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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
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Ah, sorry I missed that you might be rolling 300B's. WhooHaaa, then you are talking some bucks. Still many amps using those tubes are auto-biased as well. Actually I've recently been doing a bit of rolling in my 300B amps and have really been initially very impressed with the new Svetlana tubes that are only around $240 pair from CONUS in Canada. They offer more detail, clarity and impact in the midrange on my rig, at the expense of some of the overall balance, and do-everything-right of the WE 300B's that I've grown accostomed too. I wasn't at all fond of the TJ meshplates...just overall too soft. I could happily live with the Svets. WE's still rule to my ears, but not such a clear winner in comparison with the new Svets. Yes, rolling tubes in a 300B amp can be an expensive endeavor.

Marco
vicks7
182 posts
 
Consider also the Singlepower range of headphone amps or the headroom amps for a lower budget.
robm321
932 posts
 
If you have those high demands get the AKG K1000. I own Grado RS-1 and Senn hd600 (heard the 650) - I heard the K1000 and end of story it was in another league altogether while creating a soundstage outside of the head (by a little bit). If you can hear them do so before centering a system around the Senns. I wished someone would have told me about the AKG's before I went down that road.
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Robm321, and everybody else who has contributed to this thread so far:

Thank you all very much. Headphones are a whole new realm for me.
tom_hankins
928 posts
 
I highly recommend the Singlepoweraudio.com tube amps for the Senn. headphones. I have owned or heard the PPX3, MPX3, SDS, and the SDS-XLR balanced amps. The base models are the best headphone amps I've used, and the owner will custom build any amp to your phones or needs.
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