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
robm321
932 posts
 
Bill,

I kept the 600's because I wouldn't be able to get much (maybe $150) for them used. And I also kept my Grado RS-1
s. The K1000 is the ultimate, but until I get a dedicated amp I need to switch the connection and disconnect my speakers each time.

So, I wanted something that I can just throw on and listen without all the connection changes. For more serious headphone listening, I always go for the K1000's. It's one of the few components that made me feel like I would never want anything else. I'm considering buying a second pair because they are discontinued. We'll see. The one down side is you look like "Doc" from "Back to the Future" with them on.

Rob
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Robm,
Thanks; I'm thinking of MAYBE keeping the Sennheisers too, but maybe not. It isn't certain yet. I'm still digesting all of this information about the different amplifiers, etc.
Footnote, sort of tangential, "optional" reading: I also have a very old pair of Denon AHD-700 pro monitors. They were 120 bucks new and sounded better (to me) than the Sony MDR V6 that sold (and maybe still sell) for 100 bucks. I dug them up and listened to them the other day. Nowhere near as good as what I'd remembered. Dang again! Don't know if I'll keep those either, although one good thing about them is that they can actually be driven by a Sony Discman, and of course they kick the everlasting snot out of the stock "headphones" supplied with the Discman. (They aren't 300 ohms like the Sennheisers.) Maybe they could be sold. They sounded quite good to me in the late 80's/early 90's........
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Mdhoover - Here's a nice sellection of NOS tubes for your amp. (Insert usual disclaimer here...no relation to the seller, blah, blah, blah)

Marco
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Marco, which of those should I buy? I haven't a clue. (I suffer from "tubal retardation".) Thanks.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I can only speak for my preamp, which is a Cary SLP-50A - I like the RCA cleartops....BUT you should ask the seller since he had a Stax setup and would know better which ones worked best in that application. They will not necessarily be the same as those that worked in my pre.

Marco
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