[Stevie B]

Hi, I'm going to order some Grado SR-80's and I was wondering what would be a good portable amp to use with these headphones? My price range is between $100-$150 and the sources I'll be using will be a 16GB 4G Ipod Nano, 30GB Creative Zen Vision M, and a 2GB Sansa Clip (I use them all throughout the day). Oh, if it helps I listen to a little bit of everything but mostly R&B. I'm new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance!

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevie B /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I'm going to order some Grado SR-80's and I was wondering what would be a good portable amp to use with these headphones? My price range is between $100-$150 and the sources I'll be using will be a 16GB 4G Ipod Nano, 30GB Creative Zen Vision M, and a 2GB Sansa Clip (I use them all throughout the day). Oh, if it helps I listen to a little bit of everything but mostly R&B. I'm new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance!

I've liked the pairing of my Grados with every Ray Samuels portable I have tried.

 

[htbyron]

You might want to ask in the headphone forum for impressions of other SR-80 users. I owned SR-80s a few years ago as my first Grados and my first pair of decent headphones. I sold them to fund the HF-1. I found the SR-80 did not need or benefit much from an amp, whereas the HF-1 really needs an amp to shine. The best way to tell would be to see if you can audition a moderately priced amp -- perhaps one owned by a friend, or by going to a local meet -- to see if you can hear a noticeable benefit from your sources.

 

[NiceCans]

I'd save my money and skip the amp as the improvement in SQ will be minimal IME.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiceCans /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd save my money and skip the amp as the improvement in SQ will be minimal IME.

Yeah, if it's for an SR80, then save the money; amps aren't going to bring out much more in them.

 

[Luminette]

Yep, skip amp and improve phones (at this level)

 

[fatcat28037]

The PA2V2 is a nice little portable for $60 and works well with Grado.

Welcome To Electric-Avenues.com !

 

[fatcat28037]

Take a look at these SR-80 in the FS forum.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/fs...-bowls-364517/

 

[Stevie B]

So it seems that amping the Grados would have very minor benefits. I think I created this thread a day too early because my budget just increased by a few hundred and I might get something better...so many possiblities now...lol! Thanks for all the help from everybody who responded!!!