LSA Voyager GAN Amplifier

@yyzsantabarbara so it sounds like it boils down to you have a lot of good sounding stuff to work with and each sounds a little different and some match up better than others so you are very blessed.
Lots of words and thinks on this sight dedicated to comparing gear and sighting how they sound different, you know this does this and that does that, etc. but it is all good and one need only choose whatever floats one’s boat at any particular time. Like choosing among fine wines or cigars, beautiful women, etc.  

You got that right. I have maybe 1 too many amps now. I also consider my RAAL the equal of my KEF LS50 and Thiel CS3.7. So I consider myself to have 3 systems.

I think there is a  nice range of sound in the house, smooth, relaxing, fast, powerful, clear. None of the amps can do each of them but the 4 amps I have can collectively do all of them.

Definitely not buying any more gear. This was a 12 month buying spree after a very long time of holding off.

From what I read about the Convolution filter on the RAAL, it softened the sound to that reviewer's liking.  Too bad you find the AHB2 fatiguing without the Convo filter, but the AHB2 is more revealing and truthful without it.  The trick to enjoy the most detail with no fatigue is to keep the SPL modest.  You would have a different perspective if I visited and played my violin on these brilliant Mozart concertos at close range.  The under-my-ear sound of myself and fellow musicians a few feet away is my reference, and not too far off what close mikes capture on good recordings such as this.  Trying to get an audio system to approach this close reference, I have no tolerance for anything like the Convo filter that softens the sound.  From what you have, I think your RAAL with AHB2 and without the Convo filter can best approach my reference.  Great headphones like the RAAL give a very close, intimate sound similar to my close experiences, and make almost all speakers sound hopelessly dull and boring.

The AHB2 is not bright. The RAAL is bright. The only person that liked the AHB2 with the RAAL is the designer in Serbia who used the AHB2 when creating the SR1a. His USA partner, who let me home demo the SR1a, told me the AHB2 was not good with the SR1a. I told him I had 2 of them and was intrigued by the designer using the AHB2. He was right.

I bought a tube DAC just for the AHB2 and while it did help the AHB2 was not tolerable with the RAAL SR1a. I get fatigued very easily. RAAL-Requisite is coming out with a tube headphone amp specifically for the SR1a. I have home demoed the RAAL-Requisite HSA-1b headphone amp for the SR1a and it was much better than the AHB2 'naked', as were a bunch of 2 channel stereo amps.

I believe you are in NY area. Next time there is a COVID free CanJam go and listen to the SR1a. They will have 3 stations where you are compare the SR1a on ROON with or without the Convolution filter, along with other attributes.

The designer of the Convolution filter, Mitch Barnett from Accurate Sound, does some genius level work. His writing on AudiophileStyle.com gave me confidence to use his services for my Thiel and then the SR1a. I also read his DSP book before I engaged in any of this.

BTW - I am loving the KRELL K-300i with the Topping D90se DAC. A warm amp with a neutral DAC. I am glad I decided to listen before I listed the KRELL for sale. I am going to do the SNIFF test on this, likely tomorrow. I expect it to fail like the CODA stack.

On Friday I will have 200 hours on the Voyager. It is playing on the CODA stack 24 hours a day now going into the RAAL amp interface box. The Voyager amp is nice and warm.

I received UPS Tracking that my Voyager will be here Thursday, the 19th.


I noticed the Voyager product page shows a $175 wire upgrade option. Having experience replacing crap jumper wiring on my Emerald Physics 3.4s, I image the wire upgrade will be highly revealing for potential Voyager buyers


hth