Bakoon Amp-13R Review and Impressions - Under Pressure

Synergy is king, and SBAF has truly helped me understand the importance of an audio chain being more than just the sum of its parts. I think this is one of those times that synergy makes things interesting. Susvara enjoys a strong following in nearly every other headphone community, including HeadFi, yet it hasn't quite caught on here at SBAF. This discrepancy is intriguing and worth exploring. I'd encourage you to try the 13R amplifier with a wider variety of headphones before forming a final opinion.

 

From Hifi Knights under Build:

“The latest Bakoon is of push-pull class AB and two pairs of Exicon lateral Mosfets fastened to its chassis directly do the heavy lifting, whereas the green board full of relays located a bit closer to the product’s rear is the volume control scheme. ”

 

This talk about MOSFETs makes me wonder if that's why the Enleum HPA-23 has a MOSFET output circuit AND a BJT output circuit. Maybe the idea is that there's some tradeoff on those that works better with some headphones than others, and giving both ends of the tradeoff is better than trying to engineer some compromise.

 

I never got back to posting about my thoughts on the value proposition of the Bakoon, but the quote above sums it up for me. If I'm going to drop $6k on anything audio related, the Bakoon is nowhere on my list especially if it's a headphone-only implementation. Even used (at a song) for $2k and for two-channel, it's nowhere on my radar. That being said, I know there's a seat for every ass, and someone is bound to love it's sound or even give it an award. Unrelated, but related because: can we give an elephant turd award for worst "professional" review? 14 pages of nothing that actually says anything about how headphones sound.

 

Unpopular opinion: I switched to pricier headphones from a 2-channel setup because speakers are so logistically compromised. Do I listen to music more than most of you 2-channel enthusiasts, or do you all live alone, isolated in the woods? Please tell me what I'm missing here!

 

There's been a lot of discussion of bang for buck in the above reviews and some mention of the cost of flagship planars like the Susvara. While I certainly wouldn't call the Bakoon or the Enleum (again, I own and like the latter, but haven't compared it to the Bakoon) cheap by any means, and the Susvara is certainly a big spend, I'm sometimes a little surprised that the outlay required for things like JAR-modded HD800 or DNA's top amps isn't also up for consideration.

It's been possible to get a refurb Susvara direct from Hifiman for $3600 for quite a while now. By some reports, sometimes (or maybe even often) they just send you a new pair. Many dealers will sell them for $4k if you ask. Sure, that's a *big* spend, but it's basically in the same ballpark as, say, the Caldera.

If you're happy driving a refurb Sus with an MJ3--a pairing I haven't heard, but seems to have had good reports--that puts your total HP + amp spend somewhere around $5k. Again, definitely not chump change. But how many members have spent way, way more than this rolling amps to suit the HD800 or, to a lesser extent, the Utopia?

Plus, EC and DNA amps are pretty rare beasts. Never mind something like a JAR800, which is truly hard to get (and no doubt great; I haven't heard one). Comparatively, you can get a Sus, an MJ3, or even an Enleum (used price is $4k roughly) pretty much any day of the week. Hell, Hifiman will even let you demo the Sus for 30 days.

I've had the HD800, HD800S, Utopia, Starlett, and EC SJr. I really like them all. I think the Sus on the Enleum exceeds them in many ways (bass, ultimate resolution, overall tonality, layering) and falls slightly short (staging and macro-dynamics) in others. On the whole, I think the Sus/Enleum combo is "more complete" and a nice step up.

Eventually (in a couple months or so) I'll look forward to trying the Enleum with my Klipsch Forte III. I got my amp used for a solid price, and the fact that it's reputed as a great integrated for sensitive speakers also upped the perceived value quotient for me. I've dug my DNA and EC amps considerably. But they wouldn't drive the Sus well. And only some EC amps can drive speakers (not to mention EC repairs don't seem supported anymore?). That changes the overall value consideration for me, personally. But I should note that I very rarely buy electronics new.

In the end, I truly don't want to gainsay anyone's experiences/reviews above. I just think it's a shame not many have trialled the Bakoon with Susvara, the HP pairing which kinda put that amp on the map, or with speakers. Possibly it's just not a great all-rounder, in that it might not play well with (certain) dynamics. But if it excels in other areas, maybe that's a trade-off worth considering.

