[Talitmon]

I've been researching quite a few headphone amps that will obviously make my portable CD player at work sound wonderful, however I'm not sure what will be the best for listening at home.

I know that there are some outstanding sounding amps, but they are a little out of budget right now. I wanted to stay $500 and under. A couple that I've read quite a bit about are the HeadRoom Amps, the Gilmore, and the MG Head OTL. In everyone elses opinion which one will fare best for me?

Please mention any other alternatives if you feel necessary.
Solid State or Tube..... (Home set up is entirely Solid State)

I'm new to the Headphone world, but have been a home
audio audiophile for some time now.

The source will be a Meridian 508.20 CD player with Transparent Ultra XL interconnect. On the other end will be the HD600 with the Cardas upgrade.

Thanks for all the help!!

 

[Gopher]

if your not in a super hurry to buy this amp, it's my understanding the antness gilmores are gonna start shipping this weekend. A whole bunch of us hopped on the pre-order boat, and will be able to give feedback and impressions on it. I think at around 500 dollars this should be a serious consideration.

 

[Uncledan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gopher if your not in a super hurry to buy this amp, it's my understanding the antness gilmores are gonna start shipping this weekend. A whole bunch of us hopped on the pre-order boat, and will be able to give feedback and impressions on it. I think at around 500 dollars this should be a serious consideration.

Are you sure antness will ship the amp this weekend? We don't even see the pic of the amp.

 

[kerelybonto]

There are plenty of impressions and a couple complete reviews of the first version of antness's KG Dynamic around. Look them up -- the new version should be sonically pretty much identical .. the changes are mostly cosmetic, plus puttin the power supply and amp in the same box.

But, yeah, the Gilmore is a very good amp. I don't think you can do better for $500.

kerely

 

[Gopher]

not sure at all actually, but based on some of the responses to the thread reguarding pictures to the amp, there seemed to be some hope of it shipping the 16th-ish, which is a sunday... so I dunno, it's up in the air... I can't wait for mine, and I really wish I could see some pics too... I understand antness is a busy man though.

Fred

 

[Old Pa]

Meier's HA-2 is on sales action right now.

 

[kentamcolin]

Welcome to Head-Fi!

I have the Senn HD600/Cardas and use the MG Head/OTL with NOS tubes. My source is an Adcom GCD750, and it all sounds fantastic. There are several new ASL amps coming out, sou you shouldn't have any problem finding a really nice used OTL with some great tubes, well within your budget (likely under $300 total). You might also consider a new MG Head MKII. I'm not sure if it is available yet. I believe the price will be around $350-$375 (not sure), which would also leave some $$ for tube rolling. Good Luck.

 

[BDA_ABAT]

Can't argue with a Gilmore... sounds terrific with Senn HD600/Cardas!!!

In addition to the above recommendations from others, if you're interested in toobs, could try the MAD Ear+. I just finished building one this past weekend. The kit is not all that hard (I had never held a soldering iron before and was able to finish without much difficulty) or you can get one assembled for a modest amount. There's even a lower priced version available... it's sonically the same, just doesn't have wood panels on the end. The kit is < $300, the assembled version is $370. Would cost a little bit more to upgrade the pot to an Alps Blue (~ $35 I think). But still under your budget. The benefits of this amp are that it can also drive lower impedence phones (like Grado or Sony CD3K)as well as Senn HD600.

Check them out here.

Bruce

 

[grohan]

Last month I was looking for an amp to drive my HD 600. I also have a solid state rig. I got the MG Head mkII for about 350 shipped and some NOS tubes for under 70...My experience with other amps is very limited, I did not hear the Gilmore-I am way to newbie to spred advices around here...but I can tell about my first tube experiment : it was an eye popping, goose-bumps inducing, tears-in-your eyes one

The problem is, after listening to Jachinta XRCDs on the Musical Fidelity A3 cdp or to Diana Kral SACDs on the philips 1000 I dont want to go back to my solid state gear....

 

[Talitmon]

Thanks for all the info I've received so far!

Sooooo many delays with the roll-out of the Gilmore V2,
and the ASL MGHead OTL MKII. I am dying to hear a
lengthy review on these two amps!!

The MAD Ear+ looks like a very nice unit, but from what I've read in previous postings is that it may be better suited for the Grado's.

I'm definitely looking for bottom end oomph, a lush midrange, and liquid highs, and both the above mentioned seem to fulfill that.

Any other opinions????

Thanks!!