@oddiofyl +1 I have both the Quicksilver headphone and integrated amps - both of which delivery excellent sonics at a very competitive price point. As stated, build quality is also top notch. My end game headphone amp may be the Pass Labs HPA-1 (at 3x the price), but frankly, I'm in no hurry to get there. |
Since the ones you list are SS I would take a look at this https://www.luxman.com/product/detail.php?id=7 |
I listened to the earlier Phonitor and it like all SPL gear is great. It was a while back but you should try to demo one. I bought my RME DAC from a local professional sound dealer and they had many SPL products there. They are nice. Luxman is great too. I like their new stuff. So is Benchmark. Another great company. I remember back in 06 or 07 I did a tradeshow and everyone was crowded around the new Benchmark DAC 1 trying to listen through phones. I credit Benchmark with more or less igniting the Headphone /DAC craze. Not sure if they were the "first" but in my opinion it was the first headphone amp / DAC worth buying Audition if possible or at least have a return priviledge , it's really a matter of taste with headphones. |
The Benchmark is a great 2 channel preamp if the definition of great is not adding to the signal. The HPA4 was also excellent with my warmish Meze Empy headphones, both now sold. The best rock and roll headphone I have heard is the new RAAL CA-1a ($2K). I have heard it only with the top end VM-1a tube amp, but it can also be connected to any of the headphone amps that are listed on this thread. The guys on Head-fi are saying it kills also with other amps, though the VM-1a is the king. I read that the HPA4 sounded good with the CA-1a, though that surprises me a bit, must have been using a warmish DAC.
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