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headphone amp question

I have an Antique Sound Labs MG Head OTL Mark II headphone amp and Sennheiser 580 headphones in my main system. It seems that the volume in my library (another room) is too much for my wife so I am looking to add another headphone amplifier to that room. Should I buy another ASL headphone amp or upgrade to the next level? I plan on keeping the Senns. I like them alot. What other candidates should I consider? I know there is another headphone only site, but I have grown accustomed and comfortable with the advice from Audiogon. Thanks for your guidance. And, by the way, thanks for years of advice and entertainment from this website.
tgrisham
jerico
131 posts
 
Agree with the Woo recommendation. I've got a 22 and swear by it (works great with my T1s and my LCD2s, with some tube rolling for each). The 6 / 6 SE has lots of fans too.
mcondon
235 posts
 
I agree that Head-fi has deteriorated in recent years to the point that it is impenetrable unless you keep track of members who have something of value to say and ignore those who are just running up their post count.

FYI, I have owned a lot of headphone amps in the last six years, including amps from Luxman, Meier, Woo, Singlepower, Blue Circle, and Original. I have also attended meets and have heard amps from Ray Samuels, Burson, TTVJ, and Decware.

Headphones like Sennheisers have a fairly high impedance. I have found that OTL headphone amps offer the best sound quality. If you like Sennheisers and can afford an OTL from Woo or Decware, you will get amazing sound quality...liquid, full mid-range with no sacrifices in terms of bass. FYI, I enjoyed my Sennheiser HD650s much more out of my Singlepower Extreme, an OTL tube amp, than out of my Luxman P1-u, one of the best solid state amps on the market with a retail price of $3,000.

So for high impedance cans, go with an OTL, as their performance is amazing and they are often less expensive than transformer-coupled amps. If, on the other hand, you plan to switch to low impedance cans from Grado, Audeze, or JH Audio IEMs, a transformer-coupled tube amp or a solid state amp would be a better choice.
wolf_garcia
6,696 posts
 
I realized after the fact that my new Kavent preamp has no headphone output...oops...so I bought a Bravo V2 because it's looks so cool (hasn't arrived yet so I have no idea what it sounds like). It's so inexpensive I figured how could I miss?...but am curious if anybody out there uses one. The Kavent has an extra set of line outs to drive it.
tgrisham OP
1,291 posts
 
Mcondon, great insight and experience. I am getting excited about this new venture. Whereas initially I was bummed out. Lemons and lemonade.....
baka1969
101 posts
 
I have the Woo WA6SE and it's a great amp. It might be overkill for the OP's Senn which is why I recommended the Little Dot MKII. I'll add the MKIII. Which is the one I had and is really nice for the money, is a nice upgrade to the MKII and does nice with tube rolling.
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