"When I’ve received the mighty Hifiman Susvara, I felt overwhelmed by…disappointment. I said to myself: “This is really it? This is how the world’s best headphones are sounding?”"
"Months later, I’ve received a special adapter cable so I could power them with all sorts of integrated and power amplifiers (speaker amplifiers) and that’s when I felt connected to the all known universe, turning them into a gemstone of a headphone."
"Holy mother of Thor, this is dynamics, speed, transient response, resolution and transparency incarnate into a single metal box. There isn’t a clearer, a more resolving or a more transparent sounding amplifier out there, this is a wire with gain amplifier that doesn’t add anything into the mix."
"You can’t get a more impactful, a faster or cleaner sounding amplifier.
Resolution/Details: 10
Transient Response: 9.5
Dynamics: 9.5
Tonality: 7.5
Power/Control: 9
Stage Size: 8
Overall Score: 8.92
"380 Watts in 8 Ohms or around ~55 Watts in 60 Ohms…this is the pure definition of overkill."
"Be prepared hearing the most impactful Susvara, can it ever be too much bass slam and impact? It can! Electronica could become tiresome in the long run, it’s way too impactful sounding, but oh boy… I’ve never heard such dynamics anywhere else."
"This is next level, but if you already have an AHB2, I wouldn’t get a second one only for your Susvara. I’ve got the second one for my loudspeaker setup."
Resolution/Details: 10
Transient Response: 10
Dynamics: 10
Tonality: 7.5
Power/Control: 10
Stage Size: 8
Overall Score: 9.25
- Sandu Vitalie, SoundNews.net
"The afternoon before the start of the show I ran into John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems. He says to me quietly, “make sure you stop in our room, we have a surprise!” With curiosity suitably piqued, Co-Editor Jim Clements and I paid a visit ..."
"The results were pretty astonishing. A stable, enveloping stereo image that was devoid of any distortion whatsoever."
- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
"Sound was extremely well-integrated and controlled, and the bass memorable."
"The Note received signal through the introductory version of the company's Liquid Cables. Each cable contains 27,000 wires. The company's introductory Elephant memory player joined Benchmark Media's AHB2 power amps, DAC3 B D/A processor, and interconnects."
"With the aid of a forthcoming DEQX HDP4 processor that's due in the fall, the system sounded super on a 16/44.1 file of the famed rendition of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, recorded by Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra for Reference Recordings."
- Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile Magazine
"Laufer Teknik - The Note line array - The most immersive listening experience I had the entire show."
"There is no sweet spot because everywhere is the sweet spot. Even behind the speakers sounded incredible!"
"SVS Subs doing the low end work and Benchmark 380 watt class H monoblocked amps driving the arrays."
"I spent an extended amount of time in this room."
