[zergslayer69]

I've been eyeing the HD650s for a long time now, but everybody says you should get an amp to make them sound better. However a lot of portable amps are quite large and cost close to 300 if not more.

One person recommended the bithead or airhead and those are priced quite nicely, and I like the whole usb thing with the bithead. Question is, are these capable enough to drive the 600/650s? Keep in mind I have never listened to high end phones hooked up to amps before, so I will not have a reference, nor can I be picky about it. As long as there's a good difference between amped and not amped, I'm happy.

If those aren't any good, are there any other better amps that are rather compact, does the job, and yet costs under 200?

 

[Benaiir]

Plenty of tubes in the FS forum for about $130

 

[zergslayer69]

Any particular recommendations?

 

[insyte]

Bithead + HD650 is not a really nice combo, because you'll be underamping the HD650.

 

[Deiz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyte /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bithead + HD650 is not a really nice combo, because you'll be underamping the HD650.

Totally seconded. To really shine, the HD650 needs the juice only large portables and desktop amps can provide. The former tends to be deep into the land of diminishing returns because there's only so much you can get out of a portable without five minute run-times or resorting to a car battery.

The Mini^3 is a great choice for the OP, I think, as it's fairly high output, cheap, and reasonably compact.