[Maxvla]

Edit: Thought you were speaking of Quad Stat speakers. Feel free to disregard the following.

Because ribbons are more similar to planar technology than dynamics.

If you want to give stats a try I'd recommend one of the lower model Stax such as the 202. You'll need a stat amp, but the 202s you find might be part of a set including the amp. I had an opportunity to buy a great condition set with higher model amp than they came with for $400 so you should be able to find something similar or perhaps even cheaper.

There was talk and prototype of a ribbon headphone from Raal in Serbia, but I haven't heard anything more about a retail offering. If you like your speakers a ribbon headphone would likely be ideal. Unfortunately I don't believe there are any such retail products.

@ 6moons:

http://6moons.com/industryfeatures/r...a/raal3_12.jpg

 

[Cankin]

He has a pair of Quad 11L

 

[Blasto_Brandino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by R300 /img/forum/go_quote.gif When amped properly, the hd600 has controlled and very deep bass - but you lave to listen for it, even with a good amp. With the 600s, bass complements the music without overpowering it. It's not like some phones that imediately blow your mind with their bass, but become tiring to listen too. The one downside is that the bass lacks that dynamic bass "slam" you get with Grados and certain speakers.

^ That pretty much nails it
The MDR-F1's are like the 600's to an extent, except they are even pickier about their juice.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxvla /img/forum/go_quote.gif Because ribbons are more similar to planar technology than dynamics.

Unless Google is lying to me, the Quad 11L speakers that the OP has are dynamic 2 way speakers with a 5" driver and a silk dome tweeter. I know Quad makes electrostatic speakers as well.

 

[Maxvla]

I guess I should have checked the model first!

Most of what I hear about Quads on this site is in the realm of stats and I assumed, which turned out wrong.

 

[DavidMahler]

Classical music sounds better on the HD600 than the HD650. The HD650 has a subdued treble which is not really adequate for classical. I truly believe you may not be amping the HD600 well enough. Keep in mind the HD650 and HD600 are literally the same headphone with very slight differences. The HD650 is much better for rock because rock is mastered bright. But for classical....the HD600 is the best headphone at its pricepoint for classical, I think some would argue the K701 but I didn't enjoy that headphone too much.

 

[anoobis]

With regards to detail, I subscribe to the camp that more isn't necessarily natural/correct. I can't speak to the DT880 but have compared the Beyer DT931 with the HD600. The Beyers undoubtedly <I>appear</I> to be more detailed but I believe it is due to an overall imbalance in tone. As an extreme example, if you filtered out everything below 1kHz, lots of things would sound more detailed but not correct.

No, you can't make up detail that isn't there but you can suppress everything around it.

Of course, the interaction with your individual hearing response is crucial. You may be able to completely reverse the argument and find that the DT931 (in this case) are more natural to your ears.

 

[sokolov91]

Personally I never really believe all the ranting about proper amping until I got my Meier Concerto.
 
It has REALLY brought my HD 600 to life. They aren't even a main headphone anymore and I was easily about to tell there was a huge difference in performance. Truly stellar... so if they sound bad... chances are you aren't amping them properly (or at all)!
 
To my great chagrin, I will now be one of those people who tell you that you didn't really hear the headphone until you got it on a serious amp!

 

[furyagain]

I also have a HD600 myself,
 
i always wonder if it is proper amped with my LD MKV
as many people said the MKV is a weak desktop amp.
 
if it is really not enough,  i am thinking of getting a MK4/3 tube.
 
my goal is ....to get a LD DAC1 and a MK3/4 then stack them on top of my MKV<<

 

[Maxvla]

Fury, Do yourself a favor, sell your MKV and go MKVIII SE (or at least the MKVI+) with the DAC1. The cost of the MKV and MKIV SE together isn't too far from MKVIII SE, in addition the MKV and MKIV SE are very much a compromise comparatively. Tons and tons of power plus balanced or unbalanced output.
 
I have the MKVI and love it to death and the MKVIIII SE is this amp but even better.

 

[furyagain]

mmis the MKV this bad?????
 
I am not planning to go hard core >>
and i really don't have the room for the MKVI or bigger!!!! the MKV 's size is perfect  this is why i want a DAC1 and a mkIII or IV so i can stack them all together ,
and if i want warmer sound i will plug in the tube..
mm
I need to start watching my money, getting marry really soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Maxvla]

Looking at the power output on Little Dot's site the MKV appears to be a an amp catering to low impedance phones with it only putting out 187mW at 300ohms while at 32 ohms it's 500mW. The MKIV is opposite giving the most power at 300ohms at 500mW whereas 32ohm is merely 100mW.
 
The only power rating listed for the MKVI+ is 5W (yes 5 full watts) at 120ohms. The MKVIII SE appears to be a lighter power, but likely more refined amp with 1W @ 300ohms and 2W @ 600ohms.
 
I hadn't really looked closely at the power ratings until this post so now I'm seeing the MKVI+ as the highest power amp for a good mix of ranges seeing as it's 5W @ 120 instead of 1 @ 300 and getting higher as you go up meaning lower than 300 will see similar power to the MKV.
 
If you are using a mix of 32-300ohm cans with your amps the MKVI+ looks to be the best deal at $684 with the most power. I'd guess the MKVIII SE is geared towards people using only 300ohm+ cans.
 
Interesting stuff they are doing over at LD.
 
I can't help you much with the size problem, but as far as money going with the MKVI+ looks to be about $50 more if you sell your MKV for around $250 shipped and don't buy a MKIV SE for $389.

 

[xnor]

Quote:

hmm i think people may be over exaggerating. befor my hd600 came i awas really worried theyd be terrible with no proper desktop amp. yes they run much better of my xm5 but running unamped of a shuffle of the desktop comp they still sound good, really very good.

Exactly that.
 
Ironically, people who seem to have no conception of electronic basics / properties of amps or headphones blame others for not knowing what they're talking about.
Else they'd know that an HD600 isn't harder to drive than a SR60, and I'm not talking about volume here.
 

 

[Ypoknons]

Don't limit yourself to Little Dot. It's not like they're magic, you know?