[Electro]

Title kind of says it all. Just looking for a full sized amp for my Nighthawks. I would be willing to get a DAC as well, looking to spend a max of maybe 350-400 USD. I currently have an Audioquest Dragonfly as my DAC so something that pairs well with that might be nice, I would be willing to get something else though. I like to listen loudly. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Title kind of says it all. Just looking for a full sized amp for my Nighthawks. I would be willing to get a DAC as well, looking to spend a max of maybe 350-400 USD. I currently have an Audioquest Dragonfly as my DAC so something that pairs well with that might be nice, I would be willing to get something else though. I like to listen loudly. 

 
Spend $50 more and get the Lyr 2 for 6watts per channel at 32ohms.
http://schiit.com/products/lyr-2

 

[dudlew]

The NightHawks are quite efficient, so not hard to drive loud... My E11K drives it plenty loud. As you can see in my sig, I use a Burson Soloist SL that I got at the top of your budget, and I am happy with it. The new Soloist SLmkII is also at that price, but I am sure there are alot of options out there for you to choose from. Not that I am disagreeing with @ProtegeManiac, but that is quite a bit of juice you have there, and not necessary to drive the Nighthawk to earbleed levels... lol. I am sure the likes of the little Vali can probably deafen you for life. Have you checked out the Nighthawk thread for ideas?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Not that I am disagreeing with @ProtegeManiac, but that is quite a bit of juice you have there, and not necessary to drive the Nighthawk to earbleed levels... lol.

 

He likes to listen loud and his budget is $400. I was half thinking ahead in that he might as well spend his money now on something that can get practically anything but electrostats "loud."

Half my thinking is that, past that compatibility angle, the Lyr2+Nighthawks can blow his eardrums straight to hell in case that's what he meant by "loud."

 

[dudlew]

 

He likes to listen loud and his budget is $400. I was half thinking ahead in that he might as well spend his money now on something that can get practically anything but electrostats "loud."

Half my thinking is that, past that compatibility angle, the Lyr2+Nighthawks can blow his eardrums straight to hell in case that's what he meant by "loud."

 



lol..... I figured that much. It does give the option of driving anything in the future. To be honest though I am happy with the Burson. I bought that one with future proofing in mind as well seeing that alot of people seem to love the Bursons for planars, and I have a penchant for getting the not so popular . Listening right now on low gain and have the volume close to max just to see if I can give myself a headache. Listening to Coldplay The Scientist and Clocks.

 

[saxophone]

I don't know much about the Soloist SL, but I love the Soloist with the HD 650 and the NightHawk. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

To be honest though I am happy with the Burson. I bought that one with future proofing in mind as well seeing that alot of people seem to love the Bursons for planars

 
They're plenty powerful actually but the Lyr2 costs less and makes more power, the latter being important when the person asking blatantly just flat out states he needs the music loud.
 

and I have a penchant for getting the not so popular

 

I have a Meier Cantate.2 that's busted right now but I'm gonna get it fixed. The active ground circuit is just baffling the local technicians here and I haven't had the free time on weekends to go and meet up with an engineer who does DIY audio work.
 

Listening right now on low gain and have the volume close to max just to see if I can give myself a headache.

 

I had the Soloist and it goes as loud as my Cantate.2 on high gain. Not sure which can go louder cleaner because my ears can't take more.

 

[Electro]

I mean I don't exclusively want loudness, I just want a good all-around amp. I was just mentioning that loudness was important.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I mean I don't exclusively want loudness, I just want a good all-around amp. I was just mentioning that loudness was important.

 

Lyr2 doesn't just deliver 6watts per channel, it will deliver 6watts at very low distortion and noise levels. 

 

And while it has enough power at 32ohms and thereabouts to drive HiFiMans with less than 90dB sensitivity, it will still have enough powerand voltage at 300ohms to drive Sennheisers and Beyers in case you get those in the future. Not as much as the Valhalla2, but given the higher sensitivity of higher impedance headphones vs low impedance, low sensitivity headphones, that lower power output at 300ohms isn't exactly a disadvantage.