Since there are a lot of ATH people around here, I hope you don't mind me posting this question here.
 
I'm looking for an amp that works well with most ATH phones.
So far I understand the AT-HA5000, Yamamoto HA-02 and Zana Deux are good contenders, the EAR HP4 (at used price though) as well maybe. Any others?
And which one do you prefer for ATH cans if you could choose only one?
Should you recommend the Zana, which tubes do you recommend with it?
 
I am not interested in balanced or in recabling my phones.
I care less about the price than I do about purchasing the wrong amp. I want a keeper.
 
Thank you for any advice you might give me.

Quote:

appleheadmay said:

Since there are a lot of ATH people around here, I hope you don't mind me posting this question here.
 
I'm looking for an amp that works well with most ATH phones.
So far I understand the AT-HA5000, Yamamoto HA-02 and Zana Deux are good contenders, the EAR HP4 (at used price though) as well maybe. Any others?
And which one do you prefer for ATH cans if you could choose only one?
Should you recommend the Zana, which tubes do you recommend with it?
 
I am not interested in balanced or in recabling my phones.
I care less about the price than I do about purchasing the wrong amp. I want a keeper.
 
Thank you for any advice you might give me.

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The best thing about the Zana Deux is that it sounds great with a wide variety of headphones, so it's definitely what I'd call a "keeper," even if you decide later on you don't want Audio-Technica cans. The Yammy on the other hand has a much less neutral sound, and so it's going to be hit or miss with most other brands. I've been using the stock tubes on the ZDSE. Tried a few others when I first got the amp last year, and to be perfectly honest the stock ones sounded the best at the time to my ears, so I've stuck with them.
 
It's kind of funny you sold the SPL Phonitor, because that was going to be my other recommendation. It pairs really well with AT headphones in my opinion.

I remember reading you were fond of the Zana. Great that the stock tubes are good, I'm not to keen on testing all kinds of tubes. I'm certainly considering that one.
 
As for the Yammy, I don't mind a little coloration. If it's a bit sweet and romantic sounding it might be great as well. I don't worry about not wanting ATH's anymore later on, I've had the W1000X for a year now and it's my favorite over the Senns and Denons.
 
Although I would recommend the Phonitor (and especially Auditor at it's price) to everyone I don't regret selling it. I have the P-1u which shares some of its traits and adds more. The P-1u is certainly the better amp of the two to my ears and it pairs really well with the ATH's, the're some kind of smooth synergy between them which makes listening to the combo very relaxing and enjoyable without any fatigue.
 
No matter how well I like the P-1u and am never going to sell it, my system has room for a second amp.
Maybe tubes might be a great idea after all.
 
I'll await some more opinions since you're keeping me interested in both the Zana and Yammy.
Thanks MuppetFace!
 

No love for the EAR HP4 in combination with ATH phones?
I can get one atm but the seller asks me for an offer. 1 year old and mint. I have no idea what to bid to be honest, I have seen prices both used and new that vary a lot. Anyone have an idea?

Quote:

appleheadmay said:

No love for the EAR HP4 in combination with ATH phones?
I can get one atm but the seller asks me for an offer. 1 year old and mint. I have no idea what to bid to be honest, I have seen prices both used and new that vary a lot. Anyone have an idea?

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I think not many people own the HP4, as it has really gone up in price over the years. It's best known for its synergy with Grados, so I'd imagine it does well with low impedance headphones. The amp costs around $5500 USD new, so I'd expect something in the neighborhood of $4000.

[size=10pt]EAR HP4 is great amp, but also pre, have fully balanced circuit and 4x headphone jacks. If you going to look from this prospect, not many amps come close to it. Bad thing is, I never have a chance to try it with any AT headphones, so, can't really help here, but if you want the one for AT only, HA5000 would be my choice, however again, based on my impressions with W5000. I tried 3 amps: Yammy, HA5k and SPL Phonitor, where HA5000 was the most balanced and perfect matched. Yammy was bit darker and produced some hum. SPL was very good, fast and on the neutral side, but also was not noise free. We all know that AT makes pretty sensitive headphones, at least W5000 are, not sure about W3000...[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Other than that, I would say EAR HP4, however depends on the price. I bought my,  far not as young, paid USD 2600 shipped, I believe, so, maybe, just maybe, if you are talking such money, you may reconsider BA as well?[/size]
[size=10pt]p.s. My Cary CAD 300sei aren't good match for W5000 either, but seem to be a great amp for Grado's, so, need to try this one day…[/size]
 
 


 
Quote:

appleheadmay said:

No love for the EAR HP4 in combination with ATH phones?
I can get one atm but the seller asks me for an offer. 1 year old and mint. I have no idea what to bid to be honest, I have seen prices both used and new that vary a lot. Anyone have an idea?

Click to expand...

