Donald North Audio Supernaut Review and Impressions

hello,

any plans to have this on the website so i can drool over it?

cheers!

 

You can play Easter egg hunt on this site. There are a few different threads with varying centerfolds of it with various tubes in various states of undress. Very little will be left to the imagination as long as your sleuth abilities are maxxed out.

 

hi dudes,

On the DNA website it states that the Audeze LCD-3 is one of the headphones the Stratus is meant to drive well; so can I assume this to be true of the Supernaut? Has anyone tried this pairing?

 

Thanks!

 

My Starlett drives my original LCD-2's just fine. Although I am not sure how much easier/harder LCD-3's are to drive.

 

well, the LCD-3 has slightly higher impedance (110 vs 70 ohms) and same sensitivity (101 db/1mw).

They are not really hard to drive, but you know, synergy is always something to watch out for. Fell in love with the LCD-3 at a store recently, drove them with a Headamp GSX Mini and a Woo WA7. Nothing against either, but I loved my Starlet with my dynamics. Sold my Starlet a few months ago, looking to upgrade to the Stratus as my only headphone amp. Not being available anymore, wanna make sure the Supernaut retains or enhances the yumminess of the LCD-3 sound.

 

my setup used to be somewhat complicated: DNA Starlet, Pass HPA-1 and Mjolnir Octave V2 were forced to share space and listening time. My DAC was a PS Directstream Jr and had a Rega Planar 1+ for a turntable.

I've since sold all of those components and I'm basically starting fresh. Still not sure about a DAC. What I do know is that the digital part didn't matter that much to me and that I would send my Stax listening to my PC. The Pass didn't get much playtime because of the Starlet.

Maybe a Chord Qutest paired with a streaming device of sorts, a better turntable than the Rega I had, and the Supernaut.

 

Is the Supernaut better or worse than the Stratus when driving the HD800s?

 

Left: Starlett
Right: Supernaut

 

Is this a one off thing from DNA? Where can I buy this amp from if not?

 

Ask the man himself

 

What’s the consensus on the Supernaut vs Stratus V3/V4 in terms of overall sound? What about the ability to drive planars such as ZMF Caldera and HEK?

im debating between these 2 amps

 

Supernaut is more similar to the Starlett sound, but with Stratus technicalities. Neither is warm, but Stratus I believe is wetter with more rounded transients, while Supernaut is crisper. In a nutshell. There's a perfect description of the Supernaut on page one that should answer your question.

@ChaChaRealSmooth also wrote an excellent description of each amp here: https://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/donald-north-audio-amplifier-compendium.14080/

 

Pertinent bit here:



And I vaguely recall him mentioning somewhere that the Caldera specifically didn't sound grand out of the DNA stuff, but I could be misremembering. From reputation DNA amps are mainly for traditional dynamic headphones of all descriptions. I remember @purr1n liking the Caldera out of an EC amp though that's of course going to be a bit more difficult to source now.

 

That's right, you're remembering ChaCha's comments correctly. I found the same thing to be true with the Caldera open; the Stratus v3 was a poor pairing with the Caldera. The Caldera Closed, however, is much less amp picky and much much better with the Stratus than the Open version, although I'm not sure it is synergistic. I preferred my Liquid Crimson with it, but that's for me to post in my loaner impressions of the CC, which are long overdue (my apologies).

it's worth noting that some planars sound great from the Stratus v3. The LCD-4, with its 200 ohm drivers, is wonderful, as is the RD-4 (rhythmdevils' modded version). I've also found the Final Audio D8000 and the Pro version to be excellent with the Stratus as well as the DCA Ether 2 and some others.

The key with the Stratus is that it offers slightly rounded transients. Beyond issues of suitability for driving demanding or low-impedance planars, it doesn't work well with planars that need more incisiveness and waking up.

The HEK sounded pretty good from the v3 Stratus when I had both. Again, though, I wouldn't say this is an ideal pairing. I'd rather go with a tube hybrid or ss amp for the HEK, perhaps adding a tube pre like the Freya + (which I've not heard, to be clear) for some tubey goodness.

I did hear the Supernaut at CanJam NYC in the ZMF room this past February. It was wonderful - show conditions notwithstanding. I liked it a lot with my RD-4z. And the Caldera Closed sounded great from it. It is more incisive and is snappier than the Stratus v3. I'd love to hear one in my own system...

 

I have the Supernaut & just got in the Caldera Closed loaner yesterday.

My initial judgement (given its OI around 12, DNA, etc.) the Supernaut is pretty decent with the Caldera closed (never heard the open). I believe that because the Supernaut is the "crispy"/fast DNA and the fact that I am feeding it with a Yggdrasil A2 (so far, have yet to try HQPlayer/Holo 1 bit) it is synergizing better than expected. Chacha's comments referenced above are pre-Supernaut ownership on his part. I have confidence that my Starlett (since sold) would not have synergized with the Caldera closed nearly as well...

 

Did Craig officially close shop? I was looking for his site to link on my sales thread but i couldnt fund it on google?

Darn how did i miss this one. The ZMF booth was buzzing.