Need cheap amp for Sennheiser HD-580's

Looking for the exact same thing! :) Curious to any suggestions. M-Stage looks good. 

If it's any help to you at all, I was in the same boat as you but I've decided to shell out an extra $100 and get this as an all-in-one solution (DR.DAC2 DX) untill I can afford a real amplifier in the $800 range. 

If that's the case you need a DAC-Amp, not just an amp. And most under-$200 DAC-Amps have USB as the input. I don't think the MF and Creek have digital inputs either. AudioGD Sparrow would be a good choice.

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/Sparrow/SparrowEN.htm

Oh, got it. As for the Pro.ject, most of what I've read say that it's basically the second most overpriced amp in the market. It's a CMOY in a really nice case backed up by factory warranty, unlike other CMOY kits; the other overpriced amp is the RA1.

I have a custom active-ground portable made by the same guy who built my CMOY before that, except this time I think the 3ch circuit was his own design; they have the same sound but the newer version is more refined. That said, an AC-powered or dual 9v-batt CMOY like the RA1 would be great if you can get them cheap.

Compare how much the shipping for this* will cost you then compare the pros and cons vs the Pro-ject: whether you can get them at list price with low shipping rates, or better, locally but near online price (since this usually makes warranty claims easier), etc. But in a three-way between the OBH-11, V-Can and Pro-ject, I'd bet on the Creek. Another great amp for around $200 is the Little Dot MkII,** I use this with my SR225 and HD600. It's musical and dynamic without the rolled-off highs of some tube designs. Although my AKG K66, being a studio monitor, is too transparent that the portable SS amp sounds too bright while the LD MkII sounds too dark. You might even want to try using this as a preamp, in case your tube amp (I assume it's integrated) has a pre-bypass input. Problem is...you'd have to warm it up too, but then again mine doesn't need more than 5mins in warm weather.

Lastly, there are under-$100 distribution headphone amps in pro-audio stores near you, just use a converter cable since these don't use RCA: either 6.3mm or 3.5mm, or TRS. Since some of them can be had for about $60, you might want to check these out. The Fiio E9 is another viable alternative, but also only with 3.5mm input; but it might sync with the upcoming X3 media player on its dock port, in case you might consider getting a portable player with the WM8740 as its decoder.

*http://cgi.ebay.com/Desktop-Headphone-amp-Cmoy-18volt-RA1-Rechargeable-/200569821278?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item2eb2e4985e#ht_5299wt_905

**http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/284835/review-of-the-little-dot-mkii-tube-headphone-amp-pre-amp

It's an oldie, but a friend of mine uses the Xiang Sheng 708B with his hd580s and they sound very good (especially given the price of the Xiang Sheng 708B).

It's a small tube amp that warms up quickly. It is also highly rollable. Good luck with your search!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryK 

Is the Xiang Sheng a tube amp? I'll reserach it. Thanks!

@JerryK,

I'm fine with my LD MkII on the stock tubes; I've put off rolling them until they wear out. I've read somewhere the EF95 drivers are more forgiving of rough edges on sources/source material, but that feedback didn't phrase it as "less transparent." I suppose flaws are still there but not as clear. In any case this isn't a typical "warm" tube amp. It is with easy to drive studio monitors like the K66, but give it something hard to drive like the inefficient K701, and it might be a bit thin-sounding below 1khz. Stage depth and width are fantastic though provided your pads are new (the specialized shape on the 701 pads mean they put the drivers much closer to your ears when they wear out.) For your HD580, since they're quite similar to my HD600, they won't make them too dark, although I removed the foam between the pads and the drivers on mine. Percussion won't be slamming hard as they would on Grados, but they're clear and have reasonable impact; and you do hear them outside your head, just in front of your eyes. They provide enough juice, and at reasonable speed, to make the sound "musical," in that aside from the tonal qualities it has the energy, impact and overall verve and rhythm, more so when the source has those qualities also.