[nnordstr]

Hello All,

I found this forum a while back and have been spending more and more time on it. Lots of good info all around. I hope this thread is the right place to post my question.

I have a modest budget and don't want to call too much attention to things at home and I am looking for some good starting points to help me set up a new system. I plan on using a dedicated CD player as the main source and running it through a digital analog converter from the CD player's digital output. Then I'd like to find a solid headphone amplifier that can power some older Austrian made AKG 240's and the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX's. I would occasionally like to use some of my (way too) extensive collection of IEM's. Maybe eventually I would like to give planar magnetic headphones a try, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I like accuracy and would probably prefer solid state amplification, though I could see myself taking a flyer on tube amplification. Something like the Schiit Lyr 2 would be perfect for what I think I am looking for but would blow my projected budget, and then some.

I've been searching through the for sale/trade forums but would like to focus my search a bit. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cossix]

What is your budget? Magni 2 and Modi 2 is a great stack to have. It'll drive IEMs and planars just fine!

 

[Monsterzero]

Headphones like the older K240s are 600 ohms and need some decent amping,as does the HD650.

Home stereo receivers can drive these HPs well,especially older vintage receivers(pre-1980).They also have enough power to give planar headphones the juice many of them like/need.Your IEMs however wont work with those.

If youre wanting for desktop or smaller footprint than a full blown amp/receiver you can check into some of The Schiit products as suggested above.There are certainly other companies out there that make decent amps as well,but Schiit is quite popular around here and hold their re-sale value pretty well.

Typically headphones like the HD650,K240s scale quite well with better amping,so while the Schiit Magni might drive both,youre not coming close to reaching full potential on your HP investment.

 

[buke9]

Well one that will run the K240's and HD-6xx's with ease is a Bottlehead Crack but it want play well with iem's though. I have yet to hear the 650/6xx's sound better than from a Crack.

 

[dudlew]

Hello,

So from your post, this is what I gather:

1) You have a CD player already
2) You own the AKG 240 and Senn 6xx

You need a DAC and an amp or a DAC/amp unit.

So what we need from you is your budget and maybe a bit more of an idea as to your sound preferences and what you listen to. Maybe a modi Multibit and a Jotenheim without DAC could be in your cards?

 

[nnordstr]

Thanks for the ideas.

My budget is in the $250 range right now, but it could be pushed over a bit with a compelling reason. I don't want to put too much into it if I don't end up using it as much as I plan to.

 

[nnordstr]

Oh, and I prefer a neutral balanced sound profile. I've never listened to a tube amp so I'm not sure what I would think of it.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hello All,

I found this forum a while back and have been spending more and more time on it. Lots of good info all around. I hope this thread is the right place to post my question.

I have a modest budget and don't want to call too much attention to things at home and I am looking for some good starting points to help me set up a new system. I plan on using a dedicated CD player as the main source and running it through a digital analog converter from the CD player's digital output. Then I'd like to find a solid headphone amplifier that can power some older Austrian made AKG 240's and the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX's. I would occasionally like to use some of my (way too) extensive collection of IEM's. Maybe eventually I would like to give planar magnetic headphones a try, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I like accuracy and would probably prefer solid state amplification, though I could see myself taking a flyer on tube amplification. Something like the Schiit Lyr 2 would be perfect for what I think I am looking for but would blow my projected budget, and then some.

I've been searching through the for sale/trade forums but would like to focus my search a bit. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

If those K240s are the 600ohm version look into the Bifrost and Valhalla2 instead of the Lyr2. OTL amps like the Valhalla make more power at 300ohms (and even at 600ohms) than at 32ohms.

Otherwise, if you're planning on using low impedance headphones, but still want to get overkill voltage output, try Violectric. The V200 and up can be ordered with a DAC module built in, although due to space constraints you're limited to one kind of digital input.

 

[nnordstr]

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping for something a bit on the less expensive side to try, but you make some good points. I'm not going to find a silver bullet if I want to properly drive the bigger cans and not overpower the IEMS.