2. amps-preamps
  3. 1135306715

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
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Probably a typo on Swampwalker's part, but the tube is a 6CG7/6FQ7. It is not a 6FG7, which does exist, but I don't think is a drop in replacement for the former.

Inexpensive: read roughly $10-20/tube for good stuff. I've liked the GE's and JAN. There is one oddball tube I rolled that I cannot put my finger on right now that also was quite good. As I said, their a pretty common and not at all exotic tube. The differences in my amp, and those in your amp will not likely be the same. You should just get a few pairs and listen for yourself. I haven't found there to be as much of a difference in the NOS tubes of this type, than those in the very covetted, overused, much inflated, sometimes counterfitted 6922/ECC88 family. If your amp used those you'd be in for a roller coaster ride.

Marco
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Marco:

Inexpensive: read roughly $10-20/tube for good stuff.

NOW yer talkin'!! Much, much better, for my budget anyway.
robm321
932 posts
 
I think they would work with that amp. There are a couple of caveats:

One they need an amp with about 5+ watts - they connect to the taps like speaker cables do.

The second is as you mention the bass response. It goes very deep but is not as full as dynamic headphones. Most headphones have lots of coloration in the bass - the K1000 has the tightest and cleanest bass, but it doesn't get that flooded with bass feeling that you will get with Grado's and Senn's which you may or may not prefer.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Typo yes

Differences btwn 404 and Lambda Pros were subtle.

Audiocubes may be a gray market dealer. IIRC, the amps they offer come with a stepdown transformer. Many folks on head-fi-org have dealt with them, check over there.

I agree with Robm321 about bass response of AKG K1000s. Fast, accurate, not boomy, similar to my Merlins. You will need to connect and re-connect at the speaker terminals if you use the same amp for speakers and K1000s, unless you insert a speaker switching box.
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Swampwalker:

Looks like you may be right about Audiocubes. They don't come right out on their web site and say, "We're a gray market dealer." But they have no US warehouse and repair units go to Japan if I'm reading their site correctly. They also talk about maybe needing a transformer for some units, etc. Guess these choices aren't always black and white.

To ALL kind and patient headphone amp discussion thread posters:

Thanks to all for the advice, which shows that I know next to nothing about headphones, or at least it seems that way. Yes, I have been paying attention, and have checked out all or nearly all of the items recommended, at least on the internet.
More to discover