Narrowed it down to 4, it's the final countdown!

Well gentlemen, I have found that my Marantz integrated is no longer providing enough juice to support my new cans. And I'm not looking for my first Headphone Amp

It will be used to drive my Fostex T50RPs, a set of ortho cans. Source will be from a Pioneer CD player and a Parasound DAC 1000 for my PC I mainly listen to classic rock, classical music and prog rock

And with all my life's research(3 days), I present to you my four candidates:

Matrix M-Stage

Schitt Asgard

Schitt Valhalla

NuForce Icon HDP

I understand very well that sound is fairly subjective and I will most definitely get mixed opinions as well as additional candidates(which is fine), but I just want a general idea of what kind of value to expect for each choice.

I budget really is as low as possible, 200-350ish but if the premium for something like the HDP is REALLY worth it, then I have no problem spending the extra money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kboe 

The Asgard or the HDP should mate really well with the orthos.  Srajan at 6moons said the HDP drove the HE5LE really well, and the Asgard is said to have great synergy as well with orthos.  It sounds like you already have decent sources, and so the Asgard's lower price becomes the better deal.  If you dont have decent interconnects, the extra $100.00 could be used to get some great, entry level rcas.

Thanks!

Decent cables and everything, I have. But whether or not its worth getting the HDP over the Asgard or the M-Stage is really bugging me.

Any more input from anyone?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kboe 

Nope! I've been assigned by the board of directors to watch over you and guide your headfi journey, anyone else posting simply doesn't have the authority to interact with you.




















Really guys, a lack of input from someone else is really a poor showing for our community, need I go the way of other members...? Let's help a brother out! I've given my perspective and experience, someone else with more experience would be nice.


Just a thought

Hehe, thanks

I have already read pages upon pages upon pages of reviews on all of them but I have yet to find conclusive results... Some say the M-stage outclasses the Asgard by quite a bit and others say the Asgard is junk compared to the m-stage...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kite7 

I have owned and heard the Asgard,M-Stage and HDP. I would go with the M-Stage or HDP. The HDP is not as good as the M-Stage when it comes to soundstage width but I like its midrange clarity. There is more lower bass presence on the M-Stage but the HDP has more punch. For rock I do prefer the HDP over the M-Stage using my RS1.

THANK YOU

This was the kind of reply I was looking for, by any chance, did ubi_dubi buy your m-stage? Because I'm about to buy his.