[witness]

i am looking amp for my grado rs1. With little dot mki+ some shrillness in high freq. I guess i need to get a tube model. My budget is 200-250 dollar.
Which is better for grado rs1? hifiman ef2 or little dot mkiii? or is there any amp better than both of them for 200-250 dollar

 

[DarKu]

mk III will be worse that mk I+ driving low impedance phones.
I would get a used Gilmore lite, a lot better than both you listed.
I never understand why people choose a high-end headphone and mediocre ( at it's best) amp??
Also what is your source? the source it is the most important thing in your audio chain

 

[apatN]

FWIW I don't think the MKIV SE is a good match with my Alessandros. I would look in a different way than that of the MKIII.

 

[witness]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarKu /img/forum/go_quote.gif mk III will be worse that mk I+ driving low impedance phones. I would get a used Gilmore lite, a lot better than both you listed. I never understand why people choose a high-end headphone and mediocre ( at it's best) amp?? Also what is your source? the source it is the most important thing in your audio chain

There is a simple explanation

I bought rs1 with hire-purchase. But as you know a good amp costs more then 500 dollar and cash. It's too much to effort for a student.
By the way i am using sansa fuze with line-out dock. Do you think is that source enough? If it's not then maybe i should buy a good dac instead of tube-amp,what's your idea

Anyway,is there anyone who use ef2 or mkiii with grado rs1?

Thanks,

 

[witness]

i have added YULONG DAH1 MARKII and ibasso d10 to my list.

Which one is the best option for rs1? All i want clean sound without sibilance. It really disturbs me especially in classical music.

Should i get a dac such as YULONG DAH1 MARKII or ibasso d10 instead of sansa fuze with line out dock+tube amp combo or is the solution having tube amp for shrillness.?
Help please..

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarKu /img/forum/go_quote.gif mk III will be worse that mk I+ driving low impedance phones. I would get a used Gilmore lite, a lot better than both you listed. I never understand why people choose a high-end headphone and mediocre ( at it's best) amp?? Also what is your source? the source it is the most important thing in your audio chain

I do not know if you have listened to the EF2 specially driving the Grado RS-1. I have, and the EF2 is not "mediocre (at it's best) amp". Quite the contrary I found that for under $200 Amp/DAC it was a very nice sounding combo, more so w/ a pair of NOS tubes.

 

[witness]

is there anyone who can compare YULONG DAH1 MARKII ,ibasso d10 and ef2?
As i understand ef2 is a good choice for rs1 also mkiii is too much for lower impedance headphones such as grado.

So should i go with tube rolled ef2? Also is YULONG DAH1 MARKII worth 120 dollar more?
Actually i liked d10 because it can be used portable (for phonak pfe). I found a seller on ebay here the link:
MINI-AUDIO iBasso D10 Cobra DAC AMPLIFIER AMP SKU97 - eBay (item 330355177833 end time Sep-24-09 22:48:41 PDT)
But as i said i need comparison between these dacs.

I really need help..

 

[yukihiro]

I personally think you should get a decent DAC. The Fuze through the line out is okay, but most standalone DACs should sound better. I don't have an RS1, but I'm currently using the EF2 (w/ Raytheon tubes) with my SR325i and I think it sounds pretty good. I tried the Fuze line out to the EF2 and I found the EF2's DAC to be superior. The D10 DAC will be better than the EF2. From memory, the amp section of the D10 and EF2 sound very different. From what I remember, the D10 will be more analytical and not as warm as the EF2. Although I liked both with my 325i's, I prefer the EF2.

 

[koven]

ive had both and also the gilmore lite.. if you have a decent source, i think the mkiii does sound better than the ef2 with my sr225.. the gilmore lite seemed to have a lot of synergy with the grados but it wont sound as warm compared to the mkiii or ef2

 

[MadMan007]

Maybe this is off but I wouldn't suggest a portable amp unless you know you want it to be portable. There are generally going to be compromises at a given price point versus a nonportable. Someone is going to post an exception of course but

 

[witness]

Thanks for the answers,i guess buying ef2 for 190 dollar is best choice for me.