I have tried the formula s with a spring 2 kte and it was a solid pairing, but the reason I prefer the sagra in this case is the sagra has more body and slam which I value a lot with a 1266, the kte does tilt the combo a bit warmer smoother but still good detail and depth, but I find that it’s a bit impact light and can sound a tad dry compared to the sagra in that combo imo, but personally I would still be pretty happy with the spring 2 + formula s
Probably no if you are going for 1266 at least for my preferences above, also the gsx mk2 is more on the same level as the formula s
I mean all higher end amps will want and benefit from a higher end dac, but I see what you are saying and I might say the gsx is actually more dac picky for a good pairing, but the xi might be a bit more transparent with your dac imo
I have tried the formula s with a spring 2 kte and it was a solid pairing, but the reason I prefer the sagra in this case is the sagra has more body and slam which I value a lot with a 1266, the kte does tilt the combo a bit warmer smoother but still good detail and depth, but I find that it’s a bit impact light and can sound a tad dry compared to the sagra in that combo imo, but personally I would still be pretty happy with the spring 2 + formula s
Just to confirm would you say the bass impact/slam would still be sufficient with the spring + formula s combo (had you not heard it with the sagra) or would you have been underwhelmed?
I have to say the Diana Phi is compitently driven on the mini but very close to not enough power. I do wonder if there is enough headroom for the 1266 with the mini.
I guess I could call it sufficient, it just wouldn’t have been stand out or impressive to me, if I heard it in a vacuum it would be nice but knowing what other dacs can do in terms of impact would have left me feeling it’s a bit lacking (but imo it’s hard to get true bass grip and control at the spring price range anyways, the sagra gets a bit closer in that regard, but I thought the sagra could sometimes be not as pleasing in the midrange as the spring kte)
From my experience kinda not really, the diana’s are fine on there but the 1266 isn’t going to preform that well imo
I have, personally I thought it was nice but iirc it was a bit expensive for what it ended up being, I think you might be paying for a bit of the style there lol, but a nice amp nonetheless, I did actually get to try it with a 1266 but only a phi cc not a tc. It was a bit more neutral fun leaning, not overly colored but pretty pleasant, although actually it did sound a tad dry for my tastes which surprised me, but these are only from breif demos. I have no idea on what they go for used but if one came up for a good price it would be worth considering imo. Was a fairly big step up from the aurium which I liked when it came out but now feels a bit dated and lacking for the price in current market
Yep, and the output power is a bit lacking for the 1266. It works pretty well with less demanding cans though in my experience, and I like the switchable passthrough without the need to have it fully powered on - pretty useful feature.
Thanks much for looking out. I’m UK based so would prefer local. I’m on the hunt for a suitable dealer that might be able to do both the inpol ear and the formula s on a home demo. I have to say that I am drawn to the Pathos given how much I have loved the little Aurium.
It’s rated at 4 watts/channel @ 32 ohms so should have plenty of juice. I’ve heard the Luxman integrated amplifier (L-590AXII) and it made my Hegel sound like crap in comparison. I’m not great at describing the Luxman house sound but my god I liked what I heard. Just wondering if that translated to their headphone amp implementation as well?
This amp gets very little love from the hp forum community and even less from reviewers.
It actually works pretty great with it, as long as you don’t mind trading some raw technical performance for that luxman warmth and sweetness, great body and nice impact too, wider stage, somewhat forgiving compared to other options
It does for the most part
The problem (imo) is that in the us, it’s fairly more expensive than in other places so that makes it less viable
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah new I found it for $3200 so it’s up there in Niimbus US4 base territory. Sounds like I would trade off some technical capabilities but get some added warmth and forgiveness.
I wish Accuphase made a dedicated headphone amp… The other option is to get a Accuphase E450 integrated amp or a Luxman L-550 then go speaker taps…
Yeah I heard a luxman L-590AXII and harbeth (p3r I believe) setup and now in love. I’m not a harberh fan persay but would like to mimic that sound with the phi tc if possible.
What was the dac for that chain? (or analog source, just curious)
Well if you were after that, picking up a luxman would def help with that, I’m not sure it would be possible to get the 1266 to sound anything like a p3esr, but at least you can address the luxman aspect lol
It’s possible they had another Dac in the chain. I was primarily focused on the speaker amp synergy when listening. I should have taken more notes on the setup.
I loved my Maggie Hegel chain but this was far better in a small room I ever got. It’s weird once your hear a sound setup you just know if you like it or not. I just want to get that sound in my hp setup.
Was wondering if anyone on this forum has experience with the new ampsandsound forge? If so how did you like the pairings with Susvara/1266 Phi TC? Did you try the KT88s to get the dynamic punch?
I think it’s an upgraded Mogwai developed to pair with planars and dynamics.
