[krswen]

Hi .... Ken here.  I just found this site a few days ago and have been busy reading to try to build knowledge about what is becoming a new hobby.

I don't pretend to have audiophile hearing.  Just turned 65 with way too many years around jet engines and Harley-Davidsons, but I very much enjoy classical music and would like to maximize my listening pleasure with good equipment.

My source at home is a gaming computer I had built last year with a Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card which has both headphone and optical out.  Naturally the computer has numerous USB ports.

At work I have an HP Z400 workstation, alas with only an onboard sound chip and a single audio line out connection on the back (and a collection of USB ports on the back and front).

My cans are Senn HD600 and ATH W5000.

Right now I'm listening to the W5000's (still breaking in) playing new classical CD's using foobar2000v1.1.1 with the Michael Rhoades crossfeed (stock settings).

I've read that I'd be best off coming out of the computer(s) at highest volume and through an amp/dac.  I'm still learning about the best chain of devices.

With a budget of about $1500 what would you recommend?

 

[Alu]

Alright mate, welcome to head-fi.
 
I'd say your headphones would go along very nicely with the meier-audio products. Considering that you're using a software crossfeed, I think you would be quite pleased with the highly regarded meier crossfeed in his amps.
While I don't spend a lot of time listening to classical music, I have a couple of albums that sound absolutely stunning through my Symphony. I really enjoy the amazing soundstage it provides with the HD650.
 
So what I'd recommend would be a combination of the Corda Stagedac (DAC) and the Corda Concerto (AMP). The DAC has both, coax and optical inputs, as well a USB input.
 
He's selling both of them together for 1240USD.
 
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/
 
I sound like a shill for meier, but I really do enjoy the products he makes. From the Aria I used a while back to this more recent one.
Great synergy with Sennheiser's headphones. I can't tell you how they perform with the ATH W5000, but I can't see that sort of rig being bad at all.
 
This is just an idea of course, and I'm sure you'll get many other suggestions.

 

[krswen]

Thanks for the welcome and quick response!  I just discovered the thread FallenAngel started on how the digital/analog chain goes together (along with the wonderful visuals BradJudy added).  What a great resource to help a beginner like me get "untangled"!
Now I have a better idea of what to shop for.
I'm sure this has been discussed at length, but with my two cans, what would others think about a Yamamoto HA -02 for the amp?  I'm old enough to remember tubes and they hold a certain charm.

 

[ardgedee]

You should keep an eye on the meets/get togethers board and see if anything's being organized near you. It's a fantastic way to try out different equipment and talk with people about music and gear.
 
I like tube amps too, but a good solid-state amp will sound better than a mediocre tube amp... You should also note that any given amplifier is not necessarily going to be optimal for the cans you have. This isn't even a matter of mixing dark-sounding and light-sounding to get a balanced tone, it's a matter of having an amp is sufficient to meet a headphone's needs for power, current, and output impedance. Some very good, very expensive equipment can still make certain headphones sound awful; they were simply not made for each other.
 
Browse around and look at reviews of amplifiers. Reviewers will normally itemize all the equipment in their test setup, and report on which of their headphones sound better with given equipment than others will. Some prolific reviewers, such as Skylab, have aggregation posts that link to all their reviews on a particular topic (eg, tube amps, portable amps). Similarly, if there are any reviews of the headphones you have, the reviewers will report which of their amps made the phones sound best.

 

[krswen]

Alu ...... in looking at Meier's site it's not clear to me how the Stagedac and Concerto combination differs significantly from the Symphony.  They're priced about the same.  True, separate components would give me more future flexibility, but if I don't choose to go with a tube amp, wouldn't the Symphony be as good a choice?  Less desk clutter too.
 
Thoughts?

 

[Alu]

Quote:

Alu ...... in looking at Meier's site it's not clear to me how the Stagedac and Concerto combination differs significantly from the Symphony.  They're priced about the same.  True, separate components would give me more future flexibility, but if I don't choose to go with a tube amp, wouldn't the Symphony be as good a choice?  Less desk clutter too.
 
Thoughts?

Oh, of course. The only reason I recommended the combo was because I didn't see that the Symphony was still up for sale. Got mine from a fellow head-fier.
For some reason I thought that it used to be at the very bottom of the page. Sorted from lowest to highest price.
 
Jan himself also states in the Concerto's description that it has slight improvements over the Symphony. How slight they are, I have no clue.
 
But yeah, I'm definitely happy with the Symphony. I can only talk about the amp part though, since I use my CDP's DAC at the moment. When I first considered this amp/dac combo I generally didn't come across a lot of feedback.
One thing that was talked about in a Symphony thread was that the volume levels tend to be rather low in general.
Now, personally, I don't find this at all. Even leaving my gain switch on low, it gives me more than enough volume (knob set halfway between lowest possible and highest possible).
I also think that the version 2 model of the Symphony ironed out those "problems".
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/353839/corda-symphony-info-and-impressions/
 
So I'd say the Symphony would be a decent choice.

 

[krswen]

OK, I have a Meier Symphony on order.  I'd like to get a single cd player for use in the bedroom.  Would a Marantz CD5004 be suitable with the Symphony?  Does it have line out to bypass the internal DAC/amp so the Symphony can do all the signal conditioning?
 
How about an Emotiva ERC-1?
 
Or are there more recommendations for a player?  Would like to stay under $500.
 
Ken