 

I certainly hope this isn't as unpopular an opinion as you're making it out to be cuz "no space, want music" describes at least a good few million people the globe over.

I get that you're likely feeling singled out with the current discourse (which is mainly amusing to me because I'm nowhere near being in a position to spend as much money on audio, personal or elsewise) but that feels like you're taking umbrage where none's intended just because the stuff being lambasted happens to fall right in line with your preferences.

Yeah there's oversight on Marv's part given the man seems to have more space than he knows what to do with and no family or neighbours at all to worry about (SARCASM), but hell if I had the option of running speakers instead of headphones/IEMs, I would. I sorta-but-not-really regret getting to try out nice speakers in local hi-fi shops cuz, even though those were likely ORFAS trash, they've generally ruined headphones for me.

I agree with @wbass in spirit even though I've never gotten ears on a well-driven Susvara (I'm PRETTY sure the iFi Pro stack is nowhere near being able to eke out everything that headphone has to offer) even in demo settings, but it shouldn't be any surprise that lots of folk here happen to lean team dynamics because they do certain things better than other technologies. To make gross generalisations relative to dynamics: orthos do microdynamics extremely well and have great low-bass (to 20Hz) extension, and even go into sub-bass (below 20Hz) cleanly, but tend to be overly diffuse with respect to staging with hardly anything in the way of front-to-back layering. Also, things just seem oddly sterile relative to dynamic headphones-- what others call smooth treble, I hear as being hazy and smooshed. Also, HiFiMAN specifically is guilty of this but their headphones all seem to be responsive in terms of transients but ultimately lack that sense of slam that you get with dynamics (again, n.b., never heard a properly TOTL complete ortho setup so maybe they fix things by then). Could be that that sense of slam I like is just dynamic drivers reaching excursion limits and distorting, who knows, but it IS some folks' preference.

It does suck that the upper echelon amplifiers are ludicrously expensive (irrespective of whether you're looking at amps designed for dynamics or amps designed for orthos), but the fact remains that there just isn't a market for them else more folks would be competing in that field and driving costs down to more attainable levels. Also bites that you don't seem to get One Amp to Power Them All if you're rocking both dynamics and orthos, but like everyone keeps saying: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Gotta pick and choose what matters to you, and suits what you prefer, cuz at the end of the day it feels like it's all preferences and, frankly, people not picking up on the same things when listening back.

 

FWIW, I didn't think @dubharmonic sounded like he was taking umbrage.

Makes sense to me that you'd go more all-in on HPs if you can't rock out 2-channel. Plenty of folks in apartments.

I think staging has potentially as much to do with angle of pads as type of driver. The HD800 are steeply angled, the Susvara are flat. Audeze are somewhere in between, and IME stage fairly well. The LCD-4 layers truly well to my ears. I agree there's some diffuseness in the lower-tier Hifman, but the Sus cleans that up to my ears. Intriguingly, HQP seems to take the staging/imaging up a level. More experimenting on that needed.

Anyway, my point was that SBAF seems okay with big spends on dynamic rigs. I think equally compelling, if somewhat different results can be had via planars. But, naturally, it depends on what you listen for and like most.

So, yeah, I basically agree with your post @Lyander Well put all around.

 

@Lyander while headphones are definitely great for small spaces, even with space and budget in a single family home, speakers can be a huge pain in the ass. I only get a couple hours a week that I could 'rock out' to my 2-channel setup without someone complaining. That's not enough!

 

...But, oh so worth it

 

Thanks! I was interested because I was looking for a speaker amp and got the Rag 2. I don't think the 13r would have been able to run the KEFs, but wondered if it's at least a decent amp.

Aside: I'd like to reiterate that the Rag 2 is a decent speaker and headphone amp for your hard earned cash, if someone is looking for an integrated that can double duty for headphones.

 

For those who hadn't heard, Ragnarok 2 has been discontinued and being closed out at Schiit for $999 (originally $1499). Jason posted about it here. Currently no plans for a Rag 3.

 

I use a Parasound Zamp, I think v3, for my desktop speakers (KEF Q150) and would sooner move it to full time duty in a more serious stereo system than listen to the Bakoon.