HIFIMAN EF1000 Review | Ultra-Powerful Flagship Headphone Amp

[@tonyd9998]

I just recently acquired the combo EF 1000 and Susvara. After a journey of auditioning E-stats, Shangri-La- Jr, Warwick Aperio, I have the Lina DAC & Clock from my previous system. I sold off all other components, headphones and cables etc to do this. IMHO so far this combo beats everything I have ever heard in HP audio in decades. It’s quite extraordinary. However I am interested in the discussion of the interconnections between Balanced XLR aux, and Single ended RCA to Dac connection. Anyone else have experience on that hook up?

[@BloomAudio]

We no longer have a unit to demo/test with, but our general take on the XLR vs. RCA is that XLR is a superior tech for analog audio, but that superiority is more based on its resistance to interference and noise. HIFIMAN has been a little cage-y about the specs, but in theory you're also getting 4V into the EF1000, rather than 2V, which should give you more headroom with the amp. But again, that may not mean much practically given the design of the amp. Feel free to shoot us an email at [e-mail] and we'll see if we can offer any more insight for you.

[@mspdec]

Hi Bloom Audio. Nice video. I bought my EF1000 last year. I think I am the only private buyer in the world that has bought an EF1000. Try it with the Chord DAVE & M Scaler via the 'DAC' RCA input of the EF1000. For me it is the best Headphone System with my Susvara I have ever heard. I agree with you, it is amazing music for any genres. When I play via my Chord Blu with top notch CDs and Hybrid SACDs the music is just amazing. Using my Susvaras I am never wanting to use my speakers all the time. FYI; The speaker side of the EF1000 is also amazing sounding fantastic with my Focal Electra 1008 Be's.

[@mikeg2491]

Legit question as someone with a $2k amp and a focal utopia, he1000se and several other high end phones, how much of a difference is there really would I get going from this to an insane amp price like this for what at the end of the day $2000-$4000 headphones on average? I’ve always been a believer the amp and end speakers should be priced roughly the same. Or is this really more designed for super high end speakers. It’s weird you can find plenty of $20k speakers out there but the vast majority of headphones seem to hit a price limit most middle-class consumers can afford. My gut instinct is they can only extract so much out of them, a $15k amp seems overkill for headphones only and only in Orpheus territory where amps are built around the phones will you really cross the mountain in fidelity. Or am I wrong?

[@mspdec]

@@mikeg2491 The Hifiman EF1000 was redesigned and rebuilt just for the Susvara. Hence if you want to hear what the Susvara's are fully capable of, and amp like the EF1000 is the way to go.

[@mohamedube]

After watching this video and doing some research, and getting 80% convinced to buy the combo.... I read your comment about being the only private buyer in the world that bought the EF1000, which then pushed me over the line, and I just bought one to keep you company.

[@mspdec]

@@mohamedube Lol 🙂 Nice one KingKoopa. I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy the EF1000 and Susvara. For me it's the best headphone system I have heard (and I have heard the Hifiman Shangri La Senior and Sennheiser HE1 system and owned the famous BHSE & Stax 009 combo some years ago and the EF1000 & Susvara combo betters them all to my ears). Make sure you feed the EF1000 with the best source possible and if you have some good to great small speakers, the EF1000 will power them very nicely too as an extra bonus (I have a pair of Focal Electra 1008 Be's and they sound great from the EF1000).

[@mohamedube]

Glad to hear your opinion hasn't diminished over the last 5 months! @@mspdec I'll be feeding them through a chain of Auralic Aries G2 (streamer) -> Hugo Mscaler (upscaler) -> Hugo TT2 (preamp) ->EF1000 (amp) --> Susvara ... I think it should fit nicely in that flow

[@mspdec]

For some reason (don't know why), I found the EF1000's single ended RCA 'CD' and 'DAC' inputs far superior in music quality to both (XLR & RCA) of the 'AUX' inputs both for my DAVE and Rega Aura Phono Stage. I found the headphone output jack and XLR output exactly the same with my Susvara both in music quality and power.

[@BloomAudio]

Very interesting. It doesn't seem like any difference in the inputs is documented, but there must be something to it. Thanks!

[@mspdec]

@@BloomAudio Yes, I was very surprised especially as normally I have found say with my Chord Electronics Pre-Amp (Prima) and Power Amp (Mezzo 140's) XLR balanced inputs and outputs to my ears are far superior than the single ended RCA inputs and outputs. Maybe the EF1000 isn't a truly balanced Pre-Amp and Power Amp ! Still sounds fantastic though.

[@malinyamato]

Are this amp and power supply included when you buy a Susvara?

[@BloomAudio]

There's an $18,000 package that gets you the amp plus a Susvara... but otherwise, everything here is sold separately.

[@mspdec]

I bought my EF1000 & Susvara together for a combined price, so saved quite a lot of money buying them together at the same time.

[@pennfootball71]

I wonder how this would compare to the kind of flat sounding benchmark amp

[@mspdec]

Hi Bloom Audio, Have you tried the Aries Cerat Genus Integrated Speaker & Headphone Amp with Susvara's and if you have how does it compare with the Hifiman EF1000 with Susvara's ?

[@iikatinggangsengii2471]

red halo system sounds fun, but i think this level of accuracy is preferred or expected after spending so much money, its comparable even when hooked with a dap only

[@OriginalMindTrick]

What CanJam did you have the TT/EF1000/Susvara rig?

[@BloomAudio]

We had that at NYC 2022. Steve was the only one there with the Susvara, and EF1000 hooked up to the Chord TT2 and MScaler.

[@yasirsendi922]

how will it work with HD800S?

[@BloomAudio]

I haven't had a chance to test it myself, but we had several people stop by our CanJam booth with an HD800 and they noted the speed and the width and depth of the soundstage with EF1000.

[@zelven6109]

Overkill

[@sumeetagarwal6561]

no comparison to other amps in the 5k-15k price range (aic10, wa33 elite, bakoon 13r, etc)?

[@BloomAudio]

Yeah, that would have made for a more in depth review. We wanted to have some other options to compare it to, but couldn’t really make it work logistically. We’ll try to have more comparisons if we do future reviews of items in this price tier.

[@sumeetagarwal6561]

@@BloomAudio Fair enough, thanks for the reply.

[@jeremysohan]

Exterior size don't show much. Would be great if we can see the inside to see the design and the quality of components

[@BloomAudio]

Regrettably, HIFIMAN hasn't provided us internal pictures, but they had a unit on display with a glass top some time ago, and Rocky Mountain HiFi got some pics: hometheaterhifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/rmaf2016-coverage-image162.jpg

[@col2119]

I'm ready to power my porta pro to the next level lol😂

[@malinyamato]

Don't say that that huge monster is an headphone amp!

[@BloomAudio]

Yep, that's a headphone amp! :-)

[@mspdec]

And a Speaker Amp with a built in Pre-Amp. So basically a top notch Integrated Headphone & Speaker Amp.

[@nicktan4530]

Nobody can afford it unless you are rich.

[@mspdec]

I am not rich and I bought one !

[@nicktan4530]

@@mspdec If you bought one means you are rich.

[@0megalul309]

Especially since hifiman breaks after 2 years for most people due to inferior quality control and build

[@mspdec]

@@0megalul309 I have had mine for over 14 months now and all still good with my EF1000 & Susvara and being in audio nirvana listening to my music through them.

[@jack4321able]

Does this amp open up the sound stage relative to the other tube amps in this price range like the Riviera A1C Woo 23 Woo 33 Elite Primavera, Egoista 845 Envy Performance etc