To transition to a mostly percussive milieu without ringy elements but a plethora of drier beats densely layered up, I cued up the Mercan Dede remix of "Na Na Na" from the l'Antidote album. As is typical for such fare, dynamics mostly redline except for a shorter transition connecting the track's first and second third. On the club beats, Unveiled showed slightly higher damping and amplitude. OG had fractional shadows of ringing tails and didn't hit quite as hard. Though unexpected from remixed music, OG once again sounded slightly rounder or 'fleshier', Unveiled more clipped or curt.
To turn tables with sonorous male vocals, I cued up "Aveu/Confession" from Lapis Lazuli, the album which first introduced me to Abed Azrié, a Syrian expat to France. His voice has very limited range but is packed with throat, chest and diaphragm textures. By now I knew what to key into. For faint bodily noises our baritone makes in his mouth, Unveiled was more deep throat so explicit. For exposed female vocals I turned to Dilek Türkan from her Vuslatin Başka Alem album. On minor occasions of sibilance, Unveiled etched out more. For harmonic packing 'n' stacking, the newer design went deeper into minutiae. The older heavier more resistive gold traces weren't quite as quick on the uptake; as though the invisible energy transfer between vocalist and my ears had taken a step or two back. Less heat. Here we remember the judge who couldn't define the 'p' word but got hot under the collar when he saw it. This judge and his trusted jury would find OG Susvara more to their taste. This is subtle stuff but once identified, tracks from album to album. Again, the Lavri/Forza cable variable might have emphasized it beyond what identical cables would. If so, there'd be a narrower performance margin for the €2'800 worth of change.
Susvara Unveiled on Lavri Grand line cable.
Time to draw my biggest residential gun which I have a permit for, Raal 1995's triple-ribbon Immanis. It is to its stablemate Magna what OG is to Unveiled. Switching from HifiMan to Raal instantly changed the sonic milieu. Explicit aspects turned organic, prickly highly exposed elements smoothed out. Mercan Dede's club beats were fleshier yet stopped more sudden still. A certain whitishness which Unveiled embedded in the aural scenery replaced with sunlight as though filtered by a thin canopy of Birch trees. The presentation across the same tracks felt more humane if technically less flashy. Whilst these aren't descriptors approved by the audiophile police, they go to the heart of the experience. If naturalness is the absence of even subtle sizzle, the temperamentally darker ribbons—of even more unobstructed airflow perhaps?—were still above HifiMan's top planarmagnetic. That's admittedly being critical in the oxygen-deprived zone. Alas, there's an upshot for all hopeful Hifimenschen. Using the same cable, trade Susvara Unveiled for HE1000 Unveiled. Voilà, you're closer to the organic/fleshy aspects of the ribbons yet pocket a solid €6'400 over Susvara. May I recommend that you now drop about 1/10th of your savings on the below cable?
After my temporary residency with HifiMan's Unveiled Quartet of Ananda, Arya, HE1000 and Susvara, I can now anoint the above model with the shown Latvian/Portuguese cable as my top pick of its bunch. This is predicated upon already owning an amp of Dionysus calibre. How Ananda and Arya rate, my prior review covered. Today declares a personal favourite based on everyone's favourite metric, the ol' price/performance parameter. As far as Susvara OG/Unveiled go, I shall side with my golden oldie. Whilst sounding a skoch heavier, that takes off the edge. It moved me from occasionally über-explicit hyper realism to more immersive than observant intimacy. Now minor virtual distance is a good thing.
HE1000 Unveiled on Lavri Grand line cable, Raal 1995 Immanis next to it.
If you prefer more distance, move to Arya or Ananda. Each step down this Unveiled ladder gets a bit heavier in the sonically material sense, hence tones down energy transmission and incisiveness. That it also saves coin is a nice side benefit. Really, HifiMan's Unveiled range now has something for nearly everyone. Coming from China, that's very democratic of them, innit?
