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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
memeboy
46 posts
 
I bought a Berning Personal Amp for my HD 600s and have been extremely happy with it.
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Quick update: I've decided to purchase the Stax mentioned above based on their sound, but I did have the same sweating problem that Swampwalker mentioned. So, I still may want to keep the Sennheisers, based on their comfort, and their potential, which must be pretty darn good given all the great headphone amplifier advice people have given on this thread. Not sure how (or when) to audition all of these, though. Most of the manufacturers list their prices, but it doesn't look like Singlepower does.

What about using the SRM 1 as an amp for the Sennheisers? Is there an adaptor that goes from the 5 pin Stax jack to conventional headphone type of jack?

Robm,

I saw your response to the other HD 600 thread. What made you keep your 600's if you own the AKG's?

Thanks again to all. This has been really great. I've been away from headphones for a long, long time, until now, so this has been very enlightening for me.

Bill
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
You cannot use the STax amp to drive conventional phones, because the circuit includes voltage (580v I believe for the Pros) to energize the electrostatic diaphragms.
mdhoover OP
695 posts
 
Swampwalker,
Thanks. Now I know why people sometimes call the Stax headphone amps "energizers". Dang!
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
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