[Grey Massacre]

Hello friends,

I am currently looking to buy a new solid state amp. I will use it with three pairs of headphones: Terminator V4 in BlackGold, Darth's V3 in BlackMax and Moon Audio 325i in BlackDragon and woodied.

I am currently using a Little Dot MKV, with an impedance adapter made by a fellow headfier to reduce the hissing. This is my main concern, I love the amp but even with the 120 ohm adapter I still hear some hissing in quiet passages with my Grado's. I love the sound character of the amp, I would say pretty neutral and it provide great amount of tight bass but the fact this amp is more oriented to higher impedance headphones is annoying me. In case some of you are wondering if the hissing is related to my gear no it's not. David confirmed to me that the MKV hisses with lower impedance headphones.

I want a amp that will be quiet on both headphones, I don't like having to use an impedance adapter. I would like the amp to provide ample soundstage, excellent bass in terms of tightness, not too much warmth and if possible more forward mids. That would be ideal and probably doesn't exist in one amp but this is for references.

I have read a bit on the forums and I found 4 possibilities and I would like to hear what you guys are thinking! I am leaning towards the Kicas or ECSS at the moment.

Thanks,

Charles

 

[olblueyez]

Seems like one of the first two would work best as your headphone collection is full of bright headphones.

 

[Pars]

Amb beta22

 

[Grey Massacre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems like one of the first two would work best as your headphone collection is full of bright headphones.

I would describe the Darth's as warm sounding, the recabled 325i's are far from being bright... so I assume the ECSS and Caliente are considered "tube sounding" amplifiers?

 

[Grey Massacre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pars /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amb beta22

Good suggestion but clearly out of my price range.

 

[HeatFan12]

I believe the KICAS would be a good choice. I bought the non-caliente for my AH-D5000 and Pro900s. They are warm sounding phones and the non-caliente gives them that extra sparkle. As it turns out, the KICAS drives all my phones beautifully....

 

[dadozen]

I guess I'm the only one voting for the Cantate. I just love Meier's amps sound signature, and I'm going for one when I get the money. My HD650s are on my way now.

 

[Grey Massacre]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe the KICAS would be a good choice. I bought the non-caliente for my AH-D5000 and Pro900s. They are warm sounding phones and the non-caliente gives them that extra sparkle. As it turns out, the KICAS drives all my phones beautifully....

Thanks for the info!

Keep the votes coming in people!