[xerx]

Im new to all these, so please be a little patient.

Im interested in getting a head amp soon. Its gonna be either CMOY with x-feed, CHA47 or Altoids for my HP890.

My question is simple. What is the characteristics of each of the above amp and which do you like most? Im using a low impedence headphone now, but if I were going to one with higher impedence (eg. DT531 or HD580), will the amp still power them up nicely?

Thanks In Advance

 

[Duncan]

From what I know 120ohms is the 'generic standard' for Headphones...

More than 120ohms, and you'll have to turn up the volume a little more to get the volume... whereas less than 120ohms, depending on whether the unit is solid state, or valves - you might make the amp clip (run out of power) if you use the 'phones too loudly...

If i'm wrong, somebody will come behind me and tie things up

 

[xerx]

^Bump^

 

[jodokast]

Ask JMT for details. He can tailor each individual amp to your needs. If I were you though, this is what I would go for:

Get CMOY, check out how x-feed works. See if you enjoy it, yada yada.

When you do eventually upgrade to a higher-end headphone (and if it is indeed high impedance), you'll most likely end up buying a new headphone amp anyways.

If you're buying a high-end headphone, you might as well buy a decent amp for it as well. (for home listening). From what I've heard, CHA 47 sounds great for portable use!

Depending on how you like the sound of CMOY and the x-feed, you'll now have a better idea of what kind of amp you want for your new higher-end cans.

 

[kelly]

The CMOY amps have Jan Meier's crossfeed circuit. From what I've read on the forum, a lot of people have a strong preference for the Jan Meier or the Headroom crossfeed. I'm not sure liking or disliking one or the other makes you more or less prone to like or dislike the other. So I'm not sure hearing the CMOY would, for example, tell you whether or not you should be considering some of the other amps that include crossfeed.

If I end up liking the Headroom crossfeed more than the Meier crossfeed, I may end up buying a Static from Headroom to put in the chain with whatever other amp (including Stax!) I may own in the future. If, on the other hand, I prefer the Meier circuit, I may end up building or asking someone else to build for me a box that does only the Meier crossfeed.