Recomend for Solid State Amp $500 and under?

[salduchi]

I am setting up a second listening system with a mid level home receiver and Sennheiser 600's as the headphones. Was wondering If you guys can give me some good suggestions for a solid state amp for my headphones for under $500 US.
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So far I have only had a chance to listen to Creek OBH 21SE and Headroom's Little.
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Any input is appreciated
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Thanks,

Sal

 

[purk]

I highly recommend PPA amp w/ Diamond Buffer. RS SR-71 and XP-7 is also a great amp.

 

[sacd lover]

Gilmore lite with or without the upgrade power supply. The amp sounds excellent with the stock power supply for $299. If you get the upgrade power supply you get even better sound and still stay under your $500 budget.

I used the lite with the senn 650's and I really liked the combination.

 

[saturnine]

PPA+Steps+Diamond buffer. PM misterx for a price quote, he should be able to build you a nice one for ~$450.

 

[BrokenEnglish]

it also depends on the music, you'll listen to through your amp. for classical, also well recorded chamber music, jazz and acoustical music (ok - most times even for pop/electronics, but not for rock), i prefer my wna ha over my ppa all days. you could get a wna ha fully assembled and shipped for ~$400 (incl. psu) or ~$300 as a diy-kit (with all parts, psu, case, cables...).

 

[phobus]

Dont forget the M3

My current favorite. I think its in the same ballpark pricewise as the other amps mentioned.

 

[Dimitris]

Another vote for the SR-71. If you want to go portable then you cant go wrong with this.

 

[sacundim]

That's a really broad request you're making. There's lots of amps around that price range. To add one to those already mentioned: Meier HA-1 MkII.

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturnine PPA+Steps+Diamond buffer. PM misterx for a price quote, he should be able to build you a nice one for ~$450.

Agreed, this will be an awesome amp from under $500. PPA's seem to retain their resale value too.

 

[jpr703]

Another vote for the Lite. Sounds great, even without the Dedicated Power Supply.

 

[n_maher]

Another vote for the M3, the more time I spend with mine the more I'm in love :gushing:... It seems to shine with all my phones (senn, grado, ety) which I like very much. There are lots of builders that you could use, MisterX, Thrice (rockhopper), check Mall-Fi for more information and also see the M3 site there's a list of builders at the bottom of the page.

HTH,

Nate

 

[smuh]

XP-7 - Portable, changeable OPAmps + sounds great

The amp is (quite) often sold on the f/s forum much below it´s retail price.