[Fox88]

Care to share more thoughts ?

I'll post my impressions after a few days of listening.

 

[karlheinz147]

I've only listened to it for a couple of hours but the hype is real.

What headphones did you try on it?

 

[Fox88]

What headphones did you try on it?

I have the DCA E3 Empyrean II and HD800s. I've listened to the E3 and Empy so far. The E3 behaves like a completely different headphone

 

[smodtactical]

I'll post my impressions after a few days of listening.

If you could share a comparison with 1 or 2 other amps would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Johnsmith55]

So I have a chance to get the mass kobo 465, the riviera aic10, or the Viva Egoista 845. Any suggestions? Help me please

 

[Frankie D]

So I have a chance to get the mass kobo 465, the riviera aic10, or the Viva Egoista 845. Any suggestions? Help me please

All 3 are excellent. I have two friends that preferred the Riviera to the MK 465. I am not as certain. The Viva sounded terrific at CanJam. I run Viva Aurora amps in my 2-channel setup. They are terrific.

All 3 are fabulous and will drive anything. I would suggest a few things for your consideration:

- do you want plug and play and never have to think about tubes? If so go with the MK465
- Conversely do you like to tube roll? The Viva is made to work best with the tubes it comes with and does not require tube rolling. The Riviera uses only one tube, but I have heard some like to change that tube. So if you like to tube roll, I suggest the Riviera.
- if you like tubes but do not care to tube roll, then Viva ( though Riviera is great as well )
- the Viva is a bit eccentric in how you turn it on. The switch must be flicked down to warm up the amp for roughly 5 minutes and then flicked up past the middle or off position up to the top. This is the full on position. If you switch it up by accident first you will at minimum blow a fuse and you could damage more. If this eccentricity is an issue for you, do not get the Viva.
- The Viva will take up the most room and needs a safe spot. It gives off allot of heat.
- sound wise I like all 3. Maybe Viva a bit better, bit not sure. However the difference in cost at list is not worth any difference.
- which do you like the look of the most?

Hope this helps.

 

[Johnsmith55]

Thank you for taking the time to reply I appreciate it. So I went to Canjam NYC last weekend, I checked out all three of them. I found the environment very noisy, could not get a good assessment on which of these sounded best. I love the look of the 465 best, next aic10, the least viva. The sound through all the background noise viva to me sounded the best with my susvara. My susvara finally sounded full, complete, low end bass, mids, highs, everything on the viva. I walked in first with very high expectations for the kobo 465, but sounded a bit clinical, not warm, a bit harsh, and I had to listen to my susvara the whole time on high gain, mid was too low could barely hear anything, the kobo looks awesome but like I said maybe it was the background noise that didnt allow me to give it a fair judgement. The riviera aic10 bal sounded very punchy, tight low end, I’d say the aic10 sounded overall between the kobo and the viva, but my ears were burnt out by the time I tested out the aic10. And on all of these amps I had to constantly keep the volume almost to the max, cause I like my music very loud or cause of the noise in the background I was trying to overcome. I’m afraid the viva looks weird and very bulky, but man did it sound amazing, I’ve never used tube amps before, I know nothing about them, if this thing gets hot so much that is not good where it will reside. I’m looking to max out my susvara to its fullest potential that is my main goal. Right now I’m just running it with Rupert Neve Fidelice precision Dac. I wish I could demo these all three at my own convenience to make the right decision. I feel like at Canjam people were breathing over me “let’s go guy get off, I wanna listen to it next”. Anyways thank you again, any help and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Frankie D]

Thank you for taking the time to reply I appreciate it. So I went to Canjam NYC last weekend, I checked out all three of them. I found the environment very noisy, could not get a good assessment on which of these sounded best. I love the look of the 465 best, next aic10, the least viva. The sound through all the background noise viva to me sounded the best with my susvara. My susvara finally sounded full, complete, low end bass, mids, highs, everything on the viva. I walked in first with very high expectations for the kobo 465, but sounded a bit clinical, not warm, a bit harsh, and I had to listen to my susvara the whole time on high gain, mid was too low could barely hear anything, the kobo looks awesome but like I said maybe it was the background noise that didnt allow me to give it a fair judgement. The riviera aic10 bal sounded very punchy, tight low end, I’d say the aic10 sounded overall between the kobo and the viva, but my ears were burnt out by the time I tested out the aic10. And on all of these amps I had to constantly keep the volume almost to the max, cause I like my music very loud or cause of the noise in the background I was trying to overcome. I’m afraid the viva looks weird and very bulky, but man did it sound amazing, I’ve never used tube amps before, I know nothing about them, if this thing gets hot so much that is not good where it will reside. I’m looking to max out my susvara to its fullest potential that is my main goal. Right now I’m just running it with Rupert Neve Fidelice precision Dac. I wish I could demo these all three at my own convenience to make the right decision. I feel like at Canjam people were breathing over me “let’s go guy get off, I wanna listen to it next”. Anyways thank you again, any help and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I listened to all 3 with my Susvara as well and on the Riviera the day before CanJam as well. At no time on any of them was I near the max of the volume control. On the Riviera I was around the middle. I do not remember on the others, but I do know I had the MassKobo on low, fed it with my DAP (which was at 75 out of 100, not even pegged ) and it had a ton of headroom. I was very pleased with it. Please do not take this the wrong way, but you may have some hearing damage requiring you to really crank the amps. No way to change that, so you will need the most powerful amp.

