[oas]

This summer I am looking into a nice new setup. I will be getting a nice pair of Grados, most likely the 225's but I might go up to the 325's im not sure. Well ive given myself about $300 for an amp. I would prefer highly to not build one myself. So, with Grados in ming, what do you recommend?

Right now I have an altoids tin Cmoy. I doubt this is good enough for some nice Grados.

 

[MoLtoSoLo]

I had some experience with Grado RS-1 with RA-1. It's great.
I doubt you can get a better sound without spending ton of money.
RA-1 is a kind of CMoy, so I think you will be fine with your CMoy

 

[oas]

Really?

So the RA-1 is really just like my Cmoy? WOW, I might be able to wait on an amp.

 

[Ebonyks]

It's a slightly modified Cmoy. I could easily be built, there's a big thread on head-fi in the DIY forum about it

 

[oas]

WOW, thats amazing, talk about mark up!

So for about $20 I can make an EXACT clone of the RA1? Does it sound just as good?

 

[radrd]

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=30472

It appears that this RA-1=CMOY is a bunch of crap, but I'm not "in the know."

 

[radrd]

For $300 you could probably have an outstanding META42 built by Tangent, JMT, or one of the other trusted DIYers around here. I have no idea how it compares to an RA-1, but I do know that my META42 sounds excellent to my ears. Hopefully I will be able to compare it to a Gilmore in a few days.

 

[Ebonyks]

Hell, for 300, the PPA should be well in reach, when it's finally avaible. If you raise the bar a bit, you could get a melos (they go for around 400 lately), and with a decent set of tubes, it's a great amp, espeically with grados, HD580/HD600, and etys

 

[00940]

a szekeres with top notch PS and parts ?

 

[oas]

i think what im going to do now is build i clone, and spring for the 325's.

 

[Tomo]

Hey,

00940 is right. Szkeres amp is an excellent choice of Grado Headphones. It has its own pros and cons but it has unique sound bit different from META. You might want to try it out. (It is by far underrated.)

Szkeres amp doesn't have a special board so you will have to wire yourself though. But then this is DIY amp afterall.

I must rebuild it once I settle down. I owe it that much besides, I might get low impedance cans like RS-1 or something.

Tomo

 

[BDA_ABAT]

If you are at all considering tubes, the Mapletree Audio Designs Ear+ is outstanding with low impedence cans like Grados.

The Ear+ (basic) kit is $295. The website for MAD is here The Ear+ basic is the same sonically as the Ear+, just doesn't have the wood side panels.

Or, if your going the DIY (or DIYFSOE) route, could consider the RA1 clone (maybe $30 - $50 or more in parts, depending on your case), a CHA47 (maybe $30-$60 in parts, depending on your case, META42 (from ~ $100 - > $300 in parts, dpending on your case and how exotic you wnat to go) or a Gilmore "Lite". I believe the Gilmore lite was going for $295 assembled.

All of these amps will sound very good with Grados. Do a search for reviews.

If you are at all interested in DIY, would make a lot of sense to try out the RA1 clone. It's a modiifed CMOY amp. The CMOY is THE beginner amp that folks suggest that you start with. You can get excellent documentation on building a CMOY at Tangents site.

The CHA47 is also a great amp to pair with Grados and it's pretty cheap to build, but sounds very, very good. Or you can contact one of the DIY gurus here (I know JMT is still building these.. not sure about KurtW or Tangent or others) to build one for you for a very modest price.

Good luck!
Bruce

 

[LTUCCI1924]

radrd
HI: I look forward to your comparison to the gilmore and meta42. I had the gilmore version 1 and liked the meta42 over it. The gilmore was very flat and natural sounding but boring and the meta42 had color and was a lot more exciting and fun to listen to in my opinion. I hope that your meta is a real good one. I mean by that it is the best JMT makes or like that. Good luck with your amps.

 

[radrd]

Quote:

The gilmore was very flat and natural sounding but boring and the meta42 had color and was a lot more exciting and fun to listen to in my opinion.

Yeah, I am interested in hearing my impressions as well. To be honest, I think eric343 built me an awesome META42. I listened to a Sugden Headmaster at the Seattle Head-Fi meet, and I would have to be able to do a direct comparison before I even took one in trade. To my ears, the META42 is a great sounding amp. It isn't necessarily a given that I will like the Gilmore more.

Of course, if somehow I happen to like my META42 better, you can bet that I will be getting the world's greatest META42 at some point in the future. Black Gates, hospital grade power supply, etc.

 

[joe_cool]

I built a number of META42s and did some rolling to find the best configuration for various phones. I absolutely recommend the 2002 buffers (or at least double stacked 2001s for low-impedance phones). The AD8620 is VERY good all-around but I prefer the AD825s (I have not heard the AD843 or the OPA627 amps). The external power supply is not critical as long as you follow Tangent's recommendations for on-board filtering. A good pre-built unit costs about $200.

The Gilmore is in a class by itself. With a good source and an aggressive headphone (like the Sony MDR-CD3000) it is worth the $300-500 cost for DIY or pre-built. For some phones and musical tastes it is too smooth and refined. You can always increase the open-loop gain by increasing the value of the load resistors in the second stage; this will make it sound more agressive like an IC amp (META42, Grado, Creek, etc.).

Your mileage may vary. Audio is very subjective.