded CAT cable, his ping decreased by almost 50% and if you don't believe it I'll just post pictures
Conductors and shielding make all the difference in the world to equipment, arguing it with someone who works with electrical engineering is futile I'll end there.
Zenairis
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There wasn't but I'm pointing out facts, there will be difference based on conductors, gauge and shielding.
Yes though, another major factor that people do not take into account is the different gauge of wire, this coupled with different conductors do impact the sound signature because of the differences in electrical resistance as you said. It's not a massive difference no unless the cable is just a horribly made cable (as in the guys case I was talking about with the Ethernet. Which I should have referenced)
I'm not disputing that a cable can sound different as I have seen one RCA interconnect cable that sounded different and I have no idea why. It was sharper sounding than 2 other cables that I compared it to. It was a DIN cable intended for a phono application. I chopped off the DIN connector and put on 2 RCA terminations and then I compared it to a MIT Cable and a Monster Cable interconnect. The result was as mentioned either a decrease in low frequency or something happening with the higher frequencies. I decided to use it for a tri-amp'd home system on the tweeters amp connection.
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Agree- massive FUD going on in this thread with not a controlled listening exercise in sight. To the point where the best option is accepted as a $3000 head amp plus a $1000 power supply OR a $3k plus power amp (with a suitable pre in front).
And yes, I accepted everything is presented as preference and opinion but thats still not an excuse for the worship of gewgaws seen here.
I'm seeing a lot of chatter about this Ferrum OOR/HYPNOS for Susvara in this thread and all over reddit/youtube. This combo (and the amp individually) has been measured by goldensound (https://goldensound.audio/2021/10/27/ferrum-oor-and-hypsos-measurements/). As much as I don't like goldensound's subjective opinions, this is a quote from his measurements:
And people are going around saying this is good for IEMs? Low-gain @ low impedance /w HYPSOS. Without Hypsos the power supply distortion goes away.
It's a high power amp and able to swing a lot of voltage, and seemingly it looks and feels gorgeous, and performance is decent throughout most of its operational parameters. But this is hardly an engineering marvel, especially for $4000+ when cheaper products do it better. A $2000 addon external PSU for the base product actually makes the performance WORSE in some conditions?! Save your money and get a TOTL A90/D90 topping or similar stack for <~$1700 which has enough to transparently drive ear-splitting levels. Or if the money is really burning a hole in your pocket there is the HPA4. I've literally seen people on youtube saying how much their Susvara was "elevated" by adding a AHB2 power amp to their already adequate HPA4 to drive a headphone. Give me a break.
People need to get a grip on this. Figuring out if an amplifier has the "special sauce" for your headphone is simply a matter of reading the specs of each device and doing some basic mathematics (or perhaps using a headphone calculator) and making sure you have some headroom for very dynamic content/transients above your listening volume. If there is still an amp out there that can't do what you want it to you, the problem is either the listener or the headphones just suck or are not worth the trouble.
And people are going around saying this is good for IEMs? Low-gain @ low impedance /w HYPSOS. Without Hypsos the power supply distortion goes away.
It's a high power amp and able to swing a lot of voltage, and seemingly it looks and feels gorgeous, and performance is decent throughout most of its operational parameters. But this is hardly an engineering marvel, especially for $4000+ when cheaper products do it better. A $2000 addon external PSU for the base product actually makes the performance WORSE in some conditions?! Save your money and get a TOTL A90/D90 topping or similar stack for <~$1700 which has enough to transparently drive ear-splitting levels. Or if the money is really burning a hole in your pocket there is the HPA4. I've literally seen people on youtube saying how much their Susvara was "elevated" by adding a AHB2 power amp to their already adequate HPA4 to drive a headphone. Give me a break.
People need to get a grip on this. Figuring out if an amplifier has the "special sauce" for your headphone is simply a matter of reading the specs of each device and doing some basic mathematics (or perhaps using a headphone calculator) and making sure you have some headroom for very dynamic content/transients above your listening volume. If there is still an amp out there that can't do what you want it to you, the problem is either the listener or the headphones just suck or are not worth the trouble.
Last edited:
westyjeff
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Here is the best way to break in an audio cable!!
MalinYamato
Senior Member
Hi all,
I am really tempted to get a Susvara. First I was thinking of an LCD-5 but here, the price diff between the two is only USD 500, which makes getting a Susvara a no-brainer... Is my Singxer SA-1 amp enough to drive a Susvara or do I need to upgrade my amp?
I am really tempted to get a Susvara. First I was thinking of an LCD-5 but here, the price diff between the two is only USD 500, which makes getting a Susvara a no-brainer... Is my Singxer SA-1 amp enough to drive a Susvara or do I need to upgrade my amp?
Zenairis
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It’s an incredible headphone even without being at it’s best. I’ll have my Ferrum Oor and Hypsos tomorrow so I’ll come back and comment about it. It still sounds incredible on the A90 even though it can’t push it to its best.
MalinYamato
Senior Member
wow, those are expensive amps, yet I have seen Ferrum being used among top reviewers on the net. I bought a relatively cheap amp a Singxer SA-1 but if that is not enough next step is probably a Burson audio soloist 3x which is probably a number of steps down from what you get but should be powerful enough -- cannot afford more.
Zenairis
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Or not, Just got a update that the shipping was delayed. So expect a update later this weekend
My experience is, if you would like to eq, like adding 5db bass shelf. You may need a more powerful amp (not necessarily more expensive)
MalinYamato
Senior Member
Ferrum Oor comes with a power supply so why do you need a Hypsos?
to empty your wallet ... oops, i mean to make the real magic happen.
Roland68
Major Contributor
The Singxer SA-1 will need a DAC with a higher output voltage (from about 6 volts) for the Susvara, otherwise you will not reach the required volume.
Alternatively, you could also check out the Violectric headphone amps. These work with a higher voltage on the transistors of approx. 2 x 30 volts (compared to the usual 2 x 15 volts or even only 1 x 24 volts). In addition, the gain setting is much more practical in 5 steps (-12 - +12dB or -18 - +18dB), i.e. perfect from sensitive IEM to Susvara.
I recently stumbled across the Fluxlab FA-10 and FA-10 Pro (16W into 32 ohms, wow) but haven't heard of this one. They work with 2 x 40 volts. If that's not enough, they also have the VOLOT as Dual Mono Class-A with two 55W toroidal transformers
.I used the violectric v380 with the susvara's and can confirm (at least for me) it was "enough" to power them at the highest settings.The Singxer SA-1 will need a DAC with a higher output voltage (from about 6 volts) for the Susvara, otherwise you will not reach the required volume.
Alternatively, you could also check out the Violectric headphone amps. These work with a higher voltage on the transistors of approx. 2 x 30 volts (compared to the usual 2 x 15 volts or even only 1 x 24 volts). In addition, the gain setting is much more practical in 5 steps (-12 - +12dB or -18 - +18dB), i.e. perfect from sensitive IEM to Susvara.
I recently stumbled across the Fluxlab FA-10 and FA-10 Pro (16W into 32 ohms, wow) but haven't heard of this one. They work with 2 x 40 volts. If that's not enough, they also have the VOLOT as Dual Mono Class-A with two 55W toroidal transformers
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