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Bravo Or Indeed For HD650?

post #1 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:04am
Thread Starter 
I was looking around and came across these Headphone Amps....

My setup would run as follows...

Xonar Essence STX----> Headphone amp----->HD650
Auzentech X-Fi Forte----> Headphone amp----->HD650

Bravo

Indeed

Now for the questions

1 - What Headphone amp is the better buy?
2 - Do I need a headphone amp or does the Essence STX and Forte drive my HD650's fine?
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post #2 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:30am
I have not heard the indeed amp so I cannot speak for that one, but I just got my bravo amp in the mail two days ago and I love it. I use it with my hd238's and it makes them sound a lot richer. If you do a search on here you will find a thread dedicated to each of those amps. I did read another member owns the bravo and uses it to power his hd650 and said it powers them great. As far as price goes, I believe that the indeed is cheaper right now, I got the bravo for around $60 shipped three weeks ago, but now they come with a 6922 tube and go for about $107 shipped.
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post #3 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:31am
I have the updated Bravo, and it can effortlessly drive any of my difficult phones, including AKG K340 and AKG K1000. It will easily drive the HD650s. Build quality is very good, with high-quality components. I did swap power supplies for a 2 amp switcher of higher quality. This improved the sound a great deal. IMO, the Bravo is a fine amp at a bargain price. The circuit design is about identical on the Indeed, but I believe higher quality components are now used on the Bravo. It is, of course, more expensive than the Indeed.

I can't compare the SQ of the two, as I have not heard the Indeed.
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post #4 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:32am
Before my power supply went kaput, I was using my Bravo amp with HD650's. Drives them with no problem, and drives them well.
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post #5 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:40am
Thread Starter 
Is it worth it to use them with my soundcards considering they both are meant for heaphones and have headphone amps?
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post #6 of 20
1/15/10 at 2:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shizdan View Post
I was looking around and came across these Headphone Amps....

My setup would run as follows...

Xonar Essence STX----> Headphone amp----->HD650
Auzentech X-Fi Forte----> Headphone amp----->HD650

Bravo

Indeed

Now for the questions

1 - What Headphone amp is the better buy?
2 - Do I need a headphone amp or does the Essence STX and Forte drive my HD650's fine?
1. I have both, I like the Bravo sound, build and service from the manufacturer better.
2. Sorry can't answer that.
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post #7 of 20
1/15/10 at 2:54am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the replies! I guess I'll go with the Bravo. Now that I decided that, anything I should know? Will these make my HD650s be close to maxed out? Should I stick with the 6922 Tube or get a different one?
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post #8 of 20
1/15/10 at 3:37am
I use the Bravo with my HD650. I use a Philips JAN 6222 tube instead of the stock tube.

Now I have another budget DAC/AMP in a Hotaudio 40 which gives the HD650 noticeably better bass and slightly better treble.

However what the Bravo does is add a certain lushness in the sound that I simply love ! So take your pick. Both the Indeed and Bravo will sound similar.

I might get another power supply to see if it improves that bass a bit as IMHO thats a tad lacking.
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post #9 of 20
1/15/10 at 12:21pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks all who contributed! Now should I stay with the amp on my Essence STX or purchase a Bravo?
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post #10 of 20
1/16/10 at 11:43pm
I got my Bravo last week. Incredible little amp. I bought a set of ATH AD700 with the intent of using with it. They were lacking in the bottom end. This amp warmed them up and made them so much better. Even better with the Electro Harmonix 6922 tube.
Grado SR80i sound good, Denon D2000s good (but already warm sounding, so wont use with this amp).
I borrowed a set of Sennheiser HD580 and AKG 701s. The Sennheisers are spot on everywhere and are powered nicely. AKG sound nice, still not as lush as I like and powered easily.
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post #11 of 20
1/17/10 at 3:34pm
I have a Bravo which sounds nice with my HD-580s, which are quite similar to your 650s in many respects. They sound very good, but My 80's Cyrus One amp wasn't so much more money, but drives them significantly better. So a Bravo will sound nice, but shouldn't be construed as coming close to maxing out your 650s.
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post #12 of 20
2/8/10 at 5:30pm
How big is the difference between (in %):
Xonar Essence STX / Auzentech X-Fi Forte (both with internal amp) ----> HD650
and
Xonar Essence STX / Auzentech X-Fi Forte (both with internal amp) ----> Headphone amp -----> HD650
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post #13 of 20
2/8/10 at 6:40pm
The Bravo comes with a 1 amp power supply and the Indeed with a 2 amp. Changing the power supply on the Bravo does help the sound and the tube as well.

The bias isn't set up that well by the makers and need to be adjusted to 16.5 v. They seem to vary quite a lot and some are a long way off.

With a good tube, better power supply and the bias set correctly, the Bravo takes off.

It drives the K701 with absolute ease and actually sounds rather good.

Ian
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post #14 of 20
2/8/10 at 9:07pm
Well, the K701 has only 63 Ohm, but the HD650 has 300 Ohm.
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post #15 of 20
2/10/10 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bifi85 View Post
Well, the K701 has only 63 Ohm, but the HD650 has 300 Ohm.
Well, you try driving the HD650 and then plug the K701 in without changing the volume. You'll get a surprise .....

The K701 is MORE difficult to drive because it's less sensitive.

Please .... don't quote the impedance figure back again. I know the K701 has lower impedance but it's more difficult to drive for sure. I have both too.

Ian
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