[mmj]

so i finally decided to opt for a headphone setup rather than a speaker setup primarily because of the limitations of the small room i'll be using for music listening.

i decided i would get the Sennheiser's 650 with a Cardas cable (is the AudioArt Equinox better?) but i got stuck when choosing the amplifier; this is my first headphone buy so i have absolutely no idea what to choose.
i've thought about the Musical Fidelity X-CAN V3 amplifier since i saw it in a special bundle with the 650's but that's all i know about it.


so what reasonable priced amplifier would you recommend me for those headphones? i'm not even asking for those $1000+ tube amplifiers since i'm on a tight budget and i guess i can't afford those.

just for you to know, my initial idea for a speaker setup would be a Marantz 7001 amplifier with a Q-Acoustics 1050 floorstanding speakers, so we're talking about a budget of $1000 ~ $1500.


finally, i was wondering what cd player would be preferable for the headphone/amplifier setup, since i don't know if that Marantz i mentioned earlier would be fine or not for headphones. and well, is a DAC needed too?


thanks.

 

[colonelkernel8]

might want to post this in the "Amplifiers" section of the forum.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmj /img/forum/go_quote.gif so i finally decided to opt for a headphone setup rather than a speaker setup primarily because of the limitations of the small room i'll be using for music listening. i decided i would get the Sennheiser's 650 with a Cardas cable (is the AudioArt Equinox better?) but i got stuck when choosing the amplifier; this is my first headphone buy so i have absolutely no idea what to choose. i've thought about the Musical Fidelity X-CAN V3 amplifier since i saw it in a special bundle with the 650's but that's all i know about it. so what reasonable priced amplifier would you recommend me for those headphones? i'm not even asking for those $1000+ tube amplifiers since i'm on a tight budget and i guess i can't afford those. just for you to know, my initial idea for a speaker setup would be a Marantz 7001 amplifier with a Q-Acoustics 1050 floorstanding speakers, so we're talking about a budget of $1000 ~ $1500. finally, i was wondering what cd player would be preferable for the headphone/amplifier setup, since i don't know if that Marantz i mentioned earlier would be fine or not for headphones. and well, is a DAC needed too? thanks.

With the right IC's (interlinks) the combo xcan v3 and hd650 can be very musical...for the money you cannot go wrong...

 

[grawk]

The headroom balanced desktop is a great budget amp for the hd650

 

[velogreg]

I am currently running HD650's with the EC Lunchbox. Depending on your music preferences the lunchbox is certainly worth a trial. For a little more $$ the EC/SS opens up the details of the instruments and soundstage tremendously. Again, depending on your music tastes....

 

[nelamvr6]

The Channel Islands Audio VHP-1 drove my 650's well, with the VAC-1 PSU it comes in at just over $500.

 

[DSlayerZX]

I am currently running 650 through H5 with a signal cable interconnect from my sound card.

Yeah, I know some people said that it is too warm, but I think it sounds pretty good. but again, so far, I did not do a A and B test between the other amp

Just a suggestion.

 

[circa1988]

This may sound a bit unorthodox to some, but; I just made my journy into Head Fi-dome and I am trying to construct a portable Ipod and 650 rig, I am thinking about the XM6 seeing that i use my Ipod and my macbook to drive my music and it seems to come with a pretty efficient dac. I am trying to find less expensive options but I know I will need a dac amp combo. Any suggestions?

All replies greatly appreciated =)  
 

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

This may sound a bit unorthodox to some, but; I just made my journy into Head Fi-dome and I am trying to construct a portable Ipod and 650 rig, I am thinking about the XM6 seeing that i use my Ipod and my macbook to drive my music and it seems to come with a pretty efficient dac. I am trying to find less expensive options but I know I will need a dac amp combo. Any suggestions?

All replies greatly appreciated =)  
 

Why did you bump this thread? Just start a new one.
 

 

[Bones13]

I really liked the sound of my HD650s via the Headroom Desktop DAC/AMP, and the RSA Raptor.
 
I went balanced at the office, and moved the HD650s to home, and initially used the K.I.C.A.S. Caliente amp - extremely good for the money imo.
 
I currently am using a Bottlehead Crack/Speedball DIY kit  Tube Amp, which essentially was designed for the HD650. (great performance for the price again, but you do have to solder)