[Pedrox]

Good afternoon!
 
Fellow headfiers, i need some help with the quest of buying a new amp for my future acquisitions. I currently own a Xonar Essence STX and a Denon AH-D2000, but i`m going to buy a hifiman he-400 and the chosen amp(and sell the denon) in a couple of days. The last part of the plan is to acquire a Sennheiser HD 650 until the end of the year. The main question is wich amp will do the job and will not lack the needed power? I do not plan to buy something from another world, i simply want something that will do a fine job, the cheaper, the better, but considering quality.
Thanks in advance!

 

[hodgjy]

You will want an amp that can handle both low and high impedance headphones.  Therefore, no OTL tube amps.  You'll want a solid state amp, output transformer coupled tube amp, or hybrid tube amp.
 
Look into the Schiit Asgard 2 or Lyr.  Also, Little Dot makes some good stuff.

 

[jackwess]

Quote:

You will want an amp that can handle both low and high impedance headphones.  Therefore, no OTL tube amps.  You'll want a solid state amp, output transformer coupled tube amp, or hybrid tube amp.

 
True. 
A good solid state suited for low/high headphones is the Soloist SL (it have 2 gain controls low/high)

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

You will want an amp that can handle both low and high impedance headphones.  Therefore, no OTL tube amps.  You'll want a solid state amp, output transformer coupled tube amp, or hybrid tube amp.
 
Look into the Schiit Asgard 2 or Lyr.  Also, Little Dot makes some good stuff.

 
Asgard 2 is great for the money. +1

 

[Sniping]

Audio-GD products are great value too!

 

[cssarrow]

What about a balanced amp under $600?
What do you recommend?

 

[KetchupNinja]

I own both the He-400's and the 650's and I'm currently running them off of the Schiit Magni.  It sounds pretty good to me, but I'm wondering if there would be noticeable improvement going to the Asgard 2. 
 

 

[MattTCG]

IMO there is certainly an improvement going to the A2. I assume that you mean A2/modi vs m/m combo. 

 

[Sniping]

Quote:

What about a balanced amp under $600?
What do you recommend?

heh...look at my sig

 

[musicinmymind]

Lyr

 

[hodgjy]

Another bit a insight:
 
Buy your amp based on the HD650 and not the HE400.  Many have claimed that the HE400 doesn't change its sound much between amps.  On paper, this makes sense because planars are less likely to be influence by an amp than dynamics are.  Also, the HD6x0 Sennheisers scale very nice with amping.
 
So, pick your amp based on the HD650.

 

[fabio-fi]

Quote:

I own both the He-400's and the 650's and I'm currently running them off of the Schiit Magni.  It sounds pretty good to me, but I'm wondering if there would be noticeable improvement going to the Asgard 2. 
 

 
Its a good entry level combo, but if you up your budget you can do better. 

 

[AMDCrazy]

It depends on your taste, are you a tube or a solid state lover (in terms of nature of sound and convenience). In my case, I used Burson HA-160 for amp to pair with HD650. You can find an used HA-160 for under $500. However, Schiit Asgard 2 is also a nice choice. If you can purchase the Lyr, it would deliver better sound but you must find the right tube for your taste (I guess that it also costs more for looking the right tube).