Best Headphone Amp under £250 for an iPod/HD600 combo?

[Gday]

Any advice much appreciated!
At the moment I have a portable Meier Corda SXX amp but its no good at the lower volumes & I don't want to go deaf!
I started with the HD600 because a lot of my music is classical & I can't afford the HD800 haha
The iPod Classic lets me shuffle through 18000 mostly lossless tracks (not all loaded at the same time) which is nice as a source
Was thinking a good desktop amp but don't want to spend much more than the phones cost. Would consider another portable amp if you think sufficient.
Theres just so many brands etc it gets very confusing! Was considering Graham Slee Novo or Voyager since claims to be volume independant...
Suggestions please? Thx!

 

[buson160man]

 I recently heard the new audioquest dragonfly dac/amp.It sounds very promising using a laptop playing lossless itunes music files.I heard it with audeze lcd2 v2 and sennheiser hd 700 phones and the sound quality was surprisingly good given that the dragonfly device is the size of a thumbdrive.In fact I thought it was amazing given the devices diminuative size.The price was $250 us which is I think is in your price range.Check it out I think you will be very surprised at the quality on offer for the very affordable price.

 

[Gday]

Quote:

 I recently heard the new audioquest dragonfly dac/amp.It sounds very promising using a laptop playing lossless itunes music files.

Yes that looks really nifty! Might pick one up for laptop listening. Still need something for my iPod as well

 

[Gday]

Quote:

I choose for a portable amp, because I want to enjoy the music from my ipod classic in beautiful audio quality everywhere I go.

 
Yep great having your music where ever you go
-I used to lug around 100 CDs when backpacking which was quite heavy before getting an iPod haha

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Any advice much appreciated!
At the moment I have a portable Meier Corda SXX amp but its no good at the lower volumes & I don't want to go deaf!
I started with the HD600 because a lot of my music is classical & I can't afford the HD800 haha
The iPod Classic lets me shuffle through 18000 mostly lossless tracks (not all loaded at the same time) which is nice as a source
Was thinking a good desktop amp but don't want to spend much more than the phones cost. Would consider another portable amp if you think sufficient.
Theres just so many brands etc it gets very confusing! Was considering Graham Slee Novo or Voyager since claims to be volume independant...
Suggestions please? Thx!

 
 
Try the Bellari HA540 tube amp.  Its 299$ MSRP, but you can get it for 250 probably.  Its probably the most powerful headphone amp (by far) that I've ever tried.  Never have to go past 40% volume on HD650's, so there's huge headroom.  Its got one tube, and is easily changeable to tune the sound to your liking. Its a very transparent amp, very clear and detailed sounding, not at all "tube-like", or at least if you don't use tubes that are very warms.  Its actually more crisp sounding than any of SS amps under 500$ than I tried.

 

[imackler]

Subscribed. Please keep the ideas coming! 

 

[DevilGin]

Fiio series, E17 maybe? probs not enough juice though....

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

Fiio series, E17 maybe? probs not enough juice though....

 
Nah. There's no point in buying a portable amp where there are so many great full sized amps available for that money.  Matrix M-stage, Schiit Asgard, Little Dot MkIII / MkV,  Bellari HA540, etc.  All will run the HD600's properly without breaking a sweat.