Holo audio Bliss KTE

I wasn’t sure if this question should be posted here or in the amplifier section. It’s more of a question of whether or not anyone on here outside of goldensound has had a chance to listen to their cans with this amplifier. I didn’t see a thread for it in the amplifier section so I figure I’ll start here.

Thank you

 

Yeah, the thread might be better located under the amplifier section, so mods may wish to move it there, but the Bliss arguably deserves a thread of its own even if relatively few of us have heard it. I believe @Vtory and @Ksaurav402 have some experience with the Bliss, so I'm paging them, too.

I owned one for 3 months last spring, making the most of the opportunity to snag a decently priced used one and resell it for minimal loss. The amp has a slightly warm tuning and is rich and fairly weighty in its tonality. The warmth and the tonal density aren't overdone, at least not for my tastes. Someone described the presentation as vivid, and that seems accurate to me. The amp has some coloration - it's not a neutral presentation like a Phonitor. The bass is fairly pronounced, and the mids are nicely even and sufficiently forward, and the treble's free of nasties but could be a bit more forward. (I'd be cautious about pairings with warm headphones with treble roll off.) It does the subtleties very well and has a good amount of plankton, but the Bliss does have a smooth sound to it, and that smoothness might detract from the tactility and tonal richness, and grit, of other amps. I particularly liked the Bliss's expansive staging, which had decent depth and excellent width. Transients are fast and incisive enough, without being too snappy. From memory, I'm not sure if the decay lingers a bit too long or not. The amp is decently energetic but, again, it does have that smooth quality to it,. My one other complaint about it is that it comes across as quite damped. The Bliss is quite the opposite to the open, agile slam and impact of the Schiit Mjolnirs 1 & 2 or the Rag v 1.5. It's more like the Cavalli Monoprice Liquid Gold X in this respect, but more damped than that amp. I guess there's something of a mellow quality to the amp, then, although I don't want to give the impression that it's sleepy or dull. I found it plenty energetic for my tastes. For reference, it was on a par with my Stratus when it comes to impact and macrodynamic strength, but that's not a particular attribute of the Stratus. The Stratus is, by quite a significant margin, much more refined and sophisticated in its presentation.

I really liked the Bliss but let it go since my primary use for the amp was to drive my Raal SR1a with the TI-1a transformer interface, and the Raal HSA-1b did as good a job at this but for $1k less in price (used). For Raal enthusiasts, I should note that the HSA-1b is better suited to those who want to retain the qualities of the SR1a but have a slightly mellower experience with it, mainly through the treble being less forward. The Bliss was better in some respects, though, as it provided a more lush and vibrant sound, i.e. more coloration, and a bigger headstage. For quieter passages of solo piano works, I have the volume almost maxed out with the Bliss, though.

For conventional headphones, the Bliss is a mixed bag. I wasn't fond of it with dynamic driver headphones such as my old Vérité. It was ok with my old HD 600 but I wouldn't get this amp for those headphones. I can't speak for other dynamic driver headphones, though.

The Bliss is better suited to orthos, I suspect, although even here specific synergies are important and potentially idiosyncratic. Audezes sound very good from it; the Final D8000 less so, coming across, weirdly, as overly soft. The Bliss is decent enough with slam, impact/percussiveness, and overall macrodynamic contrast and yet, for some reason, the Final D8k, which can slam with the best of them, just didn't work well with the Bliss.

Pairings that were excellent included the LCD-4 and @rhythmdevils' RD-4. (I intend to post some further impressions of amp pairings with the RD-4 in Whitney's modded ortho thread.) I also really liked the Abyss 1266 Phi with CC pads from it, although the Bliss, while slightly warm and rich in the midrange, still didn't lift or fill in the recessed mids of the Abyss enough to my liking.

I've not posted impressions before because I don't have much experience with high end solid-state amps. I preferred the Bliss to the V281. The Schiit Mjolnirs 1 and 2 and the Rag have more energy, impact, and slam, and some treble nasties compared with the Bliss, but the Bliss has much better staging, especially when it comes to depth. If you have orthos, the LAuX is a much better value proposition but I did find the Bliss, overall, to be more refined.

 

My goodness this was incredible. Thank you so much for your response and the time you put into writing it out. Extremely helpful.

Although I’ve been tinkering in this hobby on and off over the years I’ve found myself overly curious about these high end amps and whether or not it even makes sense or makes that much of a difference. I understand there are diminishing returns at some stage in this game but where that is I don’t know. I’ve read get a nice mid tier amp and focus the money on the headphones. I’ve also read the that you can’t buy 2-4k headphones and run them on a. $500 amp. I’m not as technically versed in this hobby but I do enjoy the process of trying gear out and hearing the differences assuming I myself can pick out the differences. I liken a lot of you to sommeliers who have developed this ear over the years. Again thank you for the response.

 

That sounds right to me. You might like to take a look at this thread as well as this one. Note @purr1n's advice!

