One of the best amps I heard for the HD800 only costs $500 - Page 2

 

I think what a lot of the responders to this thread are trying to say is that the ability of an amp to make the HD800 sound good bears no direct relationship to the cost of the amp.   I don’t think anyone would argue that there aren’t some amps that would drive the HD800s better than the inexpensive ones mentioned in this thread.   However, some people including myself have found that some of the “cheaper” amps can actually better the SQ of some more expensive amps.  It really comes down to personal taste in SQ, amp/headphone “synergy”, possibly amp design itself, etc. – not cost alone.   Also we need to be careful not to equate inexpensive (sub $500) with “low-end” – the latter often implies low-quality, and in fact some of the small desktop and portable amps have specs, build and SQ that could easily be considered close to reference quality.   

 

 

Low end and high end and heaven forbid super high end classification's have nothing whatever to do with SQ.

 

It is all about expense and bragging rights.

 

With SS gear nowadays there is very little between amps,and even the new breed of dac's are putting to shame mega dollar monster dac's of yesteryear.

 

We can thank the Chinese for bringing "high end" to the masses.

 

 

 

Link

Why do I sense a audio gd commercial coming?

Actually the amp part of the Isabellina hpa is the amphora. I once compared a meier opera to an amphora and the meier sounded slightly more refined. Few weeks later I auditioned the hd800 hooked up to the meier and a b22. The b22 is just miles better then the 1000$> competition IMO.

dallan wrote:

 

"high end" to the masses.

 

Woo, hoooo!  I like high-end.

 

But if the masses have "high-end," doesn't that make "high-end to the masses" an oxymoron?

 

???

 

FWIW, I've not listened to a HD800 because it's too high-end (expensive) but if I did have a HD800, my headphone amp would make it smile; Burson HA-160.

 

Edited by beeman458 - 9/23/10 at 7:00am

 

does a Gilmore Lite qualify as a dynalo? it's an amp that has often been noted to work very well with other Sennheisers.
 

 

Gilmore lite is one of the dynalo variants. There have been quite a few variations on the "Gilmore dynamic amp" and all of them could probably be called dynalo. They all share the jfet input & servo zeroed, paralleled BJT output. The variations share the same sound signature. Most of the sound differences between variations comes from the choice of PSU and volume pot. The Gilmore Lite with the DPS is pretty close to as good as a "dynalo" gets, sound wise. The build quality on the HeadAmp Gilmore Lite is top notch compared to most DIY dynalo builds. There are a couple tweaks that slightly improve the design for driving Senns. Raising the PSU voltage to +- 22ish volts and dialing back the bias to match the higher voltage yields a small gain for use with Senns, but at the expense of a slight roll off for low impedance cans like Grados.

 

The same basic "dyna" topology is used in the Dynahi, but with a split dual-rail power supply and much beefier output BJTs. The DynaHi makes an outstanding HD800 amp, but costs more than the $500 benchmark in this thread. There are also a couple balanced versions of the Dynalo called  "Dynamid", of which the Gilmore GS-X is one. The version I'm currently interested in is a bridged-balanced Dynalo, which uses a single ended source to drive a balanced output. It can be built by a DIY'er in a basic form for $500, but I doubt one could be found for sale used or commission built for $500.

 

The fact that there have been so many and continue to be new versions of the Dynalo is a testament to the design.

Edited by bada bing - 9/23/10 at 5:59pm

The Dynahi and Dynalo (well-built ones) are the best amps I've ever heard. I haven't found anything more transparent.

 

Edited by Shahrose - 10/2/10 at 5:10pm