[mfgillia]

Happy to report, I spent all day yesterday at CanJam hearing all the TOTL SS amps (Ferrum stack, Bliss/May stack, DCS Lina Stack), as well as a few TOTL tube amps (Aegis, ZMF Decware OTL, and Feliks Envy), and nothing bested my HA300MK2.

What was your general impression of the Aegis? Some friends from chat groups are raving about it's performance with Tungstens and ZMFs.

 

[Wes S]

What was your general impression of the Aegis? Some friends from chat groups are raving about it's performance with Tungstens and ZMFs.

I am buying one soon, it was that good.

 

[dpump]

The Cayin HA300Mk2 amp is rated at 6,000mw power output at its high impedance setting.

Does that power output figure depend on the headphones impedance - and that the power output will be the same if a 60ohm headphone and a 300ohm headphone are used with the switch set for "high impedance"?

Jeff..

Your questions are answered in the specifications.

 

[jonchard]

I only heard the May with the Bliss and DSHA-3F SS amps, and it sounded great, but didn't make me love my Sonnet Morpheus any less. I prefer the more denser/euphonic sound I get with my Morpheus. The May sounded a bit too bright with the 3F, but definitely sounded better with the Bliss.

Congrats Wes on a wicked Day!!! Glad you got to try Susvaras. Did you get to hear them on the same setup as your ZMF? I just wonder how close they might come given the same system. Did you find them bright? Thin, i would understand if you have a slammy headphone ... but with the right tubes and DAC they are not bright. I think its hard to understand their strengths on a first listen. The number of times i took them off in disgust over their lack of bass compared with Sony MDR was funny. But i really want for nothing else now, everything sounds right and i listen to everything as opposed to picking my tunes for being overly bright, or too much much bass (It gets tiresome when EVERYTHING is bassy LOL!). Interested to hear your views. Glad to read you still hold the Cayin in such high regards. I'm still elated with mine and cant see it going enywhere for the a while. I tested the C2CCs the other day and they too are mighty impressive. Seems there something good in most decent tubes...

 

[Wes S]

Congrats Wes on a wicked Day!!! Glad you got to try Susvaras. Did you get to hear them on the same setup as your ZMF? I just wonder how close they might come given the same system. Did you find them bright? Thin, i would understand if you have a slammy headphone ... but with the right tubes and DAC they are not bright. I think its hard to understand their strengths on a first listen. The number of times i took them off in disgust over their lack of bass compared with Sony MDR was funny. But i really want for nothing else now, everything sounds right and i listen to everything as opposed to picking my tunes for being overly bright, or too much much bass (It gets tiresome when EVERYTHING is bassy LOL!). Interested to hear your views. Glad to read you still hold the Cayin in such high regards. I'm still elated with mine and cant see it going enywhere for the a while. I tested the C2CCs the other day and they too are mighty impressive. Seems there something good in most decent tubes...

