[Akheel saleh]

Hi

i am planing on getting a Grado sr 325i and want to know whats the best dac/amp combo for the cans.my budget is $500 and priority goes to sound quality.

thank you

 

[UncleFestive]

You should take a look at the Audio GD Fun here. I have the Compass and love it. The Fun is an upgrade to the Compass. It sounds great, its flexible, has fantastic build quality and is right in your price range.

 

[eucariote]

Don't know much about amps/dacs, but you should be aware that the 325s are extremely bright headphones, so your sources should complement that well. Look for dac/amps that are warm or can be tuned (like a tube amp which can be rolled or opamps that can be swapped). For example my D10 with stock opamps is bright, which which my SR225 (which are less bright than the 325s) sounded like razor blades in my ears. The warm udac sounded much better, as would different opamps for the D10 (which would set me back another $50-100).

 

[J.Pocalypse]

If you're a "newbie", why spend over $250 for headphones? I spent $80 at Best Buy for my HD 428s, and $99 on Amazon for my uDAC. IMO, it sounds fantastic.. Just because something is expensive, doesn't mean it'll sound good to your ears.

</$.02>

 

[Akheel saleh]

becasue i want to make a one time investment in a good headphone.
the grado sr 325i has been proclaimed one of the best value for money headphones(after the sr60i)

 

[eucariote]

Doing a search for "dac amp for grado 325" was a treasure trove of information. Consider also reading the long thread on the SR325 owner's club , which will take patience but they often discuss well-matched dac/amps for the headphones (p. 6, etc etc).