Abyss headphone thread, Diana / 1266

Headphones
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I’ve been using the D8K Pro on the LTA Ultralinear with the Mojo EVO B4B and it showed me that I would probably need to plunk down $10K or more on speakers to get the level of technical ability and general timbre of them. Very capable chain that’s allowed me to be fully content with just one high end can.

That’s because I’m by no means a HP guy. Simply reading through the last few days of this thread… I’m glad that I’m not, it sound like there are so many very good flagships out there that would require either pushed to the hilt chains for you wind up with multiple very good quality chains. I’ve neither the money nor the space for either, so living vicariously through you lot. lol

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143

Any thread I read that magic combo (mojo-lta-d8kp) keeps rubbing in my face lol I’ll have to do something about that eventually.
Jokes aside, that’s a very capable chain to drive a headphone that isn’t very picky to begin with but synergizes well with the chain anyway. You are in high end territory with that even if you can get a few percentage points better or with other headphones get maybe more technical excellence.

To get to this level of minute optimization in 2ch is probably 10x more expensive so makes sense why it’s more probable to have that discussion over headphones.

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144

Not only cost but also in time and energy lol, and takes more know how imo

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145

It doesn’t hurt, my issue is more, if your going to do that, you’re probably better off with a real power amp so you’re not adding another pot, and generally one $6K component is going to be better overall than two $3K components chained together.

I feel the same way for integrated vs separate pre/power amps up to a certain point (and it’s a lot higher than most people would think IMO). There are advantages to separates once you reach a high enough level, but the additional costs of making them separate, causes other compromises at a given price point.

Your take on the CFA3 doesn’t surprise me, I haven’t heard on, but all his amp designs tend to have some treble emphasis.

As @M0N say if you already own them for other reasons, give it a go and see if you like it. I’m a big proponent of just try it and ignore what everyone else says.

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146

Sorry that was me being mostly farcical :slight_smile:

However, now I am curious about trying better/nicer SS amps for 1266. I’ve been doing some research but not sure what has good synergy. Things that came up are

  • 13R/23R (these seem too warm for 1266, not sure if best for 1266)
  • Violectric 550/590 (not sure if enough juice)
  • Cavalli amps (these confuse me)
  • Holo Bliss (don’t want to fall for the hype train again)
  • HM1 (too expensive for SS for me, I’d rather spend that much on a Stellaris or a tube hybrid, also not available)
  • Pass HPA-1 (seemed controversial with measurements and also only single ended)
  • Well audio HeadTrip 2 (don’t know much about this one)

My experience with CFA3 has been a bit of a mixed bag but overall not too bad. I would like to be able to drive 1266 with a single amp if possible, tube or not. I like tubes just because I haven’t had experienced a good SS amp I think. Problem with tubes and 1266 is enough power.

147

Best I’ve heard the TC is with a Woo Audio WA33 if you’re still considering tubes.

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148

Yeah that’s what I hear too but I kinda had mostly set my mind on a Stellaris which I know won’t drive the 1266 well but will work for others headphones I have. And I don’t really don’t two 2A3 amps.

The other consideration is AIC-10 which is seemingly hard to find used and also comes as (too?) warm. Although I’ve heard of good synergy with 1266 in a few places.

149

I would agree that while the 13r is great with the 1266 it’s not incredible and that amp suits the susvara a bit more, that being said still very good and potentially worthwhile

The 550/590 actually does a great job for the price but not on the same technical level as the bakoon

The Cavalli amps are also awesome but harder to find, but truly great synergy with the 1266 for something like the liquid gold

Holo I’d wait on lol

Would also wait on a Zahl anyways until there’s more actual info

Pass is a fantastic amp, but not really for the 1266 imo

The wells stuff to me isn’t all that appealing but some really like them, but you’d really want to make sure to buy used as I don’t think they’re great value new

If you wanted ss, look for a used formula s + poweman, it’s really got good synergy for the 1266 esp used, not as great with other cans though

Another fantastic ss option is a mass kobo 394ii but hard to find in the states but I really liked that for a cleaner option for the 1266

Getting into the higher end ranges for both tube and ss, personally some of my favorites for the 1266 would be the riviera AIC 10, viva egoista 845, woo WA33/EE, crayon cha 1, and some more obscure stuff like oji special and ac genus. A curveball that can actually be a great value used is an allnic hpa5000xl, worth a look

While I won’t try and suggest both, they sound very different and serve very different purposes regardless of similar tube type lol

It’s awesome, imo def not too warm with the right tube and dac pairing

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150

It’s much less of an issue than it is with the Susvara, but you do have to be aware of it.
I’ve thought the 1266 sounded good on a fair range of amps, I’m not sure I’d worry about too warm.

Especially if your looking at tube options

It does sound very good off the WA33, though when I had both it and the Cavalli Liquid Gold I didn’t have a strong preference for one over the other with the 1266. The Cavalli is on the more relaxed side of SS.
There is also the XI audio stuff if you want SS.

But you can probably also get a way with any tube amp claiming 4 or 5 W, which will include most 300B amps and EL34/KT?? amps, but most of those are going to add warmth.

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151

I mean you can get away with lower if it’s high quality enough, as an example the mass kobo only gives you around 2 watts and drives that thing better than a lot of other amps pushing 10x the wattage lol

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152

not recommending this and never thought of it before but would the LTA Z10E work with the TC? I feel like it probably could and perhaps from the speaker taps…

153

I mean it sounds good on the EC Studio T, and if you believe the power rating on that (I don’t) it’s under a Watt into that impedance.

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154

I actually was using that combo a decent bit as well lol, quite nice, although not my favorite for that headphone (at least when comparing to similarly tiered options)

155

Agreed, not the best, but surprisingly good considering the spec’s.

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156

whats your budget and current dac? That will determine a lot. Some others I have seen reqed that you left out are the mass kobo 394II, ferrum stack (similar tier to CFA3, but bit different of a sound), and maybe releaf? (not sure on that last one, I just found 1266 pretty damn solid on current drive of hpa-21 but thats a solid step back from CFA3 technicaly)

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157

I think it’s great with bridged releaf, but wasn’t as impressive with a single releaf, though still good. I think they’re a hard sell if you aren’t in japan, but if you can buy a used one for a good deal on auction and find a way to get it out of the country cheap enough it could be pretty reasonable imo

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158

you and I have very different definitions of reasonable lol

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159

I should say reasonable in price, not reasonable in effort lol. But it truly is a special amp without any real alternatives for what it does in current production imo, so given what you get, I think it could be reasonable depending on the person. But still don’t always suggest it for that very reason because what I think is reasonable isn’t always reasonable lol

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160

Just FWIW, that 2W is RMS at 0.01% THD. Most amps give ratings for 1% THD p-p. @karangovil in this price range I would pretty largely ignore posted power specs and simple read reviews. Once people stop aiming for “highest power must be on spec sheet for sales” (kinda around 4k new or so IME) it becomes much harder to compare power specs. For example, AIC is IIRC 10W into 8 ohm, but when I asked riviera about it they went “it will do 10W in full class A forever so we just put that. If you want to know a spec sheet flex go measure it yourself”

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161

I had similar experience with Studio B, which of course is not the same level as the T but still pretty good with 1266 but better with SB + CFA3.

Don’t really have a fixed budget but since I have more confidence in tubes, I feel better about getting something like an AIC-10 or Egoista 845 than HM1 if that makes sense. For a pure SS I’d probably consider a budget of $4-5k (maybe stretch for the right amp).

I’m getting a totaldac d1-unity in a couple weeks.

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