[strangedaze39]

Ok so I'm on a tight budget seeing I recently lost my job, so I have 350usd tops to play with. Although the less I have to spend the better in my situation.

Currently I own a pair of Aless' Music Series 1's that are beat to nothing, so these aren't going to cut it anymore. The cans before they were beat up were lovely and I enjoyed the sound they gave me except they have a small soundstage I believe thats what you guys call it. I'm running them through my DFI ALC885 onboard soundcard into my M-Audio Studio Pro 3 Ref speakers that have a internal amp, then lastly into the MS1's. Yeah gross.

So I figured I need to change 2 things for sure. 350usd
1. My soundcard is getting traded out for a alien dac I'm building. 40usd
2. My headphones ?
3. Bonus would be a SOHA tube amp. 80usd

That leaves me with 230usd for my headphones, that is expecting I buy the Soha amp.

Questions, and Concerns.

1. I would like a wide soundstage.

2. If I bought a pair of SR125's or SR225's and turned them into woodys basically cloning the look of the RS-1 and increased air flow would I get similar results as the RS-1 ?

3. I'm very interested in the K701's as well would my soha kit from Glass Jar Audio be able to power these ?

4. Not sure about the HD580 but heard that they're the same as the HD600 and people love them, so they are a potential canidate.

5. Should I save the 80 dollars from the SOHA kit because it wont matter in quality as much as a different upgrade would be ? BTW I have a old yamaha late 70's stereo amp that works well that I could use. Along with the M-Audio SP3 amp.

I am open to any suggestions, thank you for your time as I am sure you guys are sick of these kind of threads.

 

[-=Germania=-]

get the job first......

 

[strangedaze39]

I said I have 350 dollars to spend. Why do I need a job first ?

BTW I thought about it and I'm kinda leaning toward a SR225 Woody Mod and possible recable. Or maybe the SR125.

 

[ericj]

Because when you're jobless you should hold onto your cash in case you don't get a job and you need to pay rent for example.

 

[troymadison]

If I were you I'd just buy whatever the hell I want and put it all on credit cards if you have to. Lol free money...

 

[troymadison]

I'd get either grado or akg. Can't really go wrong there I guess... I didn't fancy the HD650/HD580.

 

[tangsta]

if you are looking for a very wide soundstage the sr series isnt the way to go. unless you really like the grado sound, i'd suggest choosing another headphone for the soundstage quality

 

[strangedaze39]

Just to clarify. I'm not going to starve or be homeless if I spend all my cash today. I'm currently in college and do not have bills thankfully for now or even for a couple more years.

Any thoughts on the SOHA amp idea ? Tangsta what other headphone would you suggest ?

 

[buddha911]

Um... Don't you also need enclosures for the amp and DAC? That's gonna be more money out of your pocket

. BTW, Welcome to Head-fi, sorry about your wallet. (Man, I always wanted to say that

)

 

[ericj]

The SOHA is nice but SOHA 1 lacks output power except when coupled with a buffer that you can't just buy.

SOHA 2 is on it's way. No ETA yet, but it's coming.

 

[strangedaze39]

Quote:

Originally Posted by buddha911 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Um... Don't you also need enclosures for the amp and DAC? That's gonna be more money out of your pocket . BTW, Welcome to Head-fi, sorry about your wallet. (Man, I always wanted to say that )

HAHA well I'm glad you finally got to use that saying, As for an enclosure I'm just going to make one out of spare birch wood I have laying around or a old cigar box.

Eric you were saying that the SOHA's are nice but wouldn't help much ?

And what matters most are the phones being Affordable, and sounding A+ for music like Bjork, Radiohead, Jimmy Hendrix, Classical, and Beatles ect.

 

[ast]

for wide sound stage, you should consider SONY SA5000. Once in a while they pop up in the For Sale section for a little over $200 or even less. K701 has wide sound stage but the sound is so 'artificial' and you probably won't like them coming from Grado.

 

[Kryton]

I'd consider putting all cash on headphones. I picked Senns 650 for $310.00. Then made do with a basic portable amp to boost my ipod on the road at $119.00 (I know this is over budget). In six months I will replace the amp with a tube version, but love the Senn 650's headphones.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangedaze39 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Eric you were saying that the SOHA's are nice but wouldn't help much ? .

No, just saying that digi01's soha board is mere weeks from obsolescence.