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Amp for Grado HF2

post #1 of 19
12/8/10 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 

Hi there,

 

I'm currently putting together my full sized setup and am trying to decide what amp to get for my Grado HF2's. The WA6 looks nice, but is a little out of my budget, and the Little Dot MKIV could also be another option, but I've heard that it doesnt do well with low independance headphones.

 

so.....any suggestions on an amp that works well with the HF2's? I'd like to keep it around $450.  The Hifiman amps look nice....


Edited by Thecoolguy - 12/17/10 at 7:22pm
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post #2 of 19
12/9/10 at 5:47am
HF-2 sound just fine out of my Walkman X1060 and I am very happy with that combo. However, once plugged into my MAD Ear+ HD, they just get so much better! Just FYI The MAD Ear+ HD has an amazing reputation with Grado's, especially the RS1. I personally think you should buy an Amplifier before a DAC, no matter what anyone says. I would definitely get a tube amplifier for Grado's. Both the MKIV and WA6 are great amplifiers, but I would personally go for the WA6 due to its build quality and it looks so good. Little Dot Products provide great bang for buck, but I generally keep amplifiers for a very long time, so it's nice to know I have a well built one. Of course, I would go for the MAD Ear+ HD over either of those with Grado's, but thats just me.
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post #3 of 19
12/9/10 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stang View Post

HF-2 sound just fine out of my Walkman X1060 and I am very happy with that combo. However, once plugged into my MAD Ear+ HD, they just get so much better! Just FYI The MAD Ear+ HD has an amazing reputation with Grado's, especially the RS1. I personally think you should buy an Amplifier before a DAC, no matter what anyone says. I would definitely get a tube amplifier for Grado's. Both the MKIV and WA6 are great amplifiers, but I would personally go for the WA6 due to its build quality and it looks so good. Little Dot Products provide great bang for buck, but I generally keep amplifiers for a very long time, so it's nice to know I have a well built one. Of course, I would go for the MAD Ear+ HD over either of those with Grado's, but thats just me.


Thanks for the reply!  I'll have to look into the MAD Ear+, though its a little out of my budget.

 

Build quality isn't as big of a factor for me as price is, which is why i'm leaning towards the Little Dot as of now. The MKIV seems to be built well enough.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any impressions on how the HF2 sounds with the little dot would be greatly appreciated!


Edited by Thecoolguy - 12/9/10 at 7:24pm
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post #4 of 19
12/17/10 at 7:23pm
Thread Starter 

Bump

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post #5 of 19
12/17/10 at 8:28pm

X2 on tube amp. I prefer mine out of the headphone attachment for my MiniWatt v1, although it also sounds good out of the LD MKIII. For portable I use it mostly with the ALO Rx. The tube amps definitely warm up the sound.

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post #6 of 19
12/18/10 at 3:56pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I'm probably going to go with a tube amp instead of a solid state one.  the JV5 amp sure looks nice.

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post #7 of 19
12/18/10 at 4:09pm

I'm in a similar situation.

 

I'm looking to get a the HF2 and a Bottlehead Crack amp.  Would this be a good match up?

 

I've always wanted to try out the Bottlehead products and the Crack amp is at a good price for my first DIY.  Plus we are trying to get a "Group Buy" that would put it at $180 plus shipping.

 

James


Edited by james93 - 12/18/10 at 4:16pm
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post #8 of 19
12/18/10 at 4:17pm

No. OTL amplifiers don't like low impedance headphones. If you want tubes, either get an hybrid or a transformer-coupled amplifier, which have low output impedance.

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post #9 of 19
12/18/10 at 4:25pm

Schiit Asgard, Dynalo/GLite, Starving Student built to low gain, Little Dot I+, and CKKIII all sound good to me. Of course, these come in at various price points.

 

Don't bother with the higher priced Little Dots for Grados. They will get worse, not better. More money does not equate to better performance.

 

As for the Crack, no, definitely not.


Edited by revolink24 - 12/18/10 at 4:26pm
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post #10 of 19
12/18/10 at 4:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by revolink24 View Post

Schiit Asgard, Dynalo/GLite, Starving Student built to low gain, Little Dot I+, and CKKIII all sound good to me. Of course, these come in at various price points.

 

Don't bother with the higher priced Little Dots for Grados. They will get worse, not better. More money does not equate to better performance.

 

As for the Crack, no, definitely not.

 

Thanks for that info....

 

James

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post #11 of 19
12/18/10 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm not interested in any DIY amps though, unless there is a place I could buy the amp already assembled

 

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post #12 of 19
12/19/10 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 

@revolink24

how much does the ckkIII affect the hf2s bass? I've read that its a relatively bass light amp.

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post #13 of 19
12/19/10 at 3:07pm

That wasn't really the case in my experience, so I don't really think that there is any lack of bass, unless you're coming from a bass-heavy amplifier.

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post #14 of 19
12/19/10 at 3:20pm

I would buy this if I still had Grados:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/529057/millet-minimax-hybrid-custom

 

Terrific amp for low impedance headphones. 

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post #15 of 19
12/19/10 at 3:27pm

That looks great. The kit is really super easy to build and is only $220, but if you really don't want to build it yourself, look out in the FS forum for deals like that.

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