[gregvet]

I am considering getting a combined dac/amp for my ordered HF2s. This will be for use with apple lossless files on the iMac.
These will be my first grados and I am very excited. My current cans are the AT AD700 which I love too, and will be keeping for movie use in the living room.

I need a combined dac and amp due to space/plug issues in the office!

Is the compass the one to go for? I would love to try tubes but can't find any with dacs built in for my budget of £250. Of course if the perfect product were slightly more I could be convinced!

As an aside, are there any shops in the uk that stock this stuff, so you can see before you buy?
And is there a what Hifi type magazine tailored for headfiers?

Thanks everyone!

 

[rayk]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty the only place to get the compass is from audio-gd themselves... So I doubt there is a shop in UK that stocks them.

 

[gregvet]

Well what about shops that stock headphone amps full stop?

Seems silly that everyone buys blind so to speak. I cant find details of any meets in the uk, so how do the rest of you decide what gear to get?

 

[rayk]

Well ideally being able to audition would be awesome, but living somewhere like AUS it's pretty impossible to audition good headphones, let alone amps (unless you live close to the only good headphone shop here).

So yeah, I guess most (inc me) buy blind basing your choice on opinion and feedback of other people. The more gear you get exposed to, the better you can filter opinions to find what you need.