[sirylj]

Well, I finally saved up some money for a pair of SR80i's, which I ordered today, before I wasted my money on something else. Like paying to get them on my doorstep tomorrow.

I've dug through much of what's available on Head-Fi, but really I've only just scratched through the crust, and there's many miles further to dig before I get through it all.
 
So I'd like to ask what would be the best 'bang for the buck' portable amp I can get for my new Grado SR80i's?
 
 
I know there are people that will say the 80i's don't really need an amp to go with them, but I've also seen enough people say that (though the difference isn't like going from 80's to 325's) it makes a noticeable difference for the better to want to hear it for myself.
 
 
I have some extra cash to spend, so if anyone can recommend a cheap portable amp (though I won't mind hearing about $80-plus amps so I know what to compare with to some degree) to really get the last bit of gold out of these plastic cups, I'd love to know what you've got.

 

[grandehombre09]

Greetings! Congrats on the purchase!
 
In my personal opinion it doesn't take much to make the sr80i shine!
 
However, a fairly nicely recepted portable amp that is a bit... versatile would be a cmoy BB from JDSLabs.
 
As an amp, I think it does a nifty job for its price point, there are 250+ different optimizations JDSLabs will do to make it work that much more better/intimate with the sr80i.
 
Maybe check this out to see if you'd like to taste for yourself:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/252802/review-cmoy-headphone-amp-bass-boost-edition
 
Overall I love my cmoyBB, and I had mine altered to provide more current and to deepen the bass boost. (I'm using mine with an sr80i, dt770 LE, he400, pro 900, tma-1, portapro, and ath m50)

*note- the Bass Boost will help the sr80i if you're more interested in music that isn't rock/classical, thus adding to its versatility.
 
My 2 cents, hope it helps some!

 

[sirylj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grandehombre09 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
*note- the Bass Boost will help the sr80i if you're more interested in music that isn't rock/classical, thus adding to its versatility.

I'm not really a bass freak, and I really only listen to old rock (Zeppelin, Cream, Byrds, etc.), so looking at the cmyBB I don't know if the bass boost would be a winning quality as other amps would probably provide me with enough bass to fit my meager needs, but from what I've heard about the bass on the SR80i's (coupled with my reluctance to mod them right out of the gate), they might fit the key. Still open to other suggestions though as I read around.

 

[sirylj]

Checked out the JDSLabs website, and after checking prices a cMoyBB from them would run about $70, so it wont be the cheaper range amp that I'm kind of in the market for.

 

[sirylj]

Bumpity
 
Also, I've been looking around at FiiO amps, and was wondering if anyone could give some insight as to whether getting something like the E11 is overkill, or if I should get something like the E6 (or E5, but not sure if it would make much of a difference at that point between amped or unamped when using something that weak).

 

[sirylj]

last bump