LCD-3 / HD-800 amp - Page 4

What I'm trying to say is that the HD800 is very neutral, clear and unforgiving compared to say the PS1000 IMO.
I'm not very familiar with the terms but I would say the PS1000 is more "musical" or has more of a personality if you will.

I didn't really like the PS1000 tho, which is why I am looking at the possibility of LCD2/LCD3

I don't like the HD800 when I listen to classic rock tracks like AC/DC, and some tracks containing female vocals sounds a bit off (basically high cymbals and S-sounds, which I'm assuming is that 6k peak showing itself).

For everything else the HD800 is by far the best headphone I've ever had/tried and I spend hours enjoying it every day :-)

For the LCD-3 I'd agree with Shahzada.  I found the Mjolnir is little too aggressive with the W4S DAC-2, but the PWD2 is less shouty and would likely have corrected the issue.  If only it had a pre-defeat switch :(

+1  With a good DAC, you can't do much better than the WA5LE and the HD800.  

 

The Burson was my starting point in the world of Head-Fi (I had the 160D).  I found the amp to be too bright for the HD800, and I suspect the Burson retains it's sound signature throughout the product line.  It was relegated to DAC duties until it was replaced with a W4S-DAC2.

 

I think Burson makes decent products, and are an upgrade for entry level rigs, but when you start looking for world-class amplification, I'd look elsewhere.

 

I actually preferred the WA6 (which lacks power) to the Burson.  But the WA22 and WA2 are better matches from my understanding for ortho headphones (they are push-pull).  

No experience of the WA2 but the WA22 is not very suitable with the LCDs and certainly not the HE6.

Very good with the HD800s though.

Just my 2 cents 

WA22 was my 3rd favourite amp for the LCD-2 bettered only by the B22 and Peak.

Couldn't go back to the WA22 once I'd heard the LCD 2s with the EAR HP4. 

 

 

How about the LCD 2 and the HD800 on the EC BA and Mjolnir?

The ECBA was excellent for the HD800s and also for all my other dynamic headphones. Pretty good with the K1000s as well. Just not ideally suited for LCDs/HE6

 

IMO, to get the best out of Orthodynamics you need to feed them some good SCHIIT...am looking at you, Mjolnir 

 

Damn.  If the GS-X MKII can't do it with the HD800s I'll have to look into that expensive ass EC BA..  

 

I agree with you on the LCDs + Mjolnir it does bring the best out of them.  However, not so much with the HE-6.  My First Watt F1J eats the Mjolnir for lunch with the HE-6.

Edit: Sorry, confused your prior GS-1 with the original GS-X

 

And no surprise there, that freak F1J eats all headamps.

Edited by paradoxper - 1/27/13 at 6:20am

I suspected the 6sn7 would be a match with the 800s. I tried a few 2c51/396 and 12au7s in my amp and it didn't do as good as the bigger tube. (different amp) The 9 pin tubes were a bit strident and harsh in comparison.

IME, Mjolnir has been the only dedicated headphone amp which I found pretty good with HE-6.

Speaker amps will most certainly eat the mjolnir for lunch, just not for breakfast... 

 

 

True that....

 

Although, I never heard the Darkstar..

The Mjolnir is very First Watt like.  Except it's biased at 400mA and not 2500mA ;)  Similar output though into headphones.

 

Maybe in specs, but not in sound.  Very, very different.  Then again all First Watts has slightly different sounds.  The MJ compared to the F1J sound wise and the way they present the music is just different.