[Dhw]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking here for a bit and am really impressed with the forum. It's nice to see how well people get along here (ever read the postings on imdb.com? Brutal!). I just picked up a pair of HD-580s online (I used froogle.com and found them for $149 with shipping), and am looking into picking up a dedicated amp for them. I'm not really looking to spend more than $225 on it...less would be preferable (Tax returns were good this year...Uncle Sam apparently isn't quite ready to take my money yet...he'll get his fill with my student loans though).

Right now I'm just plugging them into a Marantz SR4300 A/V receiver which is hooked up to a Marantz CC4300 five-disc changer. I like the laid back sound of the headphones (I bought them to help me relax a bit more what with law school and all), but a slight boost of forwardness would be welcome if possible. I haven't had the opportunity to try any dedicated amps out yet (I tried HD-580s through a NAD amplifier in a hi-fi shop and that sounded pretty damn good), but what I've read about the Rega Ear and the OBH-11 make me think that either would be a decent choice. I'd love the chance to give one of these a thorough listen, but as you all know (except perhaps for the most golden-eared of you), it can be difficult to realize how good or bad something is just by listening to it for a short time in an audio shop. From my understanding, I should notice a decent difference in sound quality from what I'm hearing through my Marantz with a headphone amp in its place. Any opinions on these options? Thanks!

-Doug-

 

[PeterR]

The OBH-11 is considered a bad choice with the Sennheisers:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102389

 

[Dhw]

Wow, I thought I'd read every thread on the subject here, the last being the favorable review of the OBH-11 with HD600s by blr. Thanks for the link PeterR, I'll take that into consideration. Any alternatives you'd recommend? I know that sometimes what is "good" can be rather subjective, but often what "is miserably awful" can be agreed upon more readily!

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhw Hey everyone, I've been lurking here for a bit and am really impressed with the forum. It's nice to see how well people get along here (ever read the postings on imdb.com? Brutal!). I just picked up a pair of HD-580s online (I used froogle.com and found them for $149 with shipping), and am looking into picking up a dedicated amp for them. I'm not really looking to spend more than $225 on it...less would be preferable (Tax returns were good this year...Uncle Sam apparently isn't quite ready to take my money yet...he'll get his fill with my student loans though). Right now I'm just plugging them into a Marantz SR4300 A/V receiver which is hooked up to a Marantz CC4300 five-disc changer. I like the laid back sound of the headphones (I bought them to help me relax a bit more what with law school and all), but a slight boost of forwardness would be welcome if possible. I haven't had the opportunity to try any dedicated amps out yet (I tried HD-580s through a NAD amplifier in a hi-fi shop and that sounded pretty damn good), but what I've read about the Rega Ear and the OBH-11 make me think that either would be a decent choice. I'd love the chance to give one of these a thorough listen, but as you all know (except perhaps for the most golden-eared of you), it can be difficult to realize how good or bad something is just by listening to it for a short time in an audio shop. From my understanding, I should notice a decent difference in sound quality from what I'm hearing through my Marantz with a headphone amp in its place. Any opinions on these options? Thanks! -Doug-

I used to own the rega ear with my 580s, I also own a nad integrated amp, and the rega ear is very much the same, so if you liked that sound, then its a good choice.

 

[Dhw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmo I used to own the rega ear with my 580s, I also own a nad integrated amp, and the rega ear is very much the same, so if you liked that sound, then its a good choice.

Asmo, that sounds like a promising comparison. I got the Marantz receiver assuming that I would be working soon after college and would in the next few years hopefully setup a basic surround sound system of some sort...nothing amazing...but music is my life so I would scrimp and save for the additional pieces. Now that I'm back in school, and living in a shoebox-sized apartment with no room for such a system, I've considered upgrading just the audio aspects (I'm not a huge movie buff anyway) and maybe trading in the receiver for a stereo amplifier. Do you use just the NAD now to power your HD580s? (btw, nice speakers...I have the Reference/20s)

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhw Asmo, that sounds like a promising comparison. I got the Marantz receiver assuming that I would be working soon after college and would in the next few years hopefully setup a basic surround sound system of some sort...nothing amazing...but music is my life so I would scrimp and save for the additional pieces. Now that I'm back in school, and living in a shoebox-sized apartment with no room for such a system, I've considered upgrading just the audio aspects (I'm not a huge movie buff anyway) and maybe trading in the receiver for a stereo amplifier. Do you use just the NAD now to power your HD580s? (btw, nice speakers...I have the Reference/20s)

Yes I use the 352 for my 580s, I recnetly upgraded from the 320BEE (I'm selling it in the forums here), both provide good quality for the sennheiser series. Studio 20s are awesome, good taste hehe.

 

[Dhw]

Any opinions (anyone) as to what might be some other options besides the Rega Ear that I should look into? I'm sure there are more than a few HD580 owners out there...

<----- me right now

 

[Enverxis]

MG Head OTL 32 would be an ok choice