[SmoothSound]

I like what I have been reading about mapletree's 2 headphone amps and Woo Audio's 3+ and the 6. Looking to stay around that $500 +/-. To be used with Senn 650's. I listen to mostly classical so a dead quiet backround is important to me. Some jazz and rock but nothing too crazy. I tend to listen at rather low volumes. Any suggestions are there better choices out there. Oh yeah I like lots of air and big soundstage. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[vcoheda]

not sure which is the better amp, but there is a maple tree in the FS forum for a good price.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...ghlight=purist

 

[LoweArt]

I have heard good things about the Woo Audio kit, but my personal experience is with MAD !

I have built and owned my MAD Ear + puirst Customer for over 3 yrs and it never falls to make me smile when ever I put on some music and my Sennie HD650's ! My musical tastes span from Classical to Big Band Swing to Motown to Rock to Folk to Pop.

I have also built two other MAD Ear's for friends who mainly use it for classical and they always have praised how much more they enjoy headphone listening because of the Ear ( both use to have older STAX headspeakers but now have Sennie HD580 and HD600 ).

I can't ever imagine parting with my MAD

 

[slwiser]

Woo Woo all the way....upgraded 6 would be my choice between these but even a 6 would exceed you budget but you could have this modified at any time in the future when funds increase to get to the upgraded 6.

 

[sacd lover]

I have had a couple Ear+ amps and the Woo 6. I would take the Woo 6 with senns; the Ear+ with Grados. But, even so, I didnt think the stock 6 was that special. I would look for a used PPX3 SLAM. The SLAM is a noticeably better overall amp with Senns or Grados.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would look for a used PPX3 SLAM. The SLAM is a noticeably better overall amp with Senns or Grados.

Yer really not helping my current situation here.

.....or maybe you are.

 

[Zorander]

To be poor but oh so happy.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander /img/forum/go_quote.gif To be poor but oh so happy.

....as always; my wallet has veto power, and a search through the FS forum did nothing to help calm it down.

 

[Kahuna]

I have fully modified WA6 (cans are HD650's) and can tell you that this set-up just sings! (FWIW, I listen to similar music as you as well). Between music passages, the amp is so quiet, you would swear it wasn't on... (I would love to A/B it with Mapletree as well as other amps to hear how it stacks up against them, but I personally couldn't be happier with the set-up as it is...)

 

[Rav]

FWIW my Mapletree HD2 is totally silent between songs with my 32 ohm Grado RS1s, so with Senns (300 ohm iirc?) it'll be fine.

 

[cstan]

Not to hijack the thread, but is the HD2 and stock WA6 much better then the Darkvoice 332, or is the 332 in the same league as them...

thx

-carl

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cstan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to hijack the thread, but is the HD2 and stock WA6 much better then the Darkvoice 332, or is the 332 in the same league as them... thx -carl

Good question. I'm looking at maybe buying WA6(or GS-1) completely stock as it's a budget-buster already. With the thoughts of adding the upgrades maybe a year later. But if it sounds OK in stock form, maybe I can get back to feeding the kids a bit earlier.

 

[Bozz_Keren]

@F107plus5
how about MAD Ear+, they have great synergy with grado/alessandro

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bozz_Keren /img/forum/go_quote.gif @F107plus5 how about MAD Ear+, they have great synergy with grado/alessandro

Yup; I've looked at them too! Even thought about going with a kit. I used to be pretty good at soldering....a few years back. Now I'd probably burn my nose getting in there to see better!

For a number of more personal reasons that don't necessarily make total sense, I've narrowed it down to WA6 or GS-1. And they both have upgrade paths as well. There are so many different amps that have so many good points in common that it's really difficult to pick just one without venturing into areas that don't even have anything to do with sound.

 

[Bozz_Keren]

if i'm going to tube path, it's gonna be like this
1. Darkvoice 332i
2. MAD Ear+ Hd Purist
3. Singlepower PPX Slam

or SS, i've only wanted Corda Opera