[CanadianMaestro]

   Can imagine what the 800 is gonna do lol.

 
You're gonna need a bigger house...
 

 

[DDDamian]

   
You're gonna need a bigger house...
 

LMAO - big enough for now but with a Mainline in the works my listening areas need to expand lol.
 
This is the widest I've heard the 650's go on any of my amps. A bit more clinical/sterile than the Crack or Sex but that's tube vs SS. The detail is very good as expected. All in all a great pairing with the 650 running in balanced. No mid-bass bloom at all.

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
I too really enjoy the HD650's balanced. 
 
Mike

 

[DDDamian]

Posted in the 650 thread:
 
I'd been holding off a bit on really commenting on the HD-650 with the Bryston BHA-1 amp. I purchased the BHA-1 from a fellow Head-Fi'er via CAM because I'd heard good things about it, and wanted to try another SS amp (the Gustard H-10 was too warm with the 650's for my taste), and wanted to try going fully balanced from the Teac-UD-501 DAC to an amp and to the headphones.
 
I few cables later I was able to try this out, so here's some (scattered) thoughts:
 
- the BHA-1 is a brighter amp than the H-10 with great detail and quite neutral signature
- the SE output on it uses 1/2 of the amp circuitry, not unusual
- when I tried the SE output with the HD-800 it just didn't have the ooomph to drive 300ohm cans to their full potential, as others have noted in it's thread
- I recently received some custom balanced cables for both the 800 and 650, and the 650 was first up for a listening test, so here's the thoughts
 
- right away the soundstage opened up, very surprising since both IME and as read here the 650 is naturally on the intimate side of the soundstage spectrum
- the tonal signature of the 650 (mid-bass hump and slightly rolled-off highs) paired very well with the neutral-to-brighter BHA-1
- the resulting combo was a real pleasure. The stage was wider and less three-blobbish, the mid-bass bloom disappeared and the highs were more detailed and lively, leading to, I suspect, the increased perception of a wider stage and more air
- there is plenty of power on-tap in balanced mode to drive 300ohm cans to full potential
- detail was very good as expected with a SS amp, without being overly harsh or digital-sounding
- deeper bass was still missing as I expected as neither the 650 or the BHA-1 have much emphasis here
 
Overall it's a great pairing. I think it lacks a little of the musicality I get from my tube amps and is perhaps a bit more digital and grainy than the Crack or S.E.X. With the 650 it has a much more well-rounded or neutral sound than with the H-10, with less mid-bass but more FR balance and a wider field. I fear it may be a bit bright with the HD-800 which I'm only just warming to (pun intended) but I'll find out today.
 
I think I prefer the tube amps with the 650 over the BHA-1 for their musicality as they're more involving and a touch less analytical, but for those who prefer SS (20 year warranty!) or need a wider stage for classical or large-venue performances it's a very worthy amp. Factor in the cost of the balanced cables though or you will be disappointed.
 
In it's price-range it matches head-to-head with a Bottlehead Mainline which is supposed to be a very good tube amp and also capable of more than just high-impedance drive. I'm hoping to put that to the test sometime early in the new year.
 
Hope anyone considering this well-regarded and well-built amp finds the above useful, although it's just my opinion after perhaps 10hrs of listening time in balanced. Look forward to any thoughts from others who have tried the pairing!
 
An aside for this thread: so far the best pairing I've tried with the BHA-1 is with the LCD2.2c. The above is my thoughts with the HD-650. Next up: the HD-800.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

^ Nice overview, Damien. I agree. LCD-2.2 was my best match with BHA-1. I prefer my 650 with WA6 and Polaris; it wasn't bad with BHA-1 either, especially with my two Bryston digital sources, BDA-1 and BDP-1 (and also BCD-1 CDP). The best of all worlds, I think.

 

[DDDamian]

  ^ Nice overview, Damien. I agree. LCD-2.2 was my best match with BHA-1. I prefer my 650 with WA6 and Polaris; it wasn't bad with BHA-1 either, especially with my two Bryston digital sources, BDA-1 and BDP-1 (and also BCD-1 CDP). The best of all worlds, I think.

I'm thinking the HD-800's will be pretty bright with this amp - but my tastes are skewed to the darker side atm. Will find out today
 
The big shocker was getting a wider stage with the 650.
 
Anyone have a good source for a 1/4" stereo male TRS to a female 4-pin XLR adaptor? Wouldn't mind leaving all these balanced cables connected to their phones for a while and I'd rather switch around with an adaptor than at the headphone connections..... My google-fi is weak this morning and E-Bay just turned up some kinda flimsy looking adaptors once I narrowed the search....

 

[Gibalok]

Very confusing for me..
I have BP26/MPS2 and Gustard h10. I dont know hiw BP26 differs from BHA-1 but if the sound signature is the same i would say that BP26 doesnt power 600 ohms He560 enough to make them sound delicius (thump, deep bas, trebles and highs). But BHA has additional gain which BP26 doesnt. Gustard even with no additiinal gain drives HE560 perfectly. Very tasty.

Now TH900 is very bright with Gustard h10 even sometimes burning my brains with sparkling highs.. BP26 on the other hand is very smooth and rich. Bas is good also.

Also i demoed LCD2.2F with Gustard H10 and highs were annoying and very bright. Mids and bas were forward and very good.

