[rocdoc]

Yes this HAS been discussed ad nauseam. So I'll do it again, big woop, wanna fight about it?

Thanks in large part to insightful advice here, I have recently purchased a pair of AKG K601 headphones. The main application will be listening out of the headphone jack of my integrated amp. It is my understanding that to improve on SQ over that I would need to spend a significant amount on a dedicated.
There will be other applications though. Listening out of an iPod classic and out of my iMAC, and on occasion maybe schlepping the whole system to work to listen in my office.
SO, here we run into analysis paralysis and measurbation again, regarding amps.
-Budget to $200, to go over it would have to be something amazing, maybe make coffee in addition to music. The lower the price the better.
-Sound quality no1 criterion
-DAC included a big plus, but not essential
-SOME portability. And since in the budget and criteria I set I am likely looking at portables anyway, I would LURRV one that includes a charging circuit, I do not want to deal with changing batteries.

Based on the above, I am looking hard at Leckerton UHA-3, minibox E+, maybe FUBAR III, maybe Little Dot MKI, and iBasso D2. BTW, one thing I found really nice about Leckerton, I asked a technical question about the match of their product with my system and I got a great insightful answer with not an iota of a push to get their amp, extremely honest. Makes me want to but their amp just for that...

Please comment, give some opinions, thoughts, constructive criticism. Much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

 

[epana]

I just ordered the Ibasso D1 for using it with Iriver h120. If I wouldn't wanna use the Iriver, I would probably get the Ibasso D2 for its freshness! It has an USB dac for your mac, it looks very sexy and I guess it's pretty portable aswell?
You also might wanna check the 32 portable amp roundup, there's the ibasso cheaper amps and some Miniboxes aswell I guess. There you might see some opinions or thoughts about the amps...

Good luck!

 

[rocdoc]

Thanks epana. I did check the round-up, and the info there is the basis for some of my choices mentioned in the original post. I was hoping to get some additional guidance, maybe from people who own these?

 

[ndskyz]

Well when I get my D2 this week (hopefully) I'll post impressions on what it sounds like with my K701's If it could drive these "well" (realtive word there) It should drive the 601's too.

 

[jcx]

K601 are at the low Z end for high impedance cans, but add to the difficulty by being low sensitivity too, requiring even a little more V than Senn HD6xx - and a lot more current

So a very simplistic differentiator for a K601 amp is simply can it drive the K601 to real world dynamic peak SPL - how much V and I can the amp push?


its likely your integrated amp headphone output is +14-20 dBV, "improving" on it in a sub $200 portable isn't likely along the headroom/clipping free dynamic range dimension - maybe other considerations matter more after you get to ~110 dB peak SPL capability

look up Dynamic Headroom, peak SPL of well recorded music before naively pointing out that even 100 dB is "too loud" - only as a average listening level
HeadWize - Article: Preventing Hearing Damage When Listening With Headphones (A HeadWize Headphone Guide)
Silk: CuteStudio Ltd. Audio, Web, Graphics and software services - products/audio/CD clipping/fame


iBasso looks good for low Z cans, not so good for K601 which needs 60% more V than the K701, which in turn need 2.5x more than Grados

so an amp which is likely fine driving Grado impedance/sensitivity @113 dB/V cans isn't likely to be quite as good for 101 dB/V K601

with 12 dB lower V sensitivity == 4x more V required for the same SPL

from the description I would guess you'd get +6-7 dBV out of the iBasso amps



the Leckerton UHA-3 looks like ~ +10 dBV, an improvement over the iBasso


if the Minibox E+ really has +18 V supply then it could be competitive with the integrated headphone out, and a little ahead of the Leckerton - if only there were more specs on the Minibox to compare


Fubar doesn't seem to have the III specs up, their other amps' 6 Vrms spec puts them ~ + 5 dB ahead of Leckerton and give pretty good 116 dB peak SPL capability with the K601


LiIon battery tech is improving but you might want to weigh the portable decision with the knowledge that LiIon has a few (3?) year life, and replacement usually requires soldering skills

 

[Dorito123]

iBasso D2 Viper

 

[rocdoc]

Thank you everyone.
JCX, wow, that is an awesome reply! That's the difference between hearsay and actually knowing what you are talking about, I guess. For anyone to make me understand technical stuff is a mighty feat, my hat is off to you my friend!
I guess I now can look at things with a different perspective. I am happy about the feedback I am getting about the integrated putting out decent sound. In fact, the first time I heard the AKG's was through an integrated out (a Rotel) in a shop, and I was instantly won over. Of course, then I switched them into a Cayin HA1 tube amp, and WOW!... But I am not about to spend more on my headphone set-up than on my living room one...
I will look over more specs, otherwise the Leckerton might be the choice?
Thanks a lot. Any other thoughts are wellcome.

 

[rocdoc]

And since just plain bumping is in poor taste...
Am I opening a whole nother can of worms if I ask about any non-portable amps to consider in this price point?

 

[jgonino]

I would say without hesitation that the CORDA Headfive is one of the best home amp's at this price point. They sell used for around ~$200, and are a great intro to proper amplification. I used to own one, and it was great!

 

[Goh]

I use my K601 with the built-in headamp of the Beresford TC-7510 DAC and it sounds great. The Beresford is non-portable and is around $180.

From time to time, I've also considered adding a separate amp, and my price range is similar to yours. For a standalone amp, I would consider the Cavalli Kan Kumisa III amp, which is a DIY amp. You can probably ask misterx (a head-fi member and amp builder) to build you one for around $200.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

You could get a Little Dot II++ for a bit less than $200 or the Little Dot MkII for just a little more, both are fine choices.

 

[rocdoc]

Thanks everyone again for the advice.
I have decided to order a Fubar III. Waiting for it to arrive, and very excited.
One question: My headphones say max input power 200mW. Is this something I should be worried about? I do not know how much the Fubar puts out. Is there any chance of damaging them?
By the way, listening to these headphone through the headphone out of my integrated is absolutely fantastic! They even sound good out of my iMac directly, but definitely flat and not as lively, so the Fubar should make a big difference there.
Cheers and happy listening.