[tvrboy]

For once in my wretched life I got lucky ... I just got $10,000. SO you can imagine I will A. spend some of it on audio gear and B. ask you lot about my options.

My parents want me to invest most of it, and I actually agree with them. So I'm not gonna spend all of it on Head-Fi, but I'd like to get some nice things. My criteria is that I want a system that will sound great and beat every other system under $1000, but is also listenable with 256k mp3s. I use Napster a lot because I find it very convenient to listen to millions of songs for only $12 per month. Yes, I know that's not very "audiophile" of me, but I like it. It's a lot easier to discover new artists that way than to just go out and randomly buy CDs. So until I can expand my CD collection, I mostly listen to these mp3s.

My thinking right now is to get the Head-Direct EF-5 + HE-5 combo. That amp gives out 7 watts at 32 ohms, so I assume it will be great for powering other current hungry phones as well. That way I can also play around with the RS-1, AD2000, etc. Maybe buying a DAC is pointless until I have better source material. I'm sure any good DAC will just make my mp3s sound worse - is this true? So let me know your suggestions or thoughts about this whole thing. And if you're gonna tell me Stax...well I'm gonna buy very soon so I don't want to wait 10 months for a bargain amp/phone to come up on the used market.

 

[logwed]

Lotto?

 

[dclancy]

The EF/HE combo looks great, and if it doesn't work out I'll be glad to take them off your hands, free of charge!
Congrats Bud!

 

[Necrolic]

EF/HE combo is probably the best you're going to get sub-$1000, and the EF5 will do an excellent job powering anything you get in the future.

The only problem with that setup though is that you do not have a DAC to go with it, which will absolutely kill your SQ. if you're willing to drop like $300-$400 more then there are a lot of great options to go with it.

 

[crazyeyes]

I agree you will need a DAC to get the best out of it if you are planning on running off of your computer. Unless you already have a nice CDP or Turntable or some other source to use. If you don't mind going the used route and bumping the budget up to around $1500 i would recommend a PS Audio Digital Link III they can be found for $500-$550 used.

I just got one and compared it to the benchmark and actually prefer it to the benchmark DAC1 USB. You can check out my impressions here

 

[stang]

Lucky

I would personally spend about $4k on audio, save the rest. Spend $3k on sources, CD player, DAC, cables, CDs, AMP and $1k on headphones. Maybe try HD650 and K701 along with a D5000. Pick the best out of those then sell and get something else like a Grado too

It really depends on your music tastes. I have never tried anything but Grado's and Ultrasone's so I would of course buy a lot of things.

 

[baka1969]

Get a DAC. You can put together a badass rig for around $1500. I'm looking at the HE-5 myself. But I seem to pleased with what I have with my AKG K-701 as my reference can.

 

[captian73]

I know i should be happy for you, but i'm really depressed now 'cause i was getting excited over my possible £500 tax rebate. Not in the same league as $10,000.

 

[jawang]

Don't spend any of it, save it as emergency funds incase you get laid off or ever run into some emergency. Go to the forsale forums and look at how many ppl sell off gear because of sudden unexpected expenses. If you want to buy new gear, go to work and save up the cash.

A lot of the fun in hi-fi comes from saving up and earning your purchases, if you just get things for "free" youll feel good at first, but the novelty wears off eventually. In the grand scheme of things, you aren't getting a huge sound improvement when you upgrade (assuming you already have a mid-fi or better system). Besides, it sure as hell made work less boring for me when I had purchasing goals to think about.

 

[AtomikPi]

Not to start a flame war, let's try to keep this on topic, but odds are your 256 mp3's are audibly transparent in most cases, so a DAC isn't a bad idea. For your budget at least, anything more than, say, a uDAC or an 0404 USB would be overkill.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I agree that you should mostly invest it.

However, I'd be very tempted to pick up a K-1000, HD-800 or a Zana Deux or something really special along those lines. You'd have a top-flight piece of gear you will enjoy and the rest safely put away.

Or how about a turntable? You could got an excellent used one for $1,000-$1,500 and then enjoy a bunch of cheap used vinyl.

 

[dclancy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jawang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't spend any of it, save it as emergency funds incase you get laid off or ever run into some emergency. Go to the forsale forums and look at how many ppl sell off gear because of sudden unexpected expenses. If you want to buy new gear, go to work and save up the cash. A lot of the fun in hi-fi comes from saving up and earning your purchases, if you just get things for "free" youll feel good at first, but the novelty wears off eventually. In the grand scheme of things, you aren't getting a huge sound improvement when you upgrade (assuming you already have a mid-fi or better system). Besides, it sure as hell made work less boring for me when I had purchasing goals to think about.

And just like that, the wind leaves my sails

 

[tvrboy]

ok, i will look into different DACs. So you say anything more than entry level will be overkill for mp3s?

I have thought about getting a statement headphone like K1000 or HD800 but came to the conclusion that the rest of the chain would be too expensive... also I have no experience with high end gear. I'd rather jump into mid-fi and make a mistake than jump into hi-fi and make a really expensive mistake. Also I would prefer to buy used, but the HE-5 is a brand new headphone, so no choice there...

 

[jawang]

if you are just listening to mp3s and you HAVE to spend money on audio gear, I'd say IEMs are your best bet. Portability is always useful, and it allows you to cut out the DAC/amp and still have great sound.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Go high end. You could easily get back 90% of your money if you sold the HD800 or K1000.