Help! Best amp for Denon D7000?
Mar 13, 2009 at 3:48 PM Post #2 of 18
The d7000's sound very good even without a dedicated headphone amplifier in my opinion
 
Mar 13, 2009 at 4:43 PM Post #4 of 18
Musical Fidelity X-CanV8. I don't own either the D7000 or this amp, but take a look at some reviews. I've read impressions that pretty much just said, this amp was made for Denon.
 
Mar 13, 2009 at 5:33 PM Post #5 of 18
I was just thinking of posting something about this. I have the d7000. and when I first got them i was using the head direct ef1 and have modded ef1 a bit with different op amps and hdams and tubes. All sounding a little different but quite good.

I was finding what i considered probably as close to audio nirvana as anything ive tried before. So i started upgrading some music getting better cds becuase i was hearing the difference between well recorded cd and poorly recorded mixed cd. then my ef1 went south. I am currently debugging the problem.

I then had to plug my d7000 directly into my modded xfi soundcard. I was hopping maybe it would be ok becuase so many people have said things like "The d7000's sound very good even without a dedicated headphone amplifier in my opinion".

I was very dissapointed. The soundstage was very crowded with very little dynamics and no reserve in the bass. I consider the d7000 "ordinary" without proper amplification.

I then got my go vibe with 24volt elpac and ad627 op amp back from a friend and plugged it in. Much improved, but very sterile sounding. so i pulled it apart and plugged in an earth hdam, ( amp is all pulled apart and hdam has far more circuitry than entire go vibe! ), amp is sooo much better, with improved soundstage and better detail. It still lackes the needed power reserve to give the d7000 the "umph" that they deserve.

Using a full sized amp with higer voltage current reserve turns the d7000 into the true "audiophile headphone" that they are, with significant punch dynamics and soundstage. I think you are truely doing yourself a disservice if you purchase the d7000 thinking an ipod of soundcard will drive them. You will be missing out on so much this headphone has to offer.

Oh and by the way, the EF1 is a very good amp with d7000.
 
Mar 13, 2009 at 8:50 PM Post #7 of 18
Quote:

Originally Posted by theBigD /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I was just thinking of posting something about this. I have the d7000. and when I first got them i was using the head direct ef1 and have modded ef1 a bit with different op amps and hdams and tubes. All sounding a little different but quite good.

I was finding what i considered probably as close to audio nirvana as anything ive tried before. So i started upgrading some music getting better cds becuase i was hearing the difference between well recorded cd and poorly recorded mixed cd. then my ef1 went south. I am currently debugging the problem.

I then had to plug my d7000 directly into my modded xfi soundcard. I was hopping maybe it would be ok becuase so many people have said things like "The d7000's sound very good even without a dedicated headphone amplifier in my opinion".

I was very dissapointed. The soundstage was very crowded with very little dynamics and no reserve in the bass. I consider the d7000 "ordinary" without proper amplification.

I then got my go vibe with 24volt elpac and ad627 op amp back from a friend and plugged it in. Much improved, but very sterile sounding. so i pulled it apart and plugged in an earth hdam, ( amp is all pulled apart and hdam has far more circuitry than entire go vibe! ), amp is sooo much better, with improved soundstage and better detail. It still lackes the needed power reserve to give the d7000 the "umph" that they deserve.

Using a full sized amp with higer voltage current reserve turns the d7000 into the true "audiophile headphone" that they are, with significant punch dynamics and soundstage. I think you are truely doing yourself a disservice if you purchase the d7000 thinking an ipod of soundcard will drive them. You will be missing out on so much this headphone has to offer.

Oh and by the way, the EF1 is a very good amp with d7000.



Thanks for your help and guidance. I will use the headphones just in mine main amp, not for the iPod.
 
Mar 14, 2009 at 12:34 PM Post #8 of 18
unless you have an incredible reciever where they devoted some time to the headphone output it will be similar to ipod. most recievers have an op amp and a cap to run the headphones and very little reserve.
 
Mar 14, 2009 at 3:15 PM Post #9 of 18
X4 on the Head-Direct EF-1. It's nice and small, yet powerful. It's a tube/SS hybird so you get the warmth of the tubes with the power and control of the SS. I ve had one with both my 5K's and now my 7K's (both stock) and this little amp has an incredible synergy with them. The Denons are the only cans that I don't feel it necessary to EQ with this amp. The other cans that I've tried with the EF-1 ( HD650,K702,US pro900,Milian SVT, and Fostex T50RP) have all required some sort of EQ'ing to balance with the EF-1.
 
Mar 15, 2009 at 5:03 AM Post #10 of 18
I just re-terminate mine to balanced and running them with my Rudistor RP010B is something special. I am liking them better than my DX1000 and Edition 9 but the two later are still single ended.
 
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Mar 15, 2009 at 3:01 PM Post #11 of 18
The EF-1 looks amazing.

Can anyone recommend something with similar capability that also includes a DAC?

I have the D7000's on order, and I'd like to use them with my whole system, including PC audio. Thanks!
 
Mar 15, 2009 at 4:15 PM Post #12 of 18
I havent used this yet, but check out the compass thread in the amp section. my roomate should have one this week. i cant wait to check out. i was so close to getting this for my d7000 (i might still get it). seems like a great amp, dac combo, and ive used the earth and moon hdams that come for it and they are really great and help to expand the soundstage of d7000. but the tube really gets a dynamic 3d soundstage going thats hard to beat!
 
Mar 16, 2009 at 11:23 AM Post #13 of 18
I found Lake People G99 (balanced and RCA in, 2 headphone outputs; could be used as quality preamp too) give very good results with my AH-D5000 (also with HD650). They are made by Germany pro-audio company.
 
Mar 23, 2009 at 11:02 AM Post #15 of 18
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