4K headphone + headphone amp/dac system recommendations please
I have 4K to spend on a better headphone system and have no expertise in the headphone zone.
Currently using old Grado SR 225 cans with Schiit Jotunheim 2 amp (single ended connection). Source is Jay's CDT2 transport and I'm using the internal DAC in my Hegel H390.
While the Hegel's onboard DAC is pretty good, it is a bit thin in the mids. I'd prefer something a bit more fleshed out in that frequency range.
I'm not finding many headphone amp/DAC combos. I am not interested in Chord or import brands that cannot be serviced in US.
The Teac UD 507 looks like a possibility. Moon Audio sells it and recommends HiFiMan HE100 V4 Stealth Magnet currently on sale for $949 to pair with the Teac.
Please Note: This budget will also need to accomodate a power cable and an AES/EBU cable to connect to transport.
In terms of sonics, I favor musicality over detail. I'm very sensitive to fatiguing highs. At the same time, I prize tight bass.
I listen to 3 types of music: acoustic Jazz, non-classical acoustic (NewGrass, Singer-Songwriter, Folk, etc) and some Classic Rock.
I noticed criticism on the Sennheiser headphones... I think most of the observations are the result of the electronics used to fee them, more than the headphones themselves. I was surprised when I finally feed my flagship Denon, Beyerdynamic, Ultrasound, Sennheiser, and Focal how much of the unique differences went away. |
I’m unfamiliar with that site. Thanks for the pointer.
I don’t doubt it. But I worry about availability, expense and the gradual degradation of tubes over time that somehow brings to mind the metaphor of a frog obviously being boiled to death over a period of incremental temperature changes. Thanks for your suggestions of Meze Empyrean and Audeze. I would not call myself a bass head; I don’t prefer music in which bass plays an outsized role. However, poor bass extension, like fatiguing highs, is something I cannot put up with for long. I’m not sure the Sennheisers would be adequate in this regard, so the Audeze might well be worth a listen. On the other hand, the Jotunheim in single-ended mode has excellent bass, which might work with the Senn HD600 series. RE: EQ, I noticed many of the reviews on headphones.com mention EQ. It would seem it’s assumed that EQ is an expected component in headphone systems, these days. I’ve had a Lokius in my main system before. I’m not very techie, so I’d actually prefer twisting knobs to using ap on a phone to control a digital interface. Can you say more about/be more specific, regarding what factors are at play when utilizing the sort of electronics you favor ?
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@stuartk If you are close to Los Angeles there are a few great options to hear some great phones. BTW - I should have mentioned Stax as a brand I like. At the Denver meetup in January a Stax rep had the entire lineup for me to hear. I think the entire Meze lineup was also there, except for the 109 which I ended up buying. You need to buy one of their amps to drive them but some of those amps are not expensive. I preferred the Stax to Meze but got Meze to save money on something I use infrequently. |
