[vai-777]

Marantz5001
Thats the player I have now i got it for $250 durring thier holiday sale.
I am telling you it drives my SENN HD600S more than sufficient. And even at low levels recordings are extremly detailed

In fact that $250 player kicks the crap out of my ROTEL 970BX CDP $600 and ARCAM ALPHA 5 $300 or $400 I forget. maybee it dosent kick the crap out of it but its definatley better. A little brighter which is great for senns and somewhat crisper in its presentaon of the music.

Its one of the few MID LEVEL plug and play CDPs

 

[vai-777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd like to see you trying to listen to the K701's unamped say they're awesometastic.

I have SENN HD600S and they seem to be mentioned as almost a twin of the AKG 701S so yeah I figure I would like the AKG 701s unamped.

 

[terriblepaulz]

Although I have no personal knowledge, I have read on another forum that the Olive units get good sound out of the headphone jack. That unit is a cdp, hard drive player, and network player. Like I said, no personal knowledge, only fantasies.

 

[Dubzilla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd like to see you trying to listen to the K701's unamped say they're awesometastic.

I just got my k701 and my Heed won't be here till January, so guess what I'm doin? Yeah, you guessed right - listening to it unamped.

Honestly, it sounds fine. But I've been listening to Ety ER-4Ss unamped for 2 years now, so maybe I'm just used to underpowered sound. I'm hoping I'll hear a big difference, and it seems you think I will. I'm very excited.

 

[nsjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubzilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just got my k701 and my Heed won't be here till January, so guess what I'm doin? Yeah, you guessed right - listening to it unamped. Honestly, it sounds fine. But I've been listening to Ety ER-4Ss unamped for 2 years now, so maybe I'm just used to underpowered sound. I'm hoping I'll hear a big difference, and it seems you think I will. I'm very excited.

You haven't been exposed?

HD600 the twin? More like the opposite.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubzilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just got my k701 and my Heed won't be here till January, so guess what I'm doin? Yeah, you guessed right - listening to it unamped. Honestly, it sounds fine. But I've been listening to Ety ER-4Ss unamped for 2 years now, so maybe I'm just used to underpowered sound. I'm hoping I'll hear a big difference, and it seems you think I will. I'm very excited.

Prepare to have ya socks knocked off! A BIG difference with your Heed, indeed you should be very excited!!!

Listening to Jethro Tull w/701s & the Heed right now....SUPER!!!!

 

[vai-777]

the HEED is the only amp that has my intrest right now, but well see

 

[F1GTR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vai-777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have SENN HD600S and they seem to be mentioned as almost a twin of the AKG 701S so yeah I figure I would like the AKG 701s unamped.

You're not listening to your HD600's "unamped".

From the description of the Marantz CD5001:

Dedicated Headphone Amp

Most entry-level CD players include a substandard headphone jack, if they include one at all. The Marantz doesn't skimp in this department. Onboard the CD5001 is a dedicated headphone amp with buffer circuit. Sound quality is so good, that you might well reconsider the need for a pricey outboard headphone amp once you've heard the CD5001.

You apparently enjoy the coloration that your CD5001's amp provides.

 

[vai-777]

Well I wasnt trying to get into semantics but it seems i must be a little more specific. OUTBOARD AMP
I bought the MARANTZ for the reason you stated above, that tidbit did not escape me, however I have enjoyed my 600s on a portable sony walkman thats about 7 years old as well and even that drove them loud enough.

Yes the MARANTZ is much better. It dosent color the signal nearly as much as the ARCAM ROTEL COMBO.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vai-777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ACCEPTABLE listening volume? how loud do you listen to phones? straight out of my marantz5001 the volume at 9 oclock is more than enough to drive my SENN HD600S. maybee im just used to listening at lower volumes. 40-50 decibles?

And you connect your HD600s to the line out signal (RCA) right? Not the headphone connector in the front, since that one go through an amplifier.

 

[AC1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vai-777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I wasnt trying to get into semantics but it seems i must be a little more specific. OUTBOARD AMP I bought the MARANTZ for the reason you stated above, that tidbit did not escape me, however I have enjoyed my 600s on a portable sony walkman thats about 7 years old as well and even that drove them loud enough. Yes the MARANTZ is much better. It dosent color the signal nearly as much as the ARCAM ROTEL COMBO.

Onboard, outboard, does not matter, they are still both amps. Both with coloration.
It's like saying a one box cd player and a transport+dac do different things. They do not, they are implemented differently but both work to change digital to analog. Or that a one box cd player will always have the SQ advantage since the signal does not have to travel through as much stuff. That is just not true, there are both state of the art single box and transport+dac combos.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vai-777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I wasnt trying to get into semantics but it seems i must be a little more specific. OUTBOARD AMP I bought the MARANTZ for the reason you stated above, that tidbit did not escape me, however I have enjoyed my 600s on a portable sony walkman thats about 7 years old as well and even that drove them loud enough. Yes the MARANTZ is much better. It dosent color the signal nearly as much as the ARCAM ROTEL COMBO.

STOP SHOUTING WE CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE

 

[maarek99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone amps increase dynamics...

There are some heavily priced amps that actually reduce dynamics.

 

[vai-777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Onboard, outboard, does not matter, they are still both amps. Both with coloration. It's like saying a one box cd player and a transport+dac do different things. They do not, they are implemented differently but both work to change digital to analog. Or that a one box cd player will always have the SQ advantage since the signal does not have to travel through as much stuff. That is just not true, there are both state of the art single box and transport+dac combos.

Well i may try the heed but if i cant hear a difference to the onboard amp of my marantz ( by difference i mean better sound not worse) its really going to confirm my belief that LESS IS MORE. And im not going out and getting a $1k cdp because there have been blind tests conducted where no one could tell the differene between 3k players and $200 players. In fact i have a $600 rotel so maybee ill A/B that against the matrantz with the HEED. its an old rotel 1996 but it was the top of the line and has very low hours on it.

 

[apostate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vai-777 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well i may try the heed but if i cant hear a difference to the onboard amp of my marantz ( by difference i mean better sound not worse) its really going to confirm my belief that LESS IS MORE.

The only thing you have less of in that scenario is cables. You still have a transport, dac and amp. If the cables and connectors are of good quality, and you're not running them for long distances, there should minimal if any impact from that. All you will have likely determined is that you prefer the sound of the Marantz amp which there is nothing wrong with.

I've got about 6 feet of cables and two more components than I did when I was just using my Denon CDP for everything and even my wife can easily point out the improvements using the separate DAC and Amp (she's not into audio at all).

Ant