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Thats a sidestep from the main topic but since im searching this amp for my HD650's for now Ill ask anyways. So here goes...
I have had the 650's for a week by now and thy are driven by DIY Morgan Jones Clone which should be plenty powerful but somehow I feel that the bass and the lower mids get somehow mixed? Is that something that can be caused by underpowered 650's? I dont remember exactly what its power output was but I can turn it so loud it would explode my head but it doesnt change change the fact its somewhat muddy....it uses 6N1P valves (russian). This amp preformed brilliantly for my HD595's by adding some warmth and a great deal of soundstage to them but with 650's it just doesnt sound right. Even my Marantz PM-70 poweramp does better with its headphone circuit but im not using it because it has hiss...but in general 650's sound quicker via marantz.
Teh 650's are weird headphones. Very Very weird.
They are sometimes a little on the slow side, yet they dont *really* miss much. They are comfy to listen to for hours on end, but you can still pick out details. They are VERY VERY critical of problems "upstream" in the Amp and DAC.
Now that thats out there, your comments are not too far from my own opinions of the 650. OTOH, muddy is a little far IMO. It is possible that you have mixed up "too much of a good thing" by combining the slightly layed back HD650 with the slightly layed back Morgan jones (and its clones), although for many listeners a morgan jones and the 650's is about the definition of perfection.
Before starting up on the amp thing, do you have another source to try? Anything? Can you maybe borrow an older CD player from someone? Im always suspicious of soundcards, perhaps its just prejudice. If you hear things change, its your soundcard although from your description of the way your marantz amp sounds, its more likely the MJ.
If you do get to the amp... perhaps rolling tubes would help. Im not normally much of a tube roller, so I cant help, but there are a bunch of threads around on the subject with several amps. As you guessed this can get expensive quickly.
Regarding power:
The word power bothers me the way its normally used 'round these parts. Something like a simple cmoy with 2 9V batteries (for example) can put more power into the HD650 than the Morgan Jones - we can measure it easily but the cmoy sounds like poo to many. Its not power. What most people mean when they say "lacks power" is sounds like crap. If there was a head-fi dictionary, I would put the phrase "lacks power" in to mean "sounds like poo". When you see someone say "lacks power" read it that way, 99% of the time thats what it means. On rare occasions people have actually been known to use all the power available to them to run their headphones. There are 2 kinds of people in this camp: people using orthodynamics and people who listen really loud. most people's standards of loud dont even begin to describe...
Very few people need more power, they need an amp (or source, I have seen sources described as lacking power - this makes absolutely no sense from a power standpoint...) that sounds more like what they want it to sound like. Describing the sound they have (which you did, bonus round!) and the sound you would rather have is about a zilion times better than "lacks power" which could mean any number of things.
If you can make it to a headphone meet, I would go out of my way to get there. Try to set up your amp (the MJ clone) next to someone who has a high power SS amp. See what you can hear. if you like the differences the big SS amp brings, go for it! If you dont, its more hunting in the tubes...
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Also is this forum only for stabbing yourself into your wallet? I mean yes I dont have to give in to upgraditis...
He gets it! It takes some people forever to figure this out.
Sorry about your wallet.
