[Solid Snake]

Hey guys,

I have been searching around a little bit for a balanced amp for my HD650...

And yes, I know about buying a balanced source also which would either be this: UPCOMING Little Dot DAC (too bad it isnt out yet...) or the dacmagic...And the interconnects and the HD650 XLR cable itself...

I did see this one http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/so...-mini3-413891/ which I liked and was hoping for another to pop up some time soon.

A DIY project is not possible for me at the moment though...

So if there is any way you can guide me to the right direction to find a bang for the buck balanced amp, I certainly would appreciate it!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

For a long time the best deal has been the Headroom Balanced Desktop with internal balanced DAC at $1499, but I heard they were changing their amp lineup, so I don't know if that is still around.

The Little Dot balanced amp hasn't been talked about much, so I don't know anything other than early models had a turbo-prop for a cooling fan. You could feed the LD from a PS Audio Digital Link III balanced DAC on sale for $695. I like the DL3 sound slightly more than my Apogee mini-DAC. Except that I like use the Apogee as a pre-amp for my single power balanced Square Wave XL, so that I don't have to work the two volume controls on the Single Power. The Single Power amp is $1249 with the blackgate upgrades, but customer service has been poor and I hate to recommend them. At the $1249 price for the Sq Wave without DAC, the Headroom starts to look more attractive.

 

[Shahrose]

Too bad you didn't pick up the balanced CKKIII from the FS section a little while back. It was selling for an absolutely bargain price: $600.
If you're budget-conscious, you should go for a DIY balanced amp, and preferably get it used. As I said, that balanced CKKIII (built by Fallenangel btw) was a steal.

 

[D_4_Dog]

i'd say best bang for the buck balanced amp would be DIY or in your case, Done-By-Others. Try posting in the DIY forum and see if anybody offers?

 

[FallenAngel]

I read a funny thing once - you can have a good, balanced and cheap amplifier but you have to pick only 2.

That CKK-III was a build for a nice guy who had done a partial trade for a wonderful pair of headphones (Grado HP-2) and I have no plans to make another for that budget as the price was only a little above parts cost (chassis and 4-gang stepped attenuator takes a nice chunk out of the budget at about $150 plus $150 per CKK-III amp, then add in balanced connectors, wire, IEC and other incidentals).

 

[3nity]

What would be your budget?
I took a Qes labs hpba-2 solid state balanced driver and am happy with this.
It is within the $700/800 range.
Otherwise a diy would be a good idea too.

 

[XXII]

Find a cheap balanced source. The cheapest is probably the Lite DAC-AM (~$200). Buy a pair of Scott Endler XLR attenuators ($110 x 2) Stepped Attenuators and you have a balanced set up on the cheap. It may only work for higher impedence headphones though...

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif Find a cheap balanced source. The cheapest is probably the Lite DAC-AM (~$200). Buy a pair of Scott Endler XLR attenuators ($110 x 2) Stepped Attenuators and you have a balanced set up on the cheap. It may only work for higher impedence headphones though...

Not necessarily buddy, this will only work if the source can drive a low enough impedance load and most would not.

 

[shamu144]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3nity /img/forum/go_quote.gif What would be your budget? I took a Qes labs hpba-2 solid state balanced driver and am happy with this. It is within the $700/800 range. Otherwise a diy would be a good idea too.

OMG

This looks as a very nice alternative to my current NX-33... At the $ rate today, the NX-33 is in the $1.200 range, which is another option to consider.

Though I find it soooo annoying to have to connect the XLR socket of the headphone at the back of the amplifier

Thanks,

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not necessarily buddy, this will only work if the source can drive a low enough impedance load and most would not.

True - I was not impressed with the Apogee mini-DAC driving balanced HD600 out of the pre-amp outputs. On the other hand, a Melos SHA Gold drives balanced HD600 out of the XLR pre-amp out beautifully!

 

[XXII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not necessarily buddy, this will only work if the source can drive a low enough impedance load and most would not.

Is a rolled off bass the only symptom of this or does it just in general not sound good?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is a rolled off bass the only symptom of this or does it just in general not sound good?

The apogee lacked dynamics driving the HD600, with less bass impact. Detail, imaging and separation were great. I didn't look for bass roll-off, but I know the Melos I mentioned will have no bass with a low impedance can off the pre-amp out.

 

[FallenAngel]

Generally there are very small DC blocking caps on the output of DACs or opamps that really like line-level signals (most opamps are good for this, such as LM4562, but they shouldn't drive low impedance loads).

In the case of opamps, they simply don't sound good when asked to drive a load they aren't designed for (yes, I think LM4562 sounds pretty bad driving headphones directly).

In case of DC-blocking caps, the bass will be rolled off and remember, even if -3db cutoff is around 20Hz, the phase distortion goes up 10x of that to 200Hz. In the case of the Melos SHA-Gold/Maestro driving HD600 directly - there are a pair of 10uF output caps on for the pre-amp, that means -3db is at 53Hz (already quite high but there really isn't much music recorded that hits below that anyway, seriously) but phase distortion is up to 530Hz and you can be sure that there is music in that range. It might sound "nice" because it's a great amp, but it's certainly not without distortion.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'd recommend going with a commissioned amp of some kind. A CK2III is a grea way to go, and I see that there are chips available to build build a balanced Dynalo, or a Dynamid/Gilmore Reference, which used to be considered one of the finest amps available. If you don't have the bucks, there are some options. The case is hugely expensive, so I'd recommend scrounging one yourself. You can find them cheap - I got a vintage unused 1950s caged project box (tube amp) for $5 last Saturday. A comparable new Hammond with a cage would be closer to $100. You can find similar bargains if you look. Try Hamfests, swapmeets, surplus stores, anywhere with old electronic stuff.

Then, I'd also recommend tracking down your volume pot and as many parts as possible. You can spread purchases out over time to keep within budget. When you gather as much as you can, negotiate a price with a builder and send the stuff off. If the builder doesn't have to spend several hours ordering stuff (that takes time), you should be able to strike a good deal.

Oh, if you know someone with a woodshop or is handy with tools, ask for help building your own case. It can be done without too much trouble.

You may not want to solder it yourself, but you can do a whole lot else yourself to make the job easier on a builder and get a lower price.

 

[cantsleep]

yeah, that ck2iii built by you, fallenangel, was a very very good deal.
i really like how it was built, balanced and trs combo