[Matthewlawson3]

Hi, I just bought a Marantz CD 6007 and I'm trying to get the best out of my Sennheiser HD 650 headphones when listening. I have a few questions..

1. Is the Marantz headphone amp enough to get the best sound quality out of the headphones? If not, what would you recommend to get the best sound quality?

2. I have a xDuoo XD-05 BAL Balanced DAC/Amp. Can I use this and would it help to use it? If so, how should I hook it up?

3. Staying within the $1500 and below range what other headphones would you recommend that are of higher sound quality than my Sennheiser headphones? Would I need a new headphone amp to run them or would the Marantz or xDuoo suffice?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Looks like you can run a S/PDIF cable (COAX or optical) from the Marantz, to the XD-05.
And run an analog connection, from the Marantz's (RCA) line-output, to the XD-05's (3.5mm) line-input.
Try both connections, see which sounds better to your ears.
And maybe compare that to plugging the HD650 directly into the CD 6007.

 

[WorksUnit]

1. Is the Marantz headphone amp enough to get the best sound quality out of the headphones? If not, what would you recommend to get the best sound quality

One thing I never regret with my Marantz CD67SE/ HD650 was using an OTL Amplifier. (Spartan Audio Helot)
Quite a cheap way to experiment, so consider:
Refreshing pads, Tube rolling, and CustomCans mods for the HD650...

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hi, I just bought a Marantz CD 6007 and I'm trying to get the best out of my Sennheiser HD 650 headphones when listening. I have a few questions..

1. Is the Marantz headphone amp enough to get the best sound quality out of the headphones? If not, what would you recommend to get the best sound quality?

2. I have a xDuoo XD-05 BAL Balanced DAC/Amp. Can I use this and would it help to use it? If so, how should I hook it up?

3. Staying within the $1500 and below range what other headphones would you recommend that are of higher sound quality than my Sennheiser headphones? Would I need a new headphone amp to run them or would the Marantz or xDuoo suffice?

I'm guessing the Marantz's headphone amplifier does provide decent power for 300-Ohm HD650.
I would consider getting an OTL (pure) tube headphone amplifier, for a little crazy voltage swing.

For other headphones, 250-Ohm (or less), is the range I would look into, for Marantz/Xduoo use.

 

[Matthewlawson3]

I'm guessing the Marantz's headphone amplifier does provide decent power for 300-Ohm HD650.
I would consider getting an OTL (pure) tube headphone amplifier, for a little crazy voltage swing.

For other headphones, 250-Ohm (or less), is the range I would look into, for Marantz/Xduoo use.

For OTL amp what about the Schitt Amps? Maybe the Valhalla 2?

 

[PurpleAngel]

For OTL amp what about the Schitt Amps? Maybe the Valhalla 2?

I like Schiit products, but so far have only bought their lower end products.

 

[jonathan c]

Hi, I just bought a Marantz CD 6007 and I'm trying to get the best out of my Sennheiser HD 650 headphones when listening. I have a few questions..

1. Is the Marantz headphone amp enough to get the best sound quality out of the headphones? If not, what would you recommend to get the best sound quality?

2. I have a xDuoo XD-05 BAL Balanced DAC/Amp. Can I use this and would it help to use it? If so, how should I hook it up?

3. Staying within the $1500 and below range what other headphones would you recommend that are of higher sound quality than my Sennheiser headphones? Would I need a new headphone amp to run them or would the Marantz or xDuoo suffice?

• Sennheiser HD-650 are excellent headphones. An output transformer-less (OTL) tube headphone amplifier which would really suit HD-650 is the Xduoo TA-26S.

• This has a higher output impedance to complement the HD-650’s 300 ohm nominal impedance. Also, TA-26S has both 1/4” TRS and 4.4mm pentaconn sockets in front. The price is $319 (before shipping & taxes).
• Lastly, you might try the Custom Cans (U.K.) cnc-milled backweight modification for HD-650. See ‘jfunk.org’ for details. Quite a few Head-Fiers, including myself, are enjoying the results. There is much posted about this in the HD-600 thread and in the HD-650 / HD-6XX thread.

 

[Stevko]

Marantz have often 3 gain settings on hp output

 

[Matthewlawson3]

Marantz have often 3 gain settings on hp output

Thank you. I have mine set to high. Do you know what that translates to in output?

 

[Stevko]

Nope,never tried self