I think it's good to focus on headphones first, at least until you figure out your preferences and determine if you want to spend silly money on gear. There's a lot of temptation out there, and sometimes you can only tell if you'll be happy with a modest system by comparing it to a high-end, synergistic one. Meets are perfect for this, and CanJam can help, too, in providing that kind of comparative context. You can also make careful, strategic purchases: I snagged the Bliss for $3k, and because of high demand and long lead times, I sold it 3 months later for a small loss (like $200, i.e. a $75/month rental fee to experiment).

There's probably some truth to this, too, but overall system synergy is what ultimately matters, and there are any number of exceptions to such rules. An HD 600 or HD 650 can be paired appropriately with a $4k amp. Other headphones, like the Clear, which I see you own, are excellent from the right kind of amp but may not scale as much as other headphones. (I owned and loved my old Clear; I still think about buying another one as it's something I could walk off into the sunset with). Instead of having a used Clear at $600 with a $4k amp, I'd suggest a used Utopia ($2k) with a slightly more affordable amp (e.g. NITSCH DSHA for $2.5k used), which comes out at about the same price. But that's still a hell of a lot of cash, and you might find other excellent, more affordable amps for the Utopia.

Again, system synergy is key.

I think it takes some time to figure this out, and it depends to a significant extent on your budget, your priorities, and what you're looking for. I'm 7 years into the hobby and am not sure I've figured it out.

Diminishing returns kick in hard and fast. A Bliss for $3k, let's be honest, is pretty nuts. As many on this site will rightly tell you, expensive audio is ridiculously overpriced. There can be a sweet spot, though, depending on your priorities. FWIW, while I've spent a good deal more on my current gear - almost all of which I bought used and could sell without a painful loss - I could live happily ever after with a reasonably modest $1.5k setup.

 

Makes complete sense. Its why I love it in here. You guys dont beat around the bush or try to push only high-end gear which can be unattainable to some or most even. Sounds like you all just love good sound. I learned quick to by used especially for the high end headphones. My clear and Arya were bought recently and spent about what I would have bought one of these cans brand new. Utopia definitely has my eye simply because I am curious and dont have an idea of what sound I like just yet.

I posted in the advice sub about zmf atriums and they talked me off the ledge lol. I literally had it in cart and thought lets go back in here read up a little more and ask a few more questions. Very helpful.

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...cquisition-charts-minus-cultural-studies.113/

A bit dated, but still somewhat relevant.

And this is a newer improved less infographic-ey version:

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/the-sbaf-headphone-compendium.13884/

 

Did you ever get a chance to throw out that mj3 impression ?

 

I have a Holo Bliss and found the amp sound is dependent on the dac you pair with it. With the Holo May yes it is somewhat warm as to be expected but with other dacs I have that is not the case. With the audiobyte combo it was crystal clear. With the Matrix Sabre 3 it's an absolute plankton and detail monster. It's almost too much info if that is a thing. I do terrible reviews so I don't post much but the bottom line is: Bliss is a tiny tad warm but not unlike the Phonitor (which I had) but has higher resolution and equipment pairing (Dac/Cables) is critical to the sound.

 

That's good to know, thanks. For reference, I was using an Yggdrasil A2.

 

I gave a quick review in the main MJ3 thread. I have not heard Bliss so can't comment on comparisons. I believe @Tchoupitoulas is on the MJ3 loaner so perhaps he can provide some insight once he's spent some time with MJ3.

 

I was thinking about this the last few days and I’m so torn between sound signatures of headphones. On the one hand I love my Arya stealths with the nit pick that it sounds tinny especially with female vocals and symbol hits. There is just a weird edge to them with vocals overall. They sound spacious an airy as hell and I would imagine that comes from their treble focused tuning but in general they sound good.

I like my clear ogs. It’s a nice everyday listen and I don’t get any of that metallic sound I’ve read so much about. When I first got them I thought the sound was warm and I used the term veiled because it reminded me of the 6xx veil but I realize the Aryas are so treble focused that going back to what some call a neutral sound made it seemed veiled in comparison. To my ears the focals sound warm not veiled. I just want that senhesier vocal buttery silk mixed with good staging, depth with a touch of airyness lol. Anyways thanks again for your response. You guys in here are all awesome. I will continue to lurk and learn.

 

You want a ZMF Atrium…

 

Hahaha. I mean that’s what I read about the atriums. I almost bought them but I should be smart about this move and hopefully I can demo them at canjam this year.

 

Atrium does not feel too amp-picky, but MJ3>Atrium (low gain) is just ok, as opposed to MJ3>Caldera (impact) or 3F>Atrium (atmosphere), which are up there among all the amp-headphone pairs I have/had access to. I came close to getting a Bliss KTE but I have already more than enough good amps to be bothered with going through the process (order-wait several months-evaluate).

 

I have wondered if MJ3 is > than my Lyr 3 for Atrium, and it would seem not as the Lyr 3 is surprisingly good (especially in SS mode!) with Atrium - nice stage & bass control/texture, good detail with no low-fi SS "grit", though a bit rounded with some (nexus-or-whaterver-topology?) color. I suspect the Bliss would be an upgrade, but not that much and probably not worth the wait/price.