DCA Expanse Synergy

Submitted by LuckyX222 t3_10pg4p0 in headphones

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Expanse + R800i

I see the Expanse get a lot of hate that it's an excellent measuring headphone but not actually enjoyable to listen to. I see where you guys are coming from, when running it off a Jotunheim 2 (which can output over 6W into the Expanse, so it's not a power issue) I found it to be very clear and clean but not exciting. That all changed when I hooked it up to my Willsenton R800i. Suddenly it became the most enjoyable headphone I've ever heard, more technical AND more fun than my Utopia, Verite open, Empyreans, it beats all of em. Big change on the Willsenton, so much more air like the notes pop out of a black hole and yet the notes have more body too, more resonance, they're rich and fun instead of thin and analytical.

If you tried the Expanse before and didn't like it, retry with some tubes! No OTL tubes though, those will distort with the 23ohm Expanse. The R800i is excellent and "only" $2k which is "cheap" to pair with a $4k headphone. I tried the $1k R8 model as well, also excellent but less so, the R800i with the huge 805 tubes is just more dynamic/punchy.

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Comments

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SchiitMjolnir2 t1_j6lukp6 wrote

Expanse and Aeon X Open share common preferred amp pair ups IMHO. I like them out of KT88 triode-strapped SET amps with high output impedance (300 ohm headphone out of my ampsandsound Forge amp)

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Doccks71 t1_j6oi4jy wrote

interesting, how would you rank your TOTL headphones you listed on your post friend?

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LuckyX222 OP t1_j6oml69 wrote

Expanse > Utopia > Verite ~= Empyrean

Can't really say one is better than the other when comparing Verite and Empyrean, it's more a situation where they're different. Whereas Expanse is better in every regard than the others to my ears. One exception being I think the Utopia wins just in terms of pure "open-ness" in that they're more speaker-like. Yet the Expanse still feels like the notes stand out more even though there's more open-ness in the Utopia.

I would say the Utopia sounds like there's nothing but clear air between the notes, hence it feeling open. Whereas the Expanse goes even further and it's almost as if there's a vacuum between the notes, thus my "black hole" comment about the background. Hope that makes sense.

They're all fantastic, at this level I'm really nitpicking. There is something special about the Expanse though, I just find myself coming back to that one for hours upon hours and ultimately that's what matters. They're also the most comfortable (Empyrean close second)

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pinkcunt123 t1_j6k8hup wrote

Sounds like Placebo to me.

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blargh4 t1_j6kb69r wrote

the Expanse is the one planar I'm aware of that doesn't have a flat impedance, so you'd probably get some frequency response shift even assuming the amp's frequency response is flat into a resistive load, which isn't the safest assumption for tube amps.

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LuckyX222 OP t1_j6kf7fw wrote

Yeah, there's a bump around 200Hz and the bass does feel fuller but not so far it's distorted like when I run my Utopia (which has an even larger impedance hump). Also the tubes will add some harmonic resonance on their own across the rest of the spectrum.

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pinkcunt123 t1_j6m0h7s wrote

So he wasted 2k on tubes, when EQ could have done the trick?

lmao

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LuckyX222 OP t1_j6ka7eo wrote

My girlfriend swapped the amps 10 times and 10 /10 I could tell which was the R800i. Nice try though, pinkcunt.

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as1eep t1_j6koufe wrote

You know he is talking about solid state to tubes right? The whole placebo thing is about most solid states being identical, its pretty accepted that tubes do change sound.

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pinkcunt123 t1_j6m0lps wrote

Tubes may add distortion. Good tube amps can be as "clean" as good solid state amps tho.

High output impedance, which tube amps usually have, can change the sound of variable impedance headphones.

You know that... Right???

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MrCatsoup t1_j6lglt4 wrote

Yes, assume everything is placebo when you've never heard of them yourself 🙃

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pinkcunt123 t1_j6m0vti wrote

I will :)

Especially if they use fancy and absurd analogies to describe the sound :)

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MrCatsoup t1_j6ma8mp wrote

I'm truly sorry for you that those elementary level words used by OP to describe the sound are too difficult for you to understand.

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pinkcunt123 t1_j6mc76u wrote

>so much more air like the notes pop out of a black hole and yet the notes have more body too, more resonance, they're rich and fun instead of thin and analytical.

THIS MEANS LITERALLY NOTHING...

I too can describe sound in a fancy way that means fuck all :)

OP could have just as well described the sound as "Refreshingly esoteric, with a tinch of quantized energy, which bubbles to the surface of a quiet sea, amidst the fog of clarity, bursting into colorfoul spectrums and thus enltightening my ears"

Do you not see how OPs description is a meaningless mumbo jumbo of nonsense????

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