After spending time with the ampsandsound Kenzie OG Rev. 2, wanting to experience more in the hobby, I decided that I would go for the ampsandsound Agartha.

After watching a video on the Agartha by TylersEclectic with Justin Weber at ampsandsound and Marcello Rostagni, I became curious about the 300B sound.

The Agartha utilizes 300B Triodes, which have recently been able to be implemented in headphone audio utilizing a single gain stage, zero feedback, and careful grounding techniques to achieve no hum or noise.

Driving headphones primarily, I’ve spent around five months with the Agartha and feel I’ve gotten to experience the sound signature enough to describe my experience.

The Agartha has a classic, vintage look. Not a flashy look, something that I can appreciate because of the subtle look of the wood and metal. Something about it blends right into a room.

I’ve tried the Agartha with all of my headphones, but I think my first experience with the Agartha provided all the details of what I should expect.

After listening for a few seconds, immediately I could hear what made it different. The defining quality was the persistent, pleasant micro-rumble at the lower frequencies coupled with rich tonal timbre and the expansive sound stage.

It’s a very comprehensive sound, and trying them out with HiFiMan headphones has been a pleasant experience. The Agartha’s soundstage is wide, and the timbre is tonally rich; when coupled with the HE6SE V2’s ability to draw out the nuances and complexities of music thru its imaging, and combined with its own big soundstage, it’s a thorough sound that is incredibly wide and rich. The vocals are sweet and also have a lot of character. The vocalist in 80’s music seems to take center stage of a lively music festival. The Agartha seems to be a powerhouse that drives the HiFiMan HE6SE V2 very well.

The Agartha coupled with the HiFiMan Arya Non-Stealth enhances the liquid timbre of the Arya, and it’s beautiful. With the Arya, the sound is emphatic with a more apparent slam and a thicker sound. It’s less detailed; still detailed, but with more emphasis on bass. The sound is endearing, and the Agartha’s staple tonal richness, and deep sound stage is maintained. Not to mention with the power and soundstage of the Agartha, the Arya also benefits in the height of the soundstage, trumping the HE6SE V2 in that regard.

The Agartha kind of reminds me reminds me of the Blue Hawaii Electrostatic Amplifier in terms of having a unique sound. It’s not exactly the same as the Blue Hawaii but still notably different and unique. It seems to have the ability to take any mid-fi headphone and make magic hi-fi glory.

The depth of its’ timbre is the base from which we experience the Agartha 2021. It slams, but with apparent power and ability to dig into the nuance; it is throughout the imaging and pervasive in the frequencies, and especially so at the lower bass frequencies, providing an amazing, persistent rumble.

The Agartha is an end-game amp for many, but I’ve found that ampsandsound have released the Red October! Now that I’ve heard the Agartha, I have a feeling already the what an absolute unit, sound wise and quality wise, the Red October must be.

The Agartha brings everything to the table, leaving me with nothing but positive words for it. It’s definitely a style that is magical to me and an end-game solution for any enthusiast looking for top-tier sound performance.

The base attributes of Agartha apply to all headphones, I decided to use Mid-Fi headphones for my impressions to show that hi-fi - summit-fi is achievable with the ampsandsound Agartha 2021.

Product link: https://ampsandsound.com/products/agartha

Headphones: HiFiMan HE6SE V2, HiFiMan Arya Non-Stealth, Sennheiser HD650, HiFiMan HE560 V4

Sources: Audio-GD HE-7 MK I, Schiit Modi Multibit, Yulong D18

Cables: BJC Coaxial Cables (3 foot, 6 foot), BJC LC-1 Cables (3 foot, 6 foot), Amazon Basics (4 foot, 8 foot), Monoprice (3 foot, 6 foot)

USB: Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2, Singxer SU-6