One thing I love about my Sus is it is so transparent it scales really well with better gear. From better cables, power conditioners, more detailed DAC like the TT2, and spaciousness of a tube amp like the Cayin 300B Mk2 the Sus just sound better and better. I've recently tried connecting it to the speaker out of my Cayin 300B tube amp and the Sus went up another level again. Like you said, the realism, dynamic range and decay of the Sus is sublime but IMHO you will need pretty good gear and clean environment (clean power, minimum RF interference, clean source signal via optical or better USB cable etc) to get the most out of it. The Sus rewards you whenever you upgrade your system :)

Thank you for this review. Excellent "real time" assement on " normal" gear!! We needed that! Not everyone can afford a 3K+ amp. A true, high quality speaker amp can be had for less which will do a stellar job on Sus in most cases. Just need wonky connections and a sturdy desk. However, The IFI I Can Pro Signature is as far as I am going in "head amp land"!! The thing sounds amazing on nearly anything, including the Susvara.. Richer tonality +Bass boost + High current cure overly polite bottom end. Another great review sir!!

Thanks for your review!

Your analytics are next to non, and your happiness for the Sus's is infectious. More joyous reviews please, even if it means you only do SUMMITfi reviews. You review lofi and midfi, but obviously your heart lies with the SUMMITfi. We will never get their, so sharing your love of the Sus's benefits all audiophiles. Many Thanks.

This is the best Susvara review so far 👍🏻

Thank you for this review! The ease in which you explain difficult topics in this review is incredible! Well done 🤯 I wish I could listen to a Susvara one day…It seems like an amazing headphone indeed. I have the LCD-5 and I am still struggling to find good synergy with the rest of the signal path.

This is the first time I have seen any of your videos, and I would say I agree with 99% of what you said. I have every model that HiFiman makes except for the electrostatics. Certainly, the aspects of the sound I agree with you totally. Where we deviate is at the cable tension. I actually very much prefer the light tension it has now because I have probably stepped on the cable a half a dozen times in the last year and yanked them out. If it were any tighter or worse yet, one of those stupid locking cables some HPs have, I would have broken the cable or my Susvara. Or if I had wrapped it around my neck as you suggested, I would be dead lol. As for driving them, well I went through a dozen different Amps until I hit sonic bliss. I'm using the Flux Volot on one listening rig, and using the Ferrum Oor in another room. One really smart point you made was that people can be fooled thinking they have enough power because many amps can drive the volume but very few can drive them to potential. Those that use a topping A90D or lesser would have a bad opinion of the Susvara because they never got to see what they can truly do. My chain is RME ADI-2 DAC to A90D as a pre and then Flux Lab Volot. Can't ever see another HP knocking this King off its pedestal in my lifetime! Thanks for the vid, I'll check out your others.

would like to hear a comparison between susvara and linearized electrostatics like the bravura/aperio or perhaps a KSE1200+Mojo combo

Great review!! Was wondering if you had any time w the Caldera yet & how it would stack up against the Sus!

21:54 Going to have to remember that for the Utopia episode, lol.

Hmm.. no answer to my question in previous post. Anyway, new 2023 Susvara comes with 2 cables that are fabric-like (similar to a Sennheiser HD800S’s), terminated in 6.35 and XLR. Also, the port to insert the 3.5mm has a solid feel now. Looks like they listened to feedback. I’d read or heard that some other improvements/changes have also been made but have to find out more since HFM has a tendency to be “stealth” with no public announcement.

Which cable are you using with the Sus? Also thats true that copper cable will be better for this because of the midrange presentation?

Wave, you're the best reviewer out there. Please tell me you're going to get your hands on a ef600!!!

Hello! What about Susvara Unvield? Will you release review about it?

Hello. Try to compare susvara vs he1000v2 stealth using the same Speaker amp with both. I made that and for me they are very near. The difference was control and gain in mid bass, the soundstage in the vertical a lil weird in he1000 in comparison and just a lil better layering in susvara. Try and tell us jejeje. By the way, Why your channel name is "wave theory"? Are you acoustic Engineer or something like that?

I have the ARYA and I understand your concern regarding the 3.5 issue, however I am on HIFIMAN side on that one, I actually like it to be on the looser side, I much prefer my cable to be disconnected than my headphone being pushed around. Forza audio work owner.

What AMP would you say is good with them? Is Hifimans own Serenade or Perlude good enough?

Does a Jotunheim 2 drive a Susvara properly?

How do you think the Susvara compares to the HE1000V2 Stealth? I'm assuming it's significantly better (relatively), but wanted to understand how much you actually get going from one to the other. Thanks for the great review as always!

Great video! Which amplifiers will you recommend to drive the Susvara?

@wavetheorysound I have a liquid platinum and I would like to get Susvara and use a LP as a temporary solution. Since I know you have an LP, can it power the Susvara decently? Thanks!

Maybe i missed it: what do you use to drive your susvara then? I agree with you that most headphone amp wouldn't drive it well. I had a USD4000 rudistor amp that drive everything else with ease. With susvara, it lost to the Kinki power amp that i had. But my Kinki stopped working 😢 so i need a replacement at a reasonable price

I still wonder if you might sell much of your gear and get the SHANGRI-LA~

Very nice description. They're way out of my price range but out of interest, does the Hifiman EF400 drive them sufficiently?

For me Ferrum stack did it for Susvara. It was snappy and fast with great micro dynamics and low level detail. But to be honest you can get similar resolution from a good optimised tube amp with Utopia or from the newer Abyss, and probably a few other sets I havent heard yet like Caldera. Having said all that if youre a timbre head Susvara delivers in spades and might very well stay on top for years to come. Its honestly mediocre in other things like macro dynamics, bass slam etc. but timbre, details and layering are something to behold. For that money though you can get into speakers that will perform even better ... so choices choices

I will be at CanJam SoCal 2023 and I will be bringing my system and setting it up in my hotel room. Innuos Statement, Woo Audio WA33 Elite with upgraded KR HP tubes, Holo MAY KTE, Susvara, Utopia OG/22, Abyss 1266 TC, HD600, 650, 800, 800S I have listened to everything out there with my setup from Chord Dave, MSB all Dacs to DCS. The only bad thing about the Susvara is powering it correctly or pairing it. The minimum AMP would be a used Benchmark AHB2 to power it I have tried everything and if you don’t power it correctly you lose soundstage, impact warmth naturalness. With my setup you can get great clean impactful BASS 50% to the 1266TC and that is saying something

Which is closer to a Susvara, Caldera or HekSE.

You forgot the only real in similar price class contender: Caldera. Take it any day over Susvara, especially considering natural sound aspect. Susvara sounds artificial next to it.

I need me a bass shelf

Except for the Shangri-la lol

They sent you a HP and didn’t have to pay for it?

I’m for sure not buying a Utopia now lol

Is not the king never was.. ..go to a live symphony concert , listen to the orchestra sound ,especially the warmth of the chords instruments ,susvara doesn’t have it so ,for all of you that listen to electronic music ,pop or electric guitar you might get a bit more resolution in sound that is actually not even there in reality but in all the real live instruments like violin,piano classical guitar susvara lacks natural sound so .. they were never the king especially for 6000 euro

You should get the Holo Audio May and sell all your other gear + get the ZMF caldera

Ta

Totally agree with your amp pairing assessment. I've got both the A90D and the Enleum AMP-23R; the latter absolutely blows the A90D out of the water when technically the A90D could drive it "loud enough" - Susvara sounds DEAD in comparison. Even with the iFi Pro iCAN Sig, just sounds too damn "slow" and mushy, made the Susvara sound like an average headphone.