[headphonatic]

Not sure if I should stick with the Ragnarok for my HD800's or move to the EC Black Widow. Either way, I've heard there are better options than the Ragnarok for the 800s. Would anyone whose tried either please give me suggestions

 

[buke9]

I don't own the 800's but did hear a modded pair out of a Microzotl 2 and they were fantastic.

 

[headphonatic]

Not exactly what I was looking for, anybody else?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Not sure if I should stick with the Ragnarok for my HD800's or move to the EC Black Widow. Either way, I've heard there are better options than the Ragnarok for the 800s. Would anyone whose tried either please give me suggestions

 

What exactly don't you like about the Ragnarok+HD800? It's more than likely that what you need to replace is the HD800, not the Ragnarok.

 

If you don't have any speakers running off the Ragnarok though then might as well get something slightly smaller at least but maybe an OTL circuit which works great for high impedance headphones, like the Little Dot MkVI. Or a solid state amp that still has high voltage output like the Violectric V281.

 

[headphonatic]

The main problem I have with the Rag is that it has a bit of a hollow sound with the HD800's, while I admit it's a great amp, it just sounds slight hollow and a bit pressed (like the sound is pressed against me). I loved the 800s with the wa7 fireflies. Im just wondering if the black widow will provide some of the musicality (favorable coloration) and dynamics I've missed from tube amps. I dont want an actual tube amp since I live in a small dorm room and they heat up the area around my desk like crazy.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  The main problem I have with the Rag is that it has a bit of a hollow sound with the HD800's, while I admit it's a great amp, it just sounds slight hollow and a bit pressed (like the sound is pressed against me). I loved the 800s with the wa7 fireflies. Im just wondering if the black widow will provide some of the musicality (favorable coloration) and dynamics I've missed from tube amps. I dont want an actual tube amp since I live in a small dorm room and they heat up the area around my desk like crazy.

 

What you need isn't necessarily a tube with more "dynamics" (ie the Fireflies is more than likely rolling off the top end more making low end notes easier to hear and thus seemingly more dynamic, while the Schiit's distortion pattern errs more towards going slightly brighter), but a solid state amp that has distortion that errs more on getting slightly warmer. Meier or Violectric amps are a great alternative to Schiit (and the O2) since they kind of do this, but still not drastically altering the signal (ie numerically the THD % is still comparable, and also the low noise level). Normally I'd just get the Lyr and roll the tubes, but I can't guarantee how hot they'll be over there in California (that said, I'm perpetually in SoCal, and use tubes at our house there; insulation on the house might be different though).

 

Alternately, again, there's the HD800, which might warrant more attention than the amp. You liked the Fireflies warming it up a bit, but that's because to begin with the HD800 has a tall treble peak. And again normally I'd just EQ that out (I do the same with the 3500hz peak on my HD600) and use a hybrid amp like the Lyr, but since you want to avoid using tubes and probably won't use EQ, the best solution is to go with an LCD-2F. The downside there of course is that the large planar magnets in large wooden cups are a heck of a lot heavier than the dynamic drivers in plastic chassis HD800.

 

If you're using a computer of some kind as your source you might as well try EQ. It'll be potentially free (like Equalizer APO for Windows or OSX) to a few bucks (Neutron Music Player for Android or iOS) and you can target the specific center frequency of the HD600's peaks.