Murugesh
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2006
- Posts
- 313
- Likes
- 10
After nearly 6 months of search I finally bought my HD650 in Oct'06. I then pursued the search for an amp for the demanding 650. I did audition Dynahi (thanks to Chesebert), RSA Raptor, Gilmore Lite, MicroAmp, RSA SR-71, PS Audio's GCHA, Corda PreHead MKII. The last two amps were loaned to me by Jude and I kept them for 1 month to compare each other. Of all amps I auditioned, I was very impressed with Dynahi and Raptor. They both had very good synergy with 650 but I couldn't go for either due to my budget constraints. Hence my search still continued. I read tons of reviews, impressions in Amps forum, disturbed many hard core members with my questions thru PMs and finally I was convinced by people who I admire in this forums to go for Heed CanAmp. So I ordered a CanAmp in Jan'07. It was a long wait until I got it 3 weeks back.
Before you read this further, please remember that I'm not a techie guy, so my impressions are just 'impressions'. I don't know about the quality of circuits, components that this amp is built with. I trust my ears than anything else so I'm just going to put down my impressions only from a music listener stand point of view.
I played my collections of Classical and Jazz and used only HD650 for listening. This amp drives my HD650 easily. I don't need to turn volume knob above 9'o clock position. The turn is smooth and I get good control of volume with this knob. I have tried pumping volume up to 12'0 clock position and there was no hiss yet. If I unplug the headphone jack (ofcourse with volume zero) I hear a little burp. I don't hear it when I plug the headphone but it's there when I unplug it.
HD650 is already a warm can and this amp is not making it overly warm. The warm, laid back sound signature of HD650 is still intact. Bass and treble are not overdone either. Dynahi and GCHA provided a kind of depth in music. Heed is coming closer to them in this respect but not equal. The sound is extended beyond the left-right blobs of 650. This gives a feeling like improved soundstage. I'm not sure whether this is form of coloring or really a soundstage improvement. But it makes the listening experience more enjoyable, which is what I really care about. More musical than purisitic presentation. There was no WOW moments, I never jumped out of my seat in excitement. Rather it made me sit relaxed and immerse myself extremely into the music everytime I listen. Overall I'm very satisifed with this amp and I'm not gonna disturb my setup until I see a new flagship headphone from Sennheiser
Note: So far, I have listened to this amp for about 80 hours. Nothing changed dramatically in this period. For now, I'm just going to assume that this is it's sound. People say 200 or 300 hours burn-in required for this amp. If I observe any such change in future, it will be a bonus.
Before you read this further, please remember that I'm not a techie guy, so my impressions are just 'impressions'. I don't know about the quality of circuits, components that this amp is built with. I trust my ears than anything else so I'm just going to put down my impressions only from a music listener stand point of view.
I played my collections of Classical and Jazz and used only HD650 for listening. This amp drives my HD650 easily. I don't need to turn volume knob above 9'o clock position. The turn is smooth and I get good control of volume with this knob. I have tried pumping volume up to 12'0 clock position and there was no hiss yet. If I unplug the headphone jack (ofcourse with volume zero) I hear a little burp. I don't hear it when I plug the headphone but it's there when I unplug it.
HD650 is already a warm can and this amp is not making it overly warm. The warm, laid back sound signature of HD650 is still intact. Bass and treble are not overdone either. Dynahi and GCHA provided a kind of depth in music. Heed is coming closer to them in this respect but not equal. The sound is extended beyond the left-right blobs of 650. This gives a feeling like improved soundstage. I'm not sure whether this is form of coloring or really a soundstage improvement. But it makes the listening experience more enjoyable, which is what I really care about. More musical than purisitic presentation. There was no WOW moments, I never jumped out of my seat in excitement. Rather it made me sit relaxed and immerse myself extremely into the music everytime I listen. Overall I'm very satisifed with this amp and I'm not gonna disturb my setup until I see a new flagship headphone from Sennheiser
Note: So far, I have listened to this amp for about 80 hours. Nothing changed dramatically in this period. For now, I'm just going to assume that this is it's sound. People say 200 or 300 hours burn-in required for this amp. If I observe any such change in future, it will be a bonus.