So my concern is whether BhA-1 is smooth as well as BP26 to drive 25 ohms TH900?

 

[DDDamian]

Very confusing for me..
I have BP26/MPS2 and Gustard h10. I dont know hiw BP26 differs from BHA-1 but if the sound signature is the same i would say that BP26 doesnt power 600 ohms He560 enough to make them sound delicius (thump, deep bas, trebles and highs). But BHA has additional gain which BP26 doesnt. Gustard even with no additiinal gain drives HE560 perfectly. Very tasty.

Now TH900 is very bright with Gustard h10 even sometimes burning my brains with sparkling highs.. BP26 on the other hand is very smooth and rich. Bas is good also.

Also i demoed LCD2.2F with Gustard H10 and highs were annoying and very bright. Mids and bas were forward and very good.

So my concern is whether BhA-1 is smooth as well as BP26 to drive 25 ohms TH900?

Very confusing for me too
 
The Gustard H-10 was bright with the LCD2.2F? I have the 2.2c and can't consider it a bright combo at all.
 
The HE-560 is like 50ohms, not 600ohms.
 
Can't comment on the BP26 or the TH900,

 

[Gibalok]

Well you right on 50 ohms on He560 but its one the hardest to drive cans i had even comparing to HD650 which i owned previously. Mb its due to planar specifics.. TH900 is 9 am where HE560 is 2-3 pm to have the same loud..

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I'm thinking the HD-800's will be pretty bright with this amp - but my tastes are skewed to the darker side atm. Will find out today
 
The big shocker was getting a wider stage with the 650.
 
Anyone have a good source for a 1/4" stereo male TRS to a female 4-pin XLR adaptor? Wouldn't mind leaving all these balanced cables connected to their phones for a while and I'd rather switch around with an adaptor than at the headphone connections..... My google-fi is weak this morning and E-Bay just turned up some kinda flimsy looking adaptors once I narrowed the search....

Take Five Audio in ON does them all the time. Just email them.
 
Or a good electronics tech can chop and resolder an XLR connector to the HP cable. Just keep track of the amp's pin layout.
 
Male plug, front view:
 

 

[DDDamian]

 
Take Five Audio in ON does them all the time. Just email them.
 
Or a good electronics tech can chop and resolder an XLR connector to the HP cable. Just keep track of the amp's pin layout.
 
Male plug, front view:
 

Thanks - I didn't think of Take Five - on my way there now!  This is just so I can leave the balanced XLR headphone cables on while having a quick option to connect to my SE amps.  Have enough solder projects to want a pre-made on this lol.

 

[DDDamian]

Well you right on 50 ohms on He560 but its one the hardest to drive cans i had even comparing to HD650 which i owned previously. Mb its due to planar specifics.. TH900 is 9 am where HE560 is 2-3 pm to have the same loud..

The planars need good current capabilities from an amp, preferably driving at least 500mW into the 50ohm HE-560's, with closer to 1W giving you more headroom. Hifiman recommends even higher but they maybe went a little over the top in their recommendations of 1-4W. Check the specs on your amp. But if you're getting good levels at 2-3 o'clock you've got some headroom. In other words. don't worry that it's not the same level to drive different headphones. Worry about whether it drives them well without maxing out or distorting.

 

[Gibalok]

The planars need good current capabilities from an amp, preferably driving at least 500mW into the 50ohm HE-560's, with closer to 1W giving you more headroom. Hifiman recommends even higher but they maybe went a little over the top in their recommendations of 1-4W. Check the specs on your amp. But if you're getting good levels at 2-3 o'clock you've got some headroom. In other words. don't worry that it's not the same level to drive different headphones. Worry about whether it drives them well without maxing out or distorting.

Correct. The problem is to find the right amp to drive specific headphones to get the sound you love.

So what is the right amp for 25ohms TH900.. That ts the question for me.

 

[DDDamian]

Correct. The problem is to find the right amp to drive specific headphones to get the sound you love.

So what is the right amp for 25ohms TH900.. That ts the question for me.

Almost certainly a solid-state amp or a tube amp with output transformers and a very low output impedance. If they are indeed 25ohm cans (I haven't checked) they need a very low-impedance amp which is where solid-states' usually win. The low-gain setting on the BHA-1 may still be too much for them - some have had them modified for even lower gain as mine has been. This is specifically for low-impedance or very sensitive cans like IEM's and a few full headphones to reduce the noise floor and expand the usable range.
 
What do you not like now with your current pairing? If you're looking for an amp specifically for the TH900 you might be best to ask at its thread.

 

[Gibalok]

Almost certainly a solid-state amp or a tube amp with output transformers and a very low output impedance. If they are indeed 25ohm cans (I haven't checked) they need a very low-impedance amp which is where solid-states' usually win. The low-gain setting on the BHA-1 may still be too much for them - some have had them modified for even lower gain as mine has been. This is specifically for low-impedance or very sensitive cans like IEM's and a few full headphones to reduce the noise floor and expand the usable range.

What do you not like now with your current pairing? If you're looking for an amp specifically for the TH900 you might be best to ask at its thread.

Thanks for advanced details. Im seeking a smooth sound. Without sparkling highs but not mitigating the other strengths of TH900 (deep scene, punch and deep bas).

I definitely need to try BHA-1 since even BP26 is step ahead from Gustard H10 working with low impedance cans