new to headphone amps
Jun 20, 2002 at 10:34 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7

reckngball

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I have a few questions that I'm hoping someone out there can help me with. I'm new to this forum and I'm looking to purchase my first headphone amp (~$300 price range). I have a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones. I was looking at the MF XCans V2; Creek OBH11; or Meier-Audio Corda HA-1 amps, but am open to suggestions.

My questions:
1) from reading some of the posts in this forum, is it reasonable to suggest that the Creek may drive the HD600s better when listening to rock, while the XCANS perform better with jazz and classical? how does the HA-1 compare to these two?

2) where can I find the MF XCANS V2 for sale? does anyone know a few online/mailorder dealers?

3) does anyone have any better suggestions for amps (~$300) to use with the HD600s...I have a wide variety of musical tastes, from jazz to acoustic music to hard rock...I also heard the Grado amps work well with HD600s

thanks for any replies
Dan
reckngball@aol.com
 
Jun 21, 2002 at 2:50 AM Post #2 of 7
hi reckngball

i thought i replied to your post earlier....hmmm....

well....a good place to look for amps on sale is the gear for sale/trade forum.....

also....i can recommend tangent...there are also others on the forum who build amps....

i have seen many good amps on ebay....

the best thing to do is if you can try out amps...i know..it not an option for everyone......

anyways, hope i helped..
ray
 
Jun 21, 2002 at 8:02 AM Post #4 of 7
Quote:

is it reasonable to suggest that the Creek may drive the HD600s better when listening to rock, while the XCANS perform better with jazz and classical?


I have no personal experience with the X-Cans or Creek, but based on what I have read, I would say that the Creek is a more well rounded amp, and the X-Cans, being how they are a hybrid tube amp, may be better at classical. Some believe the X-Cans and Creek are decent amps for their price, but that noticably better sound can be achieved with amps like the MG Head or Little (which are not too much more expensive).

The Corda is a solid state amp, and one of it's major benefits is the crossfeed circuitry. If you haven't heard of this, it is a way of processing the sound to produce a larger soundstage. The effectiveness of this varies from person to person, some really like it, others find it takes away from the sound. The Little also features crossfeed, and the majority of people find Headroom's crossfeed circuit superior to the Corda.

If you listen to a variety of music, I'd suggest you get a solid state amp. The Headroom Little is a good choice in your price range. It's also quite upgradable.

The thing with tube amps is that they provide an exceptional midrange (important for classical and vocal). Some would say that they are not as well rounded as solid state amps, and not as versatile. Personally, I like the sound of tubes, but I generally listen to classical or opera, so tubes suit me well.
 
Jun 21, 2002 at 11:18 AM Post #5 of 7
Quote:

Originally posted by markjia
I have no personal experience with the X-Cans or Creek, but based on what I have read, I would say that the Creek is a more well rounded amp, and the X-Cans, being how they are a hybrid tube amp, may be better at classical. Some believe the X-Cans and Creek are decent amps for their price, but that noticably better sound can be achieved with amps like the MG Head or Little (which are not too much more expensive).


Don't get me wrong here, i'm not disagreeing with you markjia, but it really does seem that since my tube transplant last week, that my X-Can V2 does seem a real good all rounder...

There is now NO genre of music that I listen to (of which I have many) that upsets the 'phones or the amp...

A typical example (although one that i'm ashamed to admit) was the other day, when I listened to The Prodigy, and then straight after Leanne Rimes; neither of which showed the other one up... very good, and something i've never noticed before
 
Jun 22, 2002 at 5:28 PM Post #6 of 7
The Creeks will not drive the HD600's in my experience.
The Xcans would be a better match.

They can be had at Acoustic Sounds.

Acoustic Sounds website link
 
Jun 24, 2002 at 2:03 AM Post #7 of 7
I was doing the same research a few weeks ago and ended up getting the corda ha1. (due next week:) )You could search the threads I started to get the many responses on best amp and who likes crossfeed.
I may end up getting a tube amp also. Possibly a maple or?
I have st70 tube amp and Mac C20 bi amp in my main set up.
Nick Dangerous has a great idea to search the threads.
Nick also has a pretty cool web site on tube rolling.
 

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