The S17 can do 16V output and MJ3 can do 17V. But that's a difference of 0.5dB so any differences there are likely just going to be down to which of the two amps you prefer the sound of.
Remember, for tungsten, the 32 Ohm power spec is completely irrelevant. That gives an indication of current capability but the limitation with Tungsten is voltage. You need to look at the 300 Ohm spec. (0.9W on S17 and 1.0W on MJ3)
Yep, fortunately Aune has a 150 ohm spec for the amp and that's what I used to calculate voltage and I came around the same number as you.
So I'm missing 4v in order to reach the recommended and "magical" 20v number to run Tungsten SS, in theory with my amp I could drive tungsten SS up to 109dB(not planning to listen that high tho lol!), do you think that would be enough in order to get he most out of tungsten or I'm gonna be missing a lot?
Yep, fortunately Aune has a 150 ohm spec for the amp and that's what I used to calculate voltage and I came around the same number as you.
So I'm missing 4v in order to reach the recommended and "magical" 20v number to run Tungsten SS, in theory with my amp I could drive tungsten SS up to 109dB(not planning to listen that high tho lol!), do you think that would be enough in order to get he most out of tungsten or I'm gonna be missing a lot?
The 20V figure isn't a particular target, it's just that due to the components and rail voltages used in many designs, it's very very common for headphone amps to end up with a max output voltage of ~10V or ~20V.
The 10V amps will be fine if you don't listen all that loud. (I use a 10V amp for example). The 20V amps will be fine for the majority of people.
If you listen loud and need more than 20V, firstly you should work on listening quieter as you are listening at unsafe levels, but secondly you'll usually just need to look at speaker amps at that point.
The key thing to remember though is that voltage requirement scales logarithmically. 30V won't get you 50% more than 20V, it'll just get you ~3.5dB more.
People may not be aware of this and so sometimes people seem to be worrying about a small voltage difference when in reality it's going to affect the driving potential by maybe a dB if that.
But also due to this and the fact that Tungsten sensitivity happens to land it right in that 10-30V region, it's simply not a case of 'can X amp drive Tungsten?' and instead almost entirely about how loud you listen
The 20V figure isn't a particular target, it's just that due to the components and rail voltages used in many designs, it's very very common for headphone amps to end up with a max output voltage of ~10V or ~20V.
The 10V amps will be fine if you don't listen all that loud. (I use a 10V amp for example). The 20V amps will be fine for the majority of people.
If you listen loud and need more than 20V, firstly you should work on listening quieter as you are listening at unsafe levels, but secondly you'll usually just need to look at speaker amps at that point.
The key thing to remember though is that voltage requirement scales logarithmically. 30V won't get you 50% more than 20V, it'll just get you ~3.5dB more.
People may not be aware of this and so sometimes people seem to be worrying about a small voltage difference when in reality it's going to affect the driving potential by maybe a dB if that.
But also due to this and the fact that Tungsten sensitivity happens to land it right in that 10-30V region, it's simply not a case of 'can X amp drive Tungsten?' and instead almost entirely about how loud you listen
Thanks Golden, this was very helpful, I do plan to get tungsten SS version, need to save a little bit of cash and more importantly, be able to get to order one because right now it's kind of impossible to do so, last sales drop it sold out in less than a minute, so right now it's kind of a game of chairs but in turbo mode.
The 20V figure isn't a particular target, it's just that due to the components and rail voltages used in many designs, it's very very common for headphone amps to end up with a max output voltage of ~10V or ~20V.
The 10V amps will be fine if you don't listen all that loud. (I use a 10V amp for example). The 20V amps will be fine for the majority of people.
If you listen loud and need more than 20V, firstly you should work on listening quieter as you are listening at unsafe levels, but secondly you'll usually just need to look at speaker amps at that point.
The key thing to remember though is that voltage requirement scales logarithmically. 30V won't get you 50% more than 20V, it'll just get you ~3.5dB more.
People may not be aware of this and so sometimes people seem to be worrying about a small voltage difference when in reality it's going to affect the driving potential by maybe a dB if that.
But also due to this and the fact that Tungsten sensitivity happens to land it right in that 10-30V region, it's simply not a case of 'can X amp drive Tungsten?' and instead almost entirely about how loud you listen
I just want to give a shout out to everyone that has posted info on Holo Audio products here. I've only had my Spring 3 KTE and Bliss KTE wired in for a week. And as I was writing this my Red arrived! It will soon receive a Purple fuse I bought for it and I'm awaiting a Tubulus Concentus to be delivered in the next week or two. Normally I like to audition audio components before purchasing, but the measurements and commentary by fellow enthusiasts checked all the boxes for what I was looking for. I know I still have a couple more weeks before everything settles in but at this point I couldn't be happier at this point. Of course this also means that I need to remaster my 42TB of 24bit PGGB files into 19 to 21 bit files (although initial listening leaves me to believe that 21 bit sounds better). And I'm awaiting Purple fuses for the Sping and Bliss. Again, THANK YOU!
I just want to give a shout out to everyone that has posted info on Holo Audio products here. I've only had my Spring 3 KTE and Bliss KTE wired in for a week. And as I was writing this my Red arrived! It will soon receive a Purple fuse I bought for it and I'm awaiting a Tubulus Concentus to be delivered in the next week or two. Normally I like to audition audio components before purchasing, but the measurements and commentary by fellow enthusiasts checked all the boxes for what I was looking for. I know I still have a couple more weeks before everything settles in but at this point I couldn't be happier at this point. Of course this also means that I need to remaster my 42TB of 24bit PGGB files into 19 to 21 bit files (although initial listening leaves me to believe that 21 bit sounds better). And I'm awaiting Purple fuses for the Sping and Bliss. Again, THANK YOU!
The S17 can do 16V output and MJ3 can do 17V. But that's a difference of 0.5dB so any differences there are likely just going to be down to which of the two amps you prefer the sound of.
Remember, for tungsten, the 32 Ohm power spec is completely irrelevant. That gives an indication of current capability but the limitation with Tungsten is voltage. You need to look at the 300 Ohm spec. (0.9W on S17 and 1.0W on MJ3)
Use Lo-Z for tungsten.
The Hi-Z is intended for dynamic driver headphones and will slightly change their frequency response.
With tungsten the impedance curve is flat so there's no change in FR when using Hi-Z mode but in Hi-Z mode the rated power threshold is lower and so you're better sticking to Lo-Z
Just a heads up, my purple fuse is flipped. Guess this picture was for the EU Holo Bliss, to have it installed this direction. I have the 110V Bliss, I installed this direction, it wasn't as clear. Installing it the opposite direction thats when all the clarity came in. S at bottom R at top.
Don't want everyone to get confused on direction of fuse.
Use Lo-Z for tungsten.
The Hi-Z is intended for dynamic driver headphones and will slightly change their frequency response.
With tungsten the impedance curve is flat so there's no change in FR when using Hi-Z mode but in Hi-Z mode the rated power threshold is lower and so you're better sticking to Lo-Z
This confirms my suspicion. I've tried A/Bing Lo-Z versus Hi-Z but I found that while it sounds the same, my brain is telling me that Hi-Z sounds wrong over time, so I leave it at Lo-Z, and that discomfort goes away.
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