 

The Balancing Act is an amazing amp. If you never plan on going balanced though, I think it's a bit overkill.

Thank you both for your help, much appreciated.
 
I didn't have the W1000X yet when I sold the Phonitor, so I never tried it with them.
I certainly have no hum in the W1000X with the P1-u, luckily, as that would really bug me.
 
Maybe amps that match Grado's well don't pair well with ATH's and vice versa?
If so then I'm not too sure about the HP4 since I read about how well it works with Grado's.
I don't like Grado at all I must say. I had a GS1000 and tried a GS1000i, PS1000 and a smaller one, don't remember the name anymore. They definitely have a house sound at Grado and it isn't mine. To each his own of course.
 
So, things start to point more or less in the direction of the Zana at the moment.
I'm not in a hurry, I'm going to take my time for deciding on this amp.

No, not interested in going balanced. I made certain decisions along my way through headfi-land and that's one of them.
That's not to say that I would exclude the BA since it can drive single ended phones as well. But indeed a bit overkill I agree.
 
I believe the BA and Zana both have a different design, right? Or was that the ZDT? 
One should be transformer coupled and the other not, and I must say I know nothing about these designs neither do I care about the technical explanation.
I would love to know however what kind of differences in sound I can expect. And then there's the 2A3 which is also tranformer coupled I think.

Quote:

appleheadmay said:

No, not interested in going balanced. I made certain decisions along my way through headfi-land and that's one of them.
That's not to say that I would exclude the BA since it can drive single ended phones as well. But indeed a bit overkill I agree.
 
I believe the BA and Zana both have a different design, right? Or was that the ZDT? 
One should be transformer coupled and the other not, and I must say I know nothing about these designs neither do I care about the technical explanation.
I would love to know however what kind of differences in sound I can expect. And then there's the 2A3 which is also tranformer coupled I think.

Click to expand...

 
The Eddie Current "house sound" (if such a thing exists) is pretty dry, extremely detailed, and analytical. That's not to say it's antiseptic or harsh by any means, but that for tube amps they don't have what I'd call a stereotypically "tubey" sound. Now I haven't heard the Balancing Act, but I have heard the ZDT (the 2A3's predecessor) as well as the Nautilus, Zana Deux, and Zana Deux SE. The Zanas are definitely the closest to sounding solid state, but they aren't thin sounding. That's just to say that the source and headphones really come through without the amp being too obtrusive. I think it comes pretty close to "wire with gain" for a tube amp.
 
The Yammy is kind of the exact opposite. It colors the chain significantly. For some headphones like the W1000 it works, and it works well. For other headphones though it won't mesh well. The other issue with the Yammy is background noise and hum. I've read some reports that say it can be an issue. The Zana Deux by contrast is an ABYSS in terms of background. That's because Craig uses Audio-Technicas to check for noise. Other amps like the Phonitor are going to buzz with Audio-Technicas. Not so with the Zana. I've never heard a single bit of buzz or hiss.
 

Oh, and the Zana Deux SE drives both ATs and Grados very well imho.
 

I appreciate your clear and detailed answer, this starts to make sense to me and gives me a bit of background on what to look for when I check some more reviews of the amps.
 
The Yammy is out then. Although I could enjoy the coloration the hum will distract me too much.
The choice now comes down to the Zana and 2A3. The HP4 isn't completely ruled out but it's more expensive while I know less about it, or about how it works with ATH's.

I vote 2a3   I love my ZDSE but I really miss my old Moth 2a3 amp; it was much more tube-like than the ZDSE so with certain headphones it may sound more colored.  The ZDSE is very much a workhorse amp and less tubey IMO -- great for many types of cans and low impedence phones.  I've said it before as well but the stock ZDSE tube 6sl7 tube does not sound good imo; very dull and uninvolved, or maybe my tube is just bad.

I am getting myself a Svetlana 2 SET amplifier next year for my W1000X and W3000ANV 

The 2A3 is a nice amp for sure, but I'd recommend it over the Zana Deux SE only if you plan on driving difficult headphones like orthos. Otherwise, the ZDSE offers more versatility imo as it has an impedance switch.

I had the Audeze LCD-2 and it was not my sound. Orthos as well as statics are scratched off my list.
I just happen to enjoy dynamic cans much more, be they open or closed although a slight tendency towards closed. Not for not-disturbing-others-with-sound-reasons, I can play through speakers on max volume here and not disturb anyone.
 
I started reading some reviews on the Zana and ZDT/2A3 and I'm beginning to lean towards the Zana more.
Still have a lot of reading ahead of me though. Too bad there's no real review here on the HP4, or I didn't find it at least.
 
I did come across the DNA as well. I remember reading this week that Donald is busy with a new amp and taking preorders but I can't find the post back. Or maybe I read too much and I'm starting to hallucinate ...