[jhao19]

I bought the AKG K702 65th anniversary editions recently, and I already own a Xonar DX to act as my DAC/source.
 
As such, I am looking for a good amp, preferably not too expensive.
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I bought the AKG K702 65th anniversary editions recently, and I already own a Xonar DX to act as my DAC/source.
As such, I am looking for a good amp, preferably not too expensive.

I would think the cheapest (but still good) would be a Schiit Magni or O2 ( Objective 2) or Bravo Ocean (tube).
 
Might read up and ask on this thread about amps for the K702.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626971/akg-k702-65th-anniversary-edition

 

[oronga]

To add to the previous post, the Schiit Vali goes great with the K702 if you are interested in a tube amp.

 

[jhao19]

What would be the pros/cons of a tube amp (vali) to, say, the o2?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  What would be the pros/cons of a tube amp (vali) to, say, the o2?

I would guess(?) the Vali puts out more power, then the O2 or Magni.

 

[jhao19]

I ultimately decided to go with the O2 because I had found one for a lower price.  Not to mention it was black, which matches with my current setup etremely well.

 

[tomb]

  What would be the pros/cons of a tube amp (vali) to, say, the o2?

microphonics

 

[jhao19]

would you care to educate me on what microphonics are ?

 

[tomb]

  would you care to educate me on what microphonics are ?

In the worst case, a ringing that never stops.  In mildly irritating cases, vibrations and tapping that occur anywhere on the desktop where the amp is located are picked up by the tubes and included in the signal.  Microphonics is a tube defect.  Sometimes tube dampers help, but they're far from optimum.  Subminiature tubes are known to have this defect, because they were not designed for audio at all (many were bomb fuse circuits during WWII).  Note the big black rubber grommets (tube dampers) on the tiny tubes in this pic (from Oatley Electronics).  They're designed to "cushion" the tubes from external vibrations:

 
Any tube can have microphonics, but it's much more prevalent with some tubes (subminiature) than others.  For most audio tubes, it's a defect that might afflict 1 out of every 20 or 30 tubes - or even less prevalent.  For some non-audio tube types, the chances of microphonics with any given tube is much, much worse.

 

[jhao19]

Oh wow, I definitely don't think I have the know-how to deal with tube-amps then.  I'm going to stick with my belief that the O2 is good enough