[adeut85]

The head-fi bug has apparently bitten me and I am starting to look into getting my first amp. I am looking for something to pair with either my ATH-A500s or super.fi 5 Pros. The A500s are generally used at home with my computer coming from an AV-710. The 5 Pros are used with my 4th gen ipod.

I would possibly like to have an amp that would be good at going both ways, home and portable use but home use is the most important so if there is a good desktop amp versus a moderate amp with portability I would probably pick the desktop amp.

I prefer my music to have a little more fun sound so an amp that adds a little pep to the music is more important to me than accuracy.

So far I have been looking into:

PA2V2
Xenos OHA-REP
GoVibe 5
LDM+
LD2+

Looking to spend in the 150 (or less) ballpark.

Any suggestions on other amps, or opinions on these amps, are greatly appreciated. I have had trouble searching for/finding anybody that has used a pair of A500s with these (where are you A500 users!?). Thanks everybody.

I'm already sad about my wallet

.....

 

[undeRdEFonE]

I've been using the Xenos and im satisfied with it

It is very portable.
Battery usage is acceptable.
Doesnt heat up
Able to drive Phones that are 16 - 300 ohms.


Sonically : This is an amp i feel that adds brightness and from what i had with the 595's, it adds the soundstaging and the " live " .

All IMHO , happy listening!

 

[adeut85]

Thanks for the input on the Xenos

Does anybody know what ever happend with the Xenos 1HA portable amp that was supposed to come up some time in October?

 

[mrarroyo]

I have listened to the first 3 of the 5 amps you have listed, and I have compared those 3 amps side by side. IMO I would choose the Go-Vibe 5. However if you can stretch your budget to $179 I would say get the Supermicro IV from Dr. Xin.

Be aware it will take about 6 weeks to two months before you would get the Supermicro IV. However in the +/-10 portable amp shoot out Vorlon1 and I did about 3 weeks ago the Supermicro IV came on top. Good luck.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Supermicro IV has gotten great reiews. A slightly used Corda HeadFive is in the same ballpark with your budget, too. Just so you know that the LDII+ will be $185 new shipped and tube rolling options with it is rather limited (I mean, rather non-existant) but it's probably the best budget tube amp around. Good luck!

 

[adeut85]

How does the soundstage of the xin supermicro iv compare to that of the headfive? I know this might be comparing apples to oranges but if the headfive blows the supermicro away I might be willing to shell out the extra bucks for that.

 

[adeut85]

Anyone else have some advice?