HI fellas. Hi Mon, bagwell, et.al. Good stuff Iāve been reading. I have the Ananda and Iām taking the plunge to Arya. Open box, with a warranty. Itāll be here next week. Iām hoping to compare them. If Arya is significantly better itās gonna be endgame for me - really, I mean it 
. Iām excited like a kid waiting on Christmas. What can I expect as far as differences in sound qualities? Thoughts anyone?
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I mean generally an overall upgrade imo, a more refined signature, greater detail and control, better dynamics and impact, more impressive spatial recreation, similar but a bit better timbre, quicker speed, etc. Itās generally a direct upgrade for the most part. That is if you have a decent amp as they are more demanding amp quality wise than the Ananda. Should be pretty solid 
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Emotiva A-100 (resistors bypassed) fed w/ Topping D30 DAC and a tube hybrid pre/buffer w/ upgraded opamps (opa2134 and Muses 8920). Laptop w/ Tidal Hifi. Not MQA ready yet. Sounds powerful, neutral/warmish, still decently detailed. Not expensive gear but still pretty effective overall.
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Should do the job power wise for sure lol, later on if you end up liking the Arya, investing in something higher up would be worthwhile for a good step up in sq as well
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Iām on it. This is a big step up for me price wise, even buying open box. Iāve built that system up over a couple years, as itās been about the journey for me. Iām thinking about a better DAC as a lesser cost upgrade until I can save for a truly better amp and pre. Iāve got speakers to think about too. Still overall for what I have invested it performs well, IMO.
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I currently use the Birfrost 2 to Lyr 3, with a westinghouse tube, for the Arya.
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Whatās your Arya experience with both the 1) the cans and 2) your systemās sound qualities?
Got my (open box) Aryas in earlier today and have been listening off and on most of the day. I wasnāt blown over at first listen when comparing them to my Anandas. The treble seems a little softer in comparison to Ananda. The Anandas do so much so well, I can tell theyāre in the same family. What Iām starting to notice though is the Aryaās vocal richness. Details donāt shout at me. Theyāre not hyped, theyāre just āthereā. I had a moment in one song that I felt they were opening up, that I felt their āpotentialā. I donāt know how much theyāve been played in since I got them open box, but Iām going to leave them overnight playing brown or pink noise to see if they open up more. Stay tunedā¦
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Nice. What gear are you driving them with?
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There are people who prefer the Anandas for all-aroundersā¦ you may be one of them (?) but then youāll want to learn to love the Aryas since theyāre so expensive!
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Emotiva A-100 (resistors bypassed) fed w/ Topping D30 DAC and a tube hybrid pre/buffer w/ upgraded opamps (opa2134 and Muses 8920). Laptop w/ Tidal Hifi. Not MQA ready yet. Sounds powerful, neutral/warmish, still decently detailed. Not expensive gear but still pretty effective overall.
Not going to pass judgement until after a few days of my personal burn in processā¦stay tunedā¦
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Wisdom, right there!
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Thanks for that vote of confidence. Iām learning from past experience with planars, many of them have benefited from burn in to varying degrees. Iāve had some that changed from being mediocre to really great after a few days. Soundstaging changed from being closed in sounding to outside the head transparent. Iāll keep you all posted on my progress. Letās hope for the best.
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Any updates?
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What would you say is the best option for the Arya going up the chain? iFi Pro iCAN?
Thanks!
What sound signature would you be going for?
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I would say on the warmer/fuller side.
Hmmmmm, in that case, I do like the violectric v280 or the auralic taurus mkii in the 1k ish range. The taurus is going to be a bit warmer smoother more organic sounding but still forward, the v280 would be more relaxed sounding for the most part and a bit more neutral imo. Also would this still be with a bifrost 2?
Yeah. Still with the Bifrost 2. Iāve been pretty pleased with the Asgard 2, just wondering what the next level up with a similar sound would be. Iāll research the other models youāve listed.