[Apina]

Well I'm new to the whole headphones as a hobby scene and it really is more complicated and expensive then I ever thought it would be

This thread started in the headphone section and ended up turning into an amp discussion, oooops!

I'm trying to come up with an amp solution for my HP1000's, my system doesn't have enough umph to power them in a satisfactory way

Options for a "full size amp" have been narrowed down to the following (with my budget):

Gilmore V1 (no longer available

)
Gilmore Lite + PSU
Gilmore V2
SinglePower PPX3

Opinions on which would be the best solution would be appreciated. Also if there are any other amps out there that would be viable please add to the list!!
Music types listened to are everything from hard house and heavy metal through to blues so I'm looking for an amp that's not just for one music type!

I'm also looking for a portable solution to go with my jukebox the two that came in mind were:

ray samuels SR-71
LaRocco Pocket Reference

Which one would be a viable option to power the Grados and are there any other options out there?

 

[tom hankins]

I like the Singlepower amps over the Gilmore. I like the V1 if you can find one over the V2SE I had. I think all your home choices would go well with the HP1000. Hirsch has the phones and one of the early model PPX3's. Maybe you can PM him for some details. You can also check with sacd lover for info on the V1/V2/lite hes owned or reviewed all three. He can tell you the major differences. Good luck.

 

[Zanth]

Save yourself the trouble...and find a Melos Amp. They are the best amplifier for the HP-1000's. If there aren't any presently for sale in the forums, post a want to buy ad and I'm sure someone will post.

If it is not already modded by Carlo, do yourself the favour and have it done.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth Save yourself the trouble...and find a Melos Amp. They are the best amplifier for the HP-1000's.

Agreed.

(imo, ime, ymmv, etc.

)

 

[gpalmer]

All the amplifers mentioned are wonderful alternatives.

The PPX3 sounds great though I have only heard it at meets but also requires tubes which can require a bit more effort to get the best results. The tubes for it seem to be in pretty good supply and the manufacturer is very responsive and customer oriented so support will be good.

The Gilmore is pretty much plug and play and sounds very good with the HP1000s. I've used these together a lot.

I have heard a couple of the Melos amps with the HP-1000s and they were very impressive. They are a hybrid design so you can flavor the sound to your liking with the tubes but the bulk of the power handling is done by solid state. I'm waiting on one of them from carlo. I think that the lowest end Melos model is within your budget without modifications, though you should be aware that the company is out of business so you will need to get someone else to fix it if it has problems.

Way outside your budget is the HP-4 which is another sweet match with the HP-1000s when properly tube rolled. This is what I use with my HP-1s, but it took a bit of tube rolling to get this to work for me.

 

[tom hankins]

gpalmer, are you back, or have you hijacked someones computor?

 

[gpalmer]

Heh, I'll be back soon enough, it's my B-Day and I wanted to make sure I dropped by my thread!

 

[Apina]

It's monday morning and my head feels exactly as my avatar show

Just when I think I've narrowed down my options some more options appear

(melos amps)

Thanks for the advice everyone and when I start to look around for a larger amp solution, maybe I'll have a larger budget then

, at least I know more or less what to go for.

I think I'll take an SR-71 for now as a first solution (any opinions on this choice?), it seems that on the full size amp front the tubed amps are a better alternative for the grados so I'll look into that a bit further down the line.