Wildsurfer
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2005
- Posts
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It's time for my first participation to the amp forum
I currently own a Meier Audio Corda Aria that I bought to have a good computer based source first, and see what would match my headphones better later.
Now is time to look for something else. As for the headphones I use with the amplifier, I have : Grado RS1, Sony CD3000 and AKG340. The Aria does fine with the K340, but I can't say that aria/rs1 and aria/cd3000 are great matches. I've always been told that those three headphones needed a tube amp to shine, does everybody agree with this ? My main objective is to get a warmer sound, with the aria the rs1's highs can be a bit irritating and the cd3000's midrange sounds a bit too flat for my taste. Those two headphones are really important to me, I want them to sound at their best, I may sell the K340 but not those two.
Anyway, needed or not, I'd like to try a tube amp. My budget is not hudge, let's say around 400$ but I have no problem with looking at the FS forums or waiting a bit longer to save more money if it's really worth it. In fact, I have only one restriction : the size. I don't need something really small but I'll have to move to another country in a few months and I don't want to have an enormous amp in my luggage. A friend of mine bought a Mapletree HD2, size-wise it's the maximum acceptable for me.
The options I have considered :
- Mapletree Audio : their models are supposed to be really great with the rs1, my friend tells me it's true but I still I have to listen. Does anybody have one paired with a cd3000 ? If anybody has a link explaining the differences between their models, that'd be really great, their website is so ugly and messy...
- RSA raptor : really out of my budget, but so classy, I might be interested if a good price occured in the fs forums.
- SP PPX3 : seems really good with a wide range of headphones
- Darkvoice 337 : OMG 15kg !!!
- Little Dot : heard the 2++, it wasn't great so I'm not really confident with trying the little dot 3
- Melos SHA-1 : really tempted but too big
- earmax pro : tiny, but I find it really ugly. I know it should be only about the sound, and it usually is, but here I can't, too ugly for me.
- ArtMusic : Never heard of this brand here, but a french high end ebay retailer sells their models, and their AM650 is quite tempting, anybody tried ?
Of course I won't restrict my choice to these models, so feel free to give your opinion on what you have or have tried.
Thanks a lot
I currently own a Meier Audio Corda Aria that I bought to have a good computer based source first, and see what would match my headphones better later.
Now is time to look for something else. As for the headphones I use with the amplifier, I have : Grado RS1, Sony CD3000 and AKG340. The Aria does fine with the K340, but I can't say that aria/rs1 and aria/cd3000 are great matches. I've always been told that those three headphones needed a tube amp to shine, does everybody agree with this ? My main objective is to get a warmer sound, with the aria the rs1's highs can be a bit irritating and the cd3000's midrange sounds a bit too flat for my taste. Those two headphones are really important to me, I want them to sound at their best, I may sell the K340 but not those two.
Anyway, needed or not, I'd like to try a tube amp. My budget is not hudge, let's say around 400$ but I have no problem with looking at the FS forums or waiting a bit longer to save more money if it's really worth it. In fact, I have only one restriction : the size. I don't need something really small but I'll have to move to another country in a few months and I don't want to have an enormous amp in my luggage. A friend of mine bought a Mapletree HD2, size-wise it's the maximum acceptable for me.
The options I have considered :
- Mapletree Audio : their models are supposed to be really great with the rs1, my friend tells me it's true but I still I have to listen. Does anybody have one paired with a cd3000 ? If anybody has a link explaining the differences between their models, that'd be really great, their website is so ugly and messy...
- RSA raptor : really out of my budget, but so classy, I might be interested if a good price occured in the fs forums.
- SP PPX3 : seems really good with a wide range of headphones
- Darkvoice 337 : OMG 15kg !!!
- Little Dot : heard the 2++, it wasn't great so I'm not really confident with trying the little dot 3
- Melos SHA-1 : really tempted but too big
- earmax pro : tiny, but I find it really ugly. I know it should be only about the sound, and it usually is, but here I can't, too ugly for me.
- ArtMusic : Never heard of this brand here, but a french high end ebay retailer sells their models, and their AM650 is quite tempting, anybody tried ?
Of course I won't restrict my choice to these models, so feel free to give your opinion on what you have or have tried.
Thanks a lot
