2. amps-preamps
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What headphone amp to buy-Sennheiser HD 600?

Well, thanks to the kindness and patience of my fellow A'gon-izers, the hook-up "problem" for the headphone amp I have is solved. The amp is a Ramsey SHA 1. The phones are Sennheiser HD 600. I had remembered that amp sounding great. Now I'm spoiled by the new speakers I have, and even though the signal path to the amp is thru the Dodson DAC, I still think it sounds........not so great. Decent I suppose, but harsh on the upper end, yet without the mitigating detail, and you know, just.....unsatisfactory.

OK, OK, so here's the question(s): What's a great, fairly cheap (like, at LEAST less than a grand) headphone amp? Sonically, I want EVERYTHING!!!! (Except soundstage, that has never happened for me with any headphones, ever, I'm pretty sure not even with the expensive Stax I heard a few years ago).
It MUST have: Tight, deep, fast, smooth, tonally correct, musical bass, shimmering, non-fatiguing, emminently smooth yet ultra detailed highs, great midbass punch with no boom or softness whatsoever, midrange that is totally natural, smooth, detailed, and lacking any hint whatsoever of grain or electronic amplification artifact in the upper registers. It should sound great on ALL program material, from classical to rock to bluegrass to new age to jazz, anything and everything.

Other than those relatively modest criteria, there are no other performance demands. :)))

So, fire away!
mdhoover
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I'm VERY happy with my WooAudio3 driving my HD-600 cans.

Here are some other folks who like 'em too:
Audio Review WooAudio 3 reviews

Sorry, no remote, but you can use it as a preamp too. Not as good as my BAT VK-51SE, but it doesn't embarass itself either. That's saying something when comparing a $470 'preamp' with a $9000 one.

Have fun,
John
willobandb
28 posts
 
I suggest you check out the website Head-Fi.org for all things headphone, found here. Lots of good info along with the ususal bits of noise.

Bob
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Just to add a bit to the input above: I have a Portal Panache, and a Berning Micro-Zotl. I don't use your cans, but a pair of Sony MD3000's. The difference between the two amps is not subtle, and though the Panache has a decent headphone section for an integrated amplifier, it just doesn't approach the smoothness and refinement of the Berning. Listening to the two A/B I do not want to listen to the Panache very long, and it doesn't take golden ears to hear the difference (love it as an integrated amp though). I cannot speak to the synergy with your cans specifically, but if they are the same cans Peter brought over (one of the Senn cans I'm sure) I didn't much like them in comparison to the Sonys, for whatever that is worth. The Senn's I heard sounded much less lively and dynamic than the Sonys on the Berning. Peter can say which model they were. So, as Peter indicates, it may be a matter of Synergy...or? Peter has both Senns and Sony so he could speak more to that.

Marco
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
Sorry for speaking out of turn here, as I heard Marco's Berning amp with his Sony headphones, not with the Sennheisers. Loved that combo, however!
peter_s
1,340 posts
 
I had the Sens 600 and sold them to buy the Sony/Berning combo. The Sony/Berning combo is quite good, very lively and dynamic. Later I heard the Sens with a Cardas cord and the Gilmore amp I mentioned and it was great too - more neutral than the Sony/Berning combo. The preference was a matter of taste. However, we did a headphone shootout with several Gilmore amps and the Berning, and the Senns definitely sounded better on the Gilmore: have them upgrade it with stepped attenuators for the volume control, keep the circuit as simple as possible (i.e. if the model has a preamp out, you may want them to build it without that). I only say that because that is the configuration that I heard that sounded best with the Gilmore.
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