Headphone Amp For AKG K501

If you intend for the K 501's to be the first, and last HP's you will own, I'd suggest a lesser amp.  However, if your intentions are to grow your HP collection, or upgrade, then I highly recommend the Lyr.

I own the big brother to the 501's (701), even though they are a very accurate and neutral (great detail, mids, top end) can, they seemed to lack the bottom end punch with a Little Dot II+ powering them.  That changed in spades when I connected the Lyr.  The neutrality and transparency were not affected, although the bottom end is now very viable and alive.

Not to bore with drivel, if you would like to future proof, the Lyr is a great bang for the buck amplifier that will drive any headphone currently offered.

That's subjective, but at the $450.00 price point, in my opinion, no.

You may want to read on the M3 amp as well as the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3. Ideally you should attend a meet to listen for yourself what is out there. Lots of nice sounding amps as well as lots of overpriced stuff, buying a used unit would save you some money to buy more music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo 

You may want to read on the M3 amp as well as the Musical Fidelity X-Can V3. Ideally you should attend a meet to listen for yourself what is out there. Lots of nice sounding amps as well as lots of overpriced stuff, buying a used unit would save you some money to buy more music.

Truer words have never been spoken, treat it just as if you were purchasing new full size audio speakers.  The only variation of the latter is the environment involved.

As mrarroyo suggests, take your 501's to a meet, connect them to every amp possible, even amps that are not in your price range.  Take notes regarding the amp that you prefer and the characteristics you find most attractive, then listen to amps in your price range with as many of the enjoyable characteristics you found in more expensive amps.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by qwer9108 

yes.. it would be great to go to a meet (there's a meeting this saturday nearby btw), but I'm only 16, and i think im too young though.

Am I the only one laughing right now ? I am ? Er, OK.

qwer1908, I'm curious - exactly what do you think happens at a meeting of headphone enthusiasts ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by qwer9108 

yes.. it would be great to go to a meet (there's a meeting this saturday nearby btw), but I'm only 16, and i think im too young though.

There is no "too young" when it comes to audio meets IMHO. I once saw a 15 year old kid with T1s and the meier audio stagedac/concerto at one of the meets a year back.

To OP: Congrats on getting your first pair of awesome headphones. They are definitely a great buy! I also recently bought a pair of K501's off ebay. I drive them off my Bottlehead Crack, and there's a fantastic synergy between them. I find that there's a larger soundstage and a naturalness that I just don't get with the HD600 or D2000's. It is less efficient than either of those two, despite the modest impedence (?120 ohms), and I need to turn up the dial slightly more than with the HD600's to get comparable volume. They definitely benefit from more powerful amplification - I also tried driving them from the Millet Minimax Hybrid, but it just doesn't sound as impactful as off the Crack. The Bottlehead Crack is a good way to go if you don't mind a bit of DIY. The speedball addition is great, but even running stock, the K501's sounded fantastic.

Go for the Project Sunrise, it's a 200$ Diy kit (all included, even PSU and Box), it's an hybrid amplifier, its drive my K340 easily, make really shine my K601 and give him a great amount of bass with a 6N23P vintage valve, i think it's the perfect match for an AKG.

This amp is not yet knows here but i think it will change... (i'm french and make review in french, so not have the time to post and translate my reviews here), but i can advice you that this little amp is a no-brainer, you can even order it already built :

http://store.garage1217.com/project-sunrise-hybrid-class-a--tube-headphone-amplifier.html

The sound of this thing is great, better than my Audio-GD C-2 (and imo a better fit for K501 than Schiit things).

here pics of the mine :

It's look like a Giant version of the Bravo, Indeed, muse thingies... but the sound is far better...

The only drawbacks of the sunrise are :

- You need to have Digital multimeter (less than 10$) to adjust bias of the Tube when installing it.

- You need a good source, you can't connect such a good amp to mp3 players or DAP, it will work but not at its best, it REALLY merits a good source like 400 or 500$ dedicated DAC.

- It's very hot, but it's normal

In my opinion, it's the best choice if you want to make your K501 shine...