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Beginning of a new journey...

I had never been a headphone guy, up until very recently. My main rig in my home office is built around Harbeth P3esr, Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II, Cambridge Audio Azur 851D, and Bluesound Node 2i. I'm extremely satisfied with the performance of this system, and cannot ever imagine parting ways with the P3esr's. They tick all the right boxes for me.

Having said that, my headphone journey started with my wife buying me a Bose Soundlink pair of headphones about a month ago. I put those on, and the first word that came to mind was 'meh'. I tried them with and without amplification, but the result was always the same. Meh! I concluded that maybe headphones were not for me. But then a friend of mine told me that Mass Drop (now just Drop) were running a special on the Sennheiser HD6XX headphones. With the first-timer discount, and free shipping, the cans were going to run me $175 + tax. I figured why not. I am in love with the Harbeth midrange and smooth sound, so 6XX's sounded like the right choice.

Now, I also have a Naim Unituque (V1) that was in my system before I upgraded to the Cronus Magnum. The display light had started to fade and eventually went out completely. So much for Naim quality! Anyways, I was hoping that the Naim would be a good match for the HD6XX's. But nope! Not at all. The sound was anemic, slightly better than running them straight from my iPhone, but not that much better. The bass was almost non-existent. I guess headphone amplification was an afterthought on the Unitiqute. I wasn't sure if it were the 6XX's, or just that the synergy with Naim was not optimal.

On a whim, I hooked the cans to the Cronus Magnum's headphone out, and immediately they came alive. The bass was much tighter, the midrange, vocals, treble -- everything was noticeably better. I can see why these headphones have achieved such a legendary status in the world of affordable hifi equipment. They definitely scale with better equipment, unlike the Bose. So now, I need some advice regarding a good headphone amp. Given the limited room on my desk, I would prefer something with a smaller form factor, and a single box solution with preamp/amp/dac. It will be a bonus if the unit can have a built in streamer, but not a must. I want to stay between $500-800, new or used. I'm sensitive to high frequencies, so tubes will be my preference but don't want to rule out smooth sounding SS amps.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!
128x128arafiq
yyzsantabarbara
4,871 posts
 
@arafiq I got into headphones 6 months ago with the Meze Empy and Benchmark AHB2. That is $6K right there in the deep end. I got lucky since it was a homerun.

Last week I got a $500 Topping A90 headphone amp ($424 Black Friday). I also got a Matrx Mini-i 3 Pro DAC which arrives on Wednesday. I am burning in the A90 but when I have listened to it sounded very much like my HPA4. The HPA4 is considered by some as one of the best.

The Topping A90 is silent, dynamic, and overall great. It kills my prior Bryston BHA-1 which had some noise and game me fatigue. That unit is $2K new.

Take a look at this review from Hungary. I think this guy is right on the money for headphones. I actually bought the Topping based on his comparison to the HPA4.

https://soundnews.net/

I know you like the warmer sounding DAC.  These 2 headphone amps are neutral and will not add to the sound of you source, which maybe a good thing.

The Meze Empy with an upgraded XLR cable is amazing for long listening session with 0 fatigue. I get fatigue very easily. However, that is expensive. You may want to look at the Meze 99 as a gateway drug.

arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,681 posts
 
@yyzsantabarbara Thanks. I found that since I have a nice two channel system in my study I'm rarely if ever listening to headphones. I think you made the right move with the Empy since it has a laid back approach to sound which, at least in my opinion, is the way to go for longer listening sessions.  
yyzsantabarbara
4,871 posts
 
The Empy in stock form is laid back and not ideal for me. Adding the WyWire Platinum XLR cable was what made the sound much more detailed and really perfect for my headphone needs. Since I have a toddler that goes to sleep relatively early the headphones come out each night.

An interesting thing that happened recently is that my floor stander connected to an all Benchmark stack is sounding great at very low volume. My COAX drivers on the speakers were replaced and breaking in now. I am not sure if I would have bought the  Empy right away given my new found discovery of the low volume sound of the speakers. At least it would have dropped in priority since 2 channel is my main squeeze.
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