[Bombo]

OK so I bought a pair of Allesandro MS-1's for home and PX100 for exercise and have decided that I am totally addicted to good quality audio. I have expanded my budget by an additional $1000 and I want to jump right in on the best foot possible.

Give it to me straight - imagine I'm a friend of yours and I gave you $1000 to build me the bestest most jaw-dropping least-likely-to-disappoint system for the money. What rig/s would you get? If nothing really stands out and it "depends on my tastes", then what do I need to buy/demo first in order to discover what my tastes really are?

Thanks all!

 

[Bombo]

If it helps I work from home, about 6-8 hrs/day at the computer and listen to most of my music while working. Mostly electronic/chillout/rock/pop/indie with a little rap/hip-hop. Not much classical , but I'm trying to get into it. Also I live in Australia, so getting demos of phones/amps is hard AFAIK.

 

[krmathis]

If I were given $1000 to build a "jaw-dropping" system, then I would choose:
* A Stax Lambda Pro & SRM-1/MKII system. Usually sell for around $500.
* A decent CD player, at a cost of around $300.
* The reamining $200 on a signal cable and some CD's.

 

[Ahriman4891]

While working at a computer, I'd hate getting up to take a new cd off the shelf and changing it in the player. For $200, rather get a decent soundcard (go to computer-as-source forum, tons of info there).

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mostly electronic/chillout/rock/pop/indie with a little rap/hip-hop. Not much classical , but I'm trying to get into it.

No cold & deadly neutral highend jazz & classical specialists like DT880 / K701 / HD600 thus. A Senn HD650 plus amp plus DAC or soundcard.

 

[Bombo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickchen /img/forum/go_quote.gif No cold & deadly neutral highend jazz & classical specialists like DT880 / K701 / HD600 thus. A Senn HD650 plus amp plus DAC or soundcard.

Is it true that a HD600 + HD650 cable sounds almost idenical to the HD650 then? If so I could do this and spend more on an amp. Otherwise I'll go for the HD650.

 

[Bombo]

Also, after browsing the Amp forum the Heed Can-amp seems to be the absolute unmatched super-star for it's price category (to my vulgar, un-nuanced judgement of course). Is this basically correct, or are there other amps I should really seriously consider around this price range? The "solid state" sound is probably the best (safest / most neutral / most often liked) place to start right?

 

[pingalep]

the best option would be imho:
to build by youself or make built for you a good usb dac based on the I2s protocol project, the one with no conversion to spdif protocol from usb to the D\A chip. with this dac you can then try by little steps used amps and headphones with different project. if you are near some head-fiers it would be the best to try their headphones.
or, set the highest price you intend to spend, and use the 30day money back option of many good sellers in the usa.

from my experience:
grado sr60 is very good sounding, but it makes the sound nicer, so there's an active interpretation fo the sound. and it's good to be heard at low level volumes.
gradp rs1(cause i've tryied it), or aothe grado family headphones could be the best choice if you liked the rs60, couse they simply are better headphones based on the same sound response project.

sennheiser headphones are based on a very different project imho. many users like them very much(when not clamping the head too much, they are really confortable, more than grado ones imho). but they are made to be listened at louder volumes. with these results: if you listen at them at lower volumes, they are perfect for a listening while doing somethin else, cause everything seems veiled a little. mid and high frequencies don't hurt your eardrum and what your thinking about.
if you listen to them with higher volumes there's two options. you have simply a louder result, but decrease in dinamic and other parameters. but if you use them with a good amp(like an m3, or with a balanced amp) they change the sound response, giving up with the veilded feel, and giving a very detailed fast and accurate response. and you don't need to go very much louder to feel these changes. but you can't concentrate your mind in anything else that isn't muscie you're listening.

personally, i like very much the rs60(i think they worth much more than the rs1, if we remain in the 1000$ for total setup range) but the hd6xx are much more confortable for long listening sessions.

 

[nickchen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it true that a HD600 + HD650 cable sounds almost idenical to the HD650 then?

Don't know, but I severely doubt that. My DT880 sounded absolutely identical with a 99 cent Walmart cable I once used as an instant weekend repair. My vote for the HD650 thus.

 

[uraflit]

^congrats on 1000 posts

anyways, for $1000, you can get a really good setup. but first:

- try to tell if you like grado/sennheiser/etc brand headphones first; do you like bass over treble? or vice versa?
- if you go the sennheiser route, just get the hd650.
- heed can amp has god raves around here.
- and for your source, i also wouldn't get a cd player... but do you need it to be portable? (you said you listen at home and at work) if you need portable maybe setting up a portable rig would be better?

 

[happyangryhappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it true that a HD600 + HD650 cable sounds almost idenical to the HD650 then? If so I could do this and spend more on an amp. Otherwise I'll go for the HD650.

I don't think so.... I have a pair of hd600's with the 650 cables and I had a pair of hd650's and and although they are both excellent headphones, each has a rather distinct signature. I think between these two pairs although the 650's are arguably "better", more would depend on your tastes in music and which signature sounds better to you.

 

[JLai]

HD650 - ~$300
MicroDAC - ~$300
HEED CanAmp - ~$400

 

[Uncle Erik]

If you love your Alessandro, stay with the Grado lineup. Keep an eye out for a used RS-1. This is the headphone you want. I've listened to and owned a lot of headphones, and these are special. And you're always better off spending the bulk of your money on headphones. Used ones run $500-$550 or so.

What's left would get you a Mapletree Ear Purist, a used SinglePower PPX3, a Bottlehead S.E.X., or other quality tube amp. If you can find one, the Melos SHA-1 is in this price range. Or build your own if you're curious.

Keep the sources you have for now and don't spend a cent on cables or interconnects. Stock ones work fine, and there's quite a controversy over whether aftermarket ones make any difference at all.

 

[rb67]

Used RS-2 $350
a lot of people forget to mention this great pair
Used RS-1 $550
no need to explain this.


MicroDAC $300 or DIY USB DAC ~$100-200
I am suggesting a USB DAC because it appears your computer is your main source. This will allow you to achieve bit perfect output. Soundcard outputs can be great, but the signal still will run through the soundcard amplifier which is not great. You either do that, or take the digital-out out of your soundcard (SPDIF, optical, etc) and run it through a DAC and then that to your amp. My opinion is there are less components in your path with the USB DAC and it ends up being cheaper.

Amp Choices
Dynalo <DIY> (Gilmore Lite <Commercial>) $200
Cavalli Kan Kumisa III <DIY> $150 (this is what I use)
Mapletree Ear Purist (new: DIY kit $500 Assem. $600. Used: $400?)

 

[onocentaur]

Grado GS-1000?

Then you can increase your budget even further for some amplification