Thanks and it sure was a wicked two days! I did get to hear the Susvara, ZMF Atrium Closed (newest dynamic), and ZMF Caldera (newest planar), as well as my ZMF Verite Closed (my familiar) all off the same system and I was ABing between the four off the DCS Lina stack for a good long while. I feel the DCS Lina Stack was one of the best systems to compare headphones on at the show, as it has quite a reference type sound that lets you hear what the headphones bring to the table, and it can drive the Sus no prob. I was also listening to this system and comparing the four headphones in the DCS private listening room, of which was the quietest/best place to listen at the show. The Susvara are incredible and the longer I listened the more seductive they became. I was pleasantly suprised at how much punch they had, and I wouldn't say they were bass light at all, and they are just incredibly well balanced. When I was listening to certain well recorded tracks that I have heard a thousand times before, it was the best I had ever heard those songs. The thing is it just lacks a bit of weight for certain tracks and genres and I often have to turn it up way too loud to get the dynamics where I want them to be, and then the fatigue will eventually set in no doubt. I don't really think they are too bright at all, and if they just had a bit more bloom/weight and punch/dynamics in the middbass it would be perfection. If I had the money to own the Sus and the Caldera I absolutely would own them both in a heartbeat. Heck, I still might own both evetually, but for now I have my sights on another yet to be released headphone, of which is the ZMF Caldera Closed (it's still being developed) and I have a really good feeling this will be my dream headphone. After hearing the open version of the Caldera, and knowing how Zach usually tunes between an open and closed version of the same headphone, I can't wait to hear the Caldera Closed once that comes out. I think the bass is going be something, but will shall see. Now, on to the Caldera and how it compared to the Sus. They are totally different presentations with each having their own kind of magic, and the Caldera has the weight I look for, and it had good clarity and slam when called for and enough detail to satisfy no doubt. The Caldera wasn't as airy in the treble as the Sus, but the mids were just as lifelike sounding on both for sure, and the Caldera had a more intimate staging, yet has outstanding imaging and staging is such that the music surrounds you from front to back and all around. The Sus was more of an out in front of you presentation, and I could see that working better for certain genres.

 

[Erwinatm]

Thanks and it sure was a wicked two days! I did get to hear the Susvara, ZMF Atrium Closed (newest dynamic), and ZMF Caldera (newest planar), as well as my ZMF Verite Closed (my familiar) all off the same system and I was ABing between the four off the DCS Lina stack for a good long while. I feel the DCS Lina Stack was one of the best systems to compare headphones on at the show, as it has quite a reference type sound that lets you hear what the headphones bring to the table, and it can drive the Sus no prob. I was also listening to this system and comparing the four headphones in the DCS private listening room, of which was the quietest/best place to listen at the show. The Susvara are incredible and the longer I listened the more seductive they became. I was pleasantly suprised at how much punch they had, and I wouldn't say they were bass light at all, and they are just incredibly well balanced. When I was listening to certain well recorded tracks that I have heard a thousand times before, it was the best I had ever heard those songs. The thing is it just lacks a bit of weight for certain tracks and genres and I often have to turn it up way too loud to get the dynamics where I want them to be, and then the fatigue will eventually set in no doubt. I don't really think they are too bright at all, and if they just had a bit more bloom/weight and punch/dynamics in the middbass it would be perfection. If I had the money to own the Sus and the Caldera I absolutely would own them both in a heartbeat. Heck, I still might own both evetually, but for now I have my sights on another yet to be released headphone, of which is the ZMF Caldera Closed (it's still being developed) and I have a really good feeling this will be my dream headphone. After hearing the open version of the Caldera, and knowing how Zach usually tunes between an open and closed version of the same headphone, I can't wait to hear the Caldera Closed once that comes out. I think the bass is going be something, but will shall see. Now, on to the Caldera and how it compared to the Sus. They are totally different presentations with each having their own kind of magic, and the Caldera has the weight I look for, and it had good clarity and slam when called for and enough detail to satisfy no doubt. The Caldera wasn't as airy in the treble as the Sus, but the mids were just as lifelike sounding on both for sure, and the Caldera had a more intimate staging, yet has outstanding imaging and staging is such that the music surrounds you from front to back and all around. The Sus was more of an out in front of you presentation, and I could see that working better for certain genres.

Welcome (soon) to Susvara world Wes. It has been in production for 7-8 years with only minor upgrade (cable jack from 2.5 to 3.5) without any Mk 2/3/4 and so on. Others top tier cans have made many upgrades. It means something, right.

I have listened LCD5, Dan Clark, ZMFs, 1266 with HA-300, and still IMO Susvara is the best of all.

With the right tuned and stack of exotic tubes you have, beleive me, it will take you heaven.

 

[RobertSM]

I've heard the sus on multiple occasions and systems. Not for me.

But I don't want to take away from this thread.

Cayin HA-300B MKII could sell for double and still be worth it! It's a true TOTL 300B tube amp. Nothing left to be desired.