Since you are concerned about the heat, sounds like the Riviera might be for you.

I believe the prices are around $22,000 for the Viva, the Riviera AIC-10 Bal around $25m and the MassKobo465 $17k.

I am thinking about the MassKobo myself but not sure yet. If you decide on it let me know and maybe we can get a deal for two. Still unsure though.

 

[Anlan Dong]

I've only listened to it for a couple of hours but the hype is real.

Is this your setup or is it a demo from a store? Very nice. I’m not totally convinced by the 465 at CanJam NYC but of course it didn’t have any power treatment nor a decent source. I’m looking to do a in-home demo first before I can safely pull the trigger.

 

[Doug2507]

What source was used at CJ? Think there were two 465 setups on the go?

 

[genefruit]

What source was used at CJ? Think there were two 465 setups on the go?

DAC wise, Mass Kobo had something from Topping and Mimic had a Meitner MA3

 

[wazzupi]

Thank you for taking the time to reply I appreciate it. So I went to Canjam NYC last weekend, I checked out all three of them. I found the environment very noisy, could not get a good assessment on which of these sounded best. I love the look of the 465 best, next aic10, the least viva. The sound through all the background noise viva to me sounded the best with my susvara. My susvara finally sounded full, complete, low end bass, mids, highs, everything on the viva. I walked in first with very high expectations for the kobo 465, but sounded a bit clinical, not warm, a bit harsh, and I had to listen to my susvara the whole time on high gain, mid was too low could barely hear anything, the kobo looks awesome but like I said maybe it was the background noise that didnt allow me to give it a fair judgement. The riviera aic10 bal sounded very punchy, tight low end, I’d say the aic10 sounded overall between the kobo and the viva, but my ears were burnt out by the time I tested out the aic10. And on all of these amps I had to constantly keep the volume almost to the max, cause I like my music very loud or cause of the noise in the background I was trying to overcome. I’m afraid the viva looks weird and very bulky, but man did it sound amazing, I’ve never used tube amps before, I know nothing about them, if this thing gets hot so much that is not good where it will reside. I’m looking to max out my susvara to its fullest potential that is my main goal. Right now I’m just running it with Rupert Neve Fidelice precision Dac. I wish I could demo these all three at my own convenience to make the right decision. I feel like at Canjam people were breathing over me “let’s go guy get off, I wanna listen to it next”. Anyways thank you again, any help and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Which table did you hear 465 on ? Also I don’t even reach 2 o’clock on medium with Susvara so that’s just crazy imo and I listen mid 80 db at least. Ask the watercooler folk. Something was off there…

 

[innocentblood]

I wonder how this will sound with the Raal Immanis...

 

[unfitstew]

Finally got my MK 465! Only listened to it for around 20-30 minutes but so far it has a nice warmth to its sound. It also seems to have some lushness to the mids but will have to listen more to confirm that. Only really used Tungsten on it so far.
At Canjam NYC I tried many amps with Susvara including AIC-10, 465, Viva 845, and Susvara on 465 was my highlight of the show. 465 gave Sus a nice warmth, plenty of dynamics, and the cleanest I have ever heard it. Can't wait to try Sus on it this weekend at home.

 

[Frankie D]

I received my 465 as well! I found bass terrific on first listen, mids and treble were good but not as clear as on my Bliss. I let it burn in overnight and the bass got more resolving. In a track I used on both the Bliss and 465 I found the bass to actually be deeper and more expansive on my Susvara. The mids and treble opened up more and had just a touch of warmth which I like while still remaining highly detailed. I cannot use it for a few days now, but I will get back to it next week or hopefully the weekend.