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Susvara with A30Pro on low gain?

VariousArtists

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I had a chance to demo Susvara at home today with my Topping A30Pro. I heard lots of stories of how Susvara loves power and only plays nice with overkill speaker amps, which I took with a pinch of salt.

What still surprised me is that I was able to use it at low gain and volume pot at 2-3 o’clock, and the listening volume was adequate for me. I generally listen at low volume but if I turn the pot further it does get uncomfortably loud for me. As far as I know I don’t have an issue with overly sensitive ears. I did not perceive any distortion at low gain.

Do I have any misconception in the above and should I stay at low gain or switch to med/high gain and dial the volume pot back to match the listening level? Is there any difference in terms of sound quality if the overall volume is matched?

Generally, should I try to stay at the lowest gain if I can use the pot to get to a good listening level?
 

Jimbob54

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Generally, should I try to stay at the lowest gain if I can use the pot to get to a good listening level?
Yes. I think @JohnYang1997 (designer of the Topping amps) suggests using whichever gain setting is unity/ 0dB as technically the cleanest but ultimately, wont make a blind bit of difference. If you are happy at that level of volume, all the better. By the way, do you apply any EQ? That is when things start to get tricky.
 
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VariousArtists

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Yes. I think @JohnYang1997 (designer of the Topping amps) suggests using whichever gain setting is unity/ 0dB as technically the cleanest but ultimately, wont make a blind bit of difference. If you are happy at that level of volume, all the better. By the way, do you apply any EQ? That is when things start to get tricky.

Thanks for the tips! No EQ yet but maybe I should give it a try to understand the importance of headroom better.

Btw unity gain is the middle one (0db) right? Wouldn’t the -14db gain be even cleaner technically? As you can see I am a total beginner :)
 

Jimbob54

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Thanks for the tips! No EQ yet but maybe I should give it a try to understand the importance of headroom better.

Btw unity gain is the middle one (0db) right? Wouldn’t the -14db gain be even cleaner technically? As you can see I am a total beginner :)
Above my pay grade as to why technically unity gain is better but it shouldn't matter to us mortals with normal hearing. The definite thing to avoid is using high gain when you haven't maxed lower gain settings. Higher noise floor.

I don't know the a30 but on other recent toppings mid gain has been 0/unity. Which means with the dial at max, its outputting what your dac is inputting.
 
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