 

[incredulousity]

I love Susvara. Tungsten DS has quelled the desire for it for now, but at some point I will get it or its successor.

 

[RobertSM]

I think I like the driver pressure that dynamics offer. It's more physical.

Focal Utopia OG as my daily driver.

Regardless, this amp does it for me.

 

[JeffMann]

Your questions are answered in the specifications.

I cannot identify the answers by looking at the specifications, which only give the power output for each impedance setting and not whether the output for each impedance setting will change depending on the impedance of the actual headphone used in that setting.

For example, my Meze Empy Elite headphones have an impedance of 30 ohm, but I use it with the high impedance setting. So, what is the maximum power output of that high impedance setting for my Meze Empy Elite headphone versus my HD800 headphone?

Jeff.

 

[jonchard]

I think to truly get a headphone to have to put the hours and days in. Once your brain burns to the signature, its so much easier to cast a quick listen to another headphone and instantly understand them. I think your appraisal is very fair and matches mine compared with Sony MDR-Z1R ... a small dissapointment on dynamics in comparison. But when the brain burns in with Susvara, MDR sounds wrong in the mids (in fact wierd!) and hugely overstated in the Bass ... fun for sure... but i think when testing multiple sets, you must sit with one for a night, then apply the comparision headphone short term. The brain loves what it gets used to! Once i'd listened to susvara for a couple of days straight, everything else was "just alright". Being so used to the Susvara now, i'd love to go test some ZMF and see how well Zach has done with them... Just not so easy to find readily in the UK.

I think for a headphone that hasnt been touched in years, the susvara still holds its own amongst a new generation... and i think that makes it special. Ps, i do lift the bass just enough for a small boost, but not enough to slow the headphone, and that makes quite a difference!

Wes, thanks for taking the time to be so articulate, I'll have my time with ZMF one day.

 

[jonchard]

I think I like the driver pressure that dynamics offer. It's more physical.

Focal Utopia OG as my daily driver.

Regardless, this amp does it for me.

That is very true. Im not sure how the Susvara does "relatively satifying deep bass" but lack s the physicality. Clearly its not about planar drivers as the LCD-XC can be EQ'd to take your head off and rattle your brain! But the Susvara wont EQ in that way. I do miss the physicality, but theres something far more right, balanced an accurate about susvara that drives me to them. Again, you make a very valid point. In the perfect world, i would have more than one TOTL headphone, but amps and tubes have robbed me dry LOL!

 

[Wes S]

Giving the 6S5S a rest, and just rolled back in a quad of Red Print Mullard VR135, and damn these tubes absolutely slam. It's like everything is turned up to 11! These Mullard's have flavor in all the right areas. The bass is crazy, the mids have texture you can feel, and the highs are smooth yet soar. I can feel the music, and it is highly engaging. The staging is huge and very open, with incredible layering and imaging. These tubes are truly magical. Detail can be heard everywhere and way off in the background, with that incredible layering. I am getting slam and detail, that reminds me of the Bliss/May combo I heard this past weekend at CanJam, yet the HA300mk2 takes things one step further in terms of being more open with better holographic staging and detail.

Curious, if anyone has heard the Red Print version? They have a different top mica, and plate color compared to the black print/black plates, and I believe they might be the very first version. They sound like the more common Mullard CV6/VR135 Black Print on steroids, and really are on another level.

Red Print usually indicates a tube with tighter tolerances of which brings better performance (bass, texture, detail and staging all improve with a lower noise floor).

These tubes are nuts!

 

[Wes S]

This seller has some Red Print Mullard's.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2044526267...VfNWCSSTQa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

@jonchard these would be killer with the Sus.

 

[Wes S]

It was a big mistake giving these tubes a go this morning, as now I just can't take the headphones off my head due to the music sounding so incredibly magical, and now I am going to be late to work. I keep saying one more song, and then the next one starts playing and it's like damn that sounds so freaking good let's do one more. This has been going on for the past 2 hours. . .