[nbakid2000]

  You can always call bestbuy and ask for a price match. They do match with Amazon and B&H.

You absolutely could, I was just stating Best Buy's price didn't even try to compete with anyone else's. Also, Best Buy will NOT price match between Nov. 26 and Dec. 1 --- they have a "no price matching" policy during that timeframe.

 

[Invocation]

  That means it cannot drive 600 well.

 
Well, I do not have another amp to test but I do not think 600 is more difficult to drive then 650, since both are 300 ohm and the difference in driving should be quite little. And I also read some review says 600 is easier to drive than 650. The question is, if 600 do sound with narrower soundstage than 650 on my amp, how could another amp makes it sound wider than 650? I suppose if another amp really can do much work, it should improve the soundstage of both 600 and 650 and the hierarchy (of soundstage) should still remain the same...

 

[yangian]

   
Well, I do not have another amp to test but I do not think 600 is more difficult to drive then 650, since both are 300 ohm and the difference in driving should be quite little. And I also read some review says 600 is easier to drive than 650. The question is, if 600 do sound with narrower soundstage than 650 on my amp, how could another amp makes it sound wider than 650? I suppose if another amp really can do much work, it should improve the soundstage of both 600 and 650 and the hierarchy (of soundstage) should still remain the same...

That's my experience. I also have two amplifiers. On both ones, 600 sounds spacious than 650. More interesting, the one gives bigger soundstage drives 600 better and the one gives smaller soundstage drives 650 better. Then on the separated amps., soundstage on 600 is pretty spacious than 650.

BTW, they are from the same source. I have little knowledge of EE, I feel very funny. So I believe source/amplifier is very important for this two legend HD6xx. It does not mean you must have >$1000 amplidiers. Both mine amplifiers are from Taobao and <$100. Actually 600 and 650 sound gorgeous on them. Only soundstage of 650 is not big enough. It could be due to my new 650. I'll report if it has change after listening a while.

 

[Invocation]

Good idea to get an amp from Taobao. There are some really good bargains there. Any suggestions?

 

[Midgetguy]

Yo, Amazon has it 399 now, full price. Best Buy didn't even try to drop their price when Amazon had it down to 320 and 314. Their price was full up 399 consistently.

I see it on Amazon for $325 at this exact moment, though I will concede that it's one fullfilled by Amazon, not Amazon as the seller itself. Still the reality is pretty much about if you can get it with Prime shipping and you can indeed get one at $325 with Prime shipping haha.
 

   
Sorry - but you've go to stop insinuating things like this - when in reality you simply don't know.  There is no magic with this.  It is simply a matter of current and voltage swing vs impedance and sensitivity.  The HD600 is not a hard load to drive.
 
And if you looked into the specs on the Element, it can put 140 mW into 600 ohm (9.4 Vrms) and 1/2 a watt into 32 ohms - so it's basically a little powerhouse with more than enough voltage and current to handle most headphones easily.
 
I was going to comment the other day when I saw some of the things you were saying.  If you want to know how easy the HD600 is to drive, I'm sitting here with mine being powered by a tiny little Fiio X1, which only puts a tiny 8 mW into the HD600 (according to the specs), but which sounds absolutely brilliant on low gain at 60-65/100.  It doesn't sound at all under-driven.
 
Most of the time I'll use my Senns with something more powerful - but in a pinch it is amazing what will drive them.
 
You suggested that the Topping TP30 "could not drive them well" - yet it has sufficient voltage swing (10 vpp = ~ 3.5 Vrms) and will put 140 mw into 32 ohms, so at a guess, around 12-13 mW into 300 ohm. That should be enough to get them easily to 100-110 dB.
 
If you're looking for a rule of thumb - then an ideal amp output spec would be:
4-6 Vrms
15-20 mA
Around 60+ mW
That would get you all the power you'd ever need - bordering on the threshold of pain in terms of volume
 
But reality is that you can get by with a lot less 

 

+1. The science of it all tells me that my amp has 0 problems "driving" a fair number of headphones, including my HE560 (which I don't care if it says 45ohms, it's totally not 45ohms ). Rather, I think there's a disconnect in @yangian's idea of "driving well", as is possible for everyone using that phrase. I think it more appropriate to think in terms of differing sound signature effects through different amplifiers since I tend to think of "driven well" as "loud enough with no weird distortion or sound characteristics". Beyond the basic "nothing weird" mentality, I accept that they'll sound different through different DACs and amps. I'm not sure yet what makes one SS amp different from another SS amp, but I have no experience with that, hence no comment in that sense. But SS vs. tube amp definitely makes a difference.

 

[Midgetguy]

  Good idea to get an amp from Taobao. There are some really good bargains there. Any suggestions?

@yangian would probably know. I basically never buy anything from Taobao, just can't stand the wait times shipping stuff from China to the US. I'm impatient when it comes to getting new toys

.

 

[yangian]

  Good idea to get an amp from Taobao. There are some really good bargains there. Any suggestions?

I use this to drive 600. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Most-cost-effective-tube-amp-Hifi-stereo-headset-electron-tube-headphone-amplifier-HI-END-6N3-push/706070_32351987013.html
Though I have no other tube amplifier, I like this with 600 very much. Very spacious sound (I change tubes to 6080 & 5670). The maker have terminated this and only have this one:
http://tw.taobao.com/item/521285792945.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a312a.7700824.w4004-1079554681.8.PQtU29
which expensive than bofore but with worse quality. I contacted with the seller, he said the one what I bought was almost have nothing gain and he said the sound quality should better than ￥1500 tube amplifiers on Taobao. And I believe it more or less. I really like 600 on it.
I use this for 650: http://world.taobao.com/item/44767737349.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.qSCjQw#detail
http://www.mistertao.com/beta/pages/item/44767737349.html
It can drive 650 very well. Clean, clear, sweet sound. Nothing so-called veiled could be detected.

 

[yangian]

 
@yangian would probably know. I basically never buy anything from Taobao, just can't stand the wait times shipping stuff from China to the US. I'm impatient when it comes to getting new toys

.

Many of Taobao's products have sold on aliexpress. Or you can use MrTao, like this:
http://www.mistertao.com/beta/pages/item/44767737349.html
But I', not sure about shipping. On the above one, I introduced the amplifiers I'm using. I love them both for 6xx.

 

[Invocation]

Thanks! Save those in my wish list and will check them when I return to China next time. By the way, how does A6 sound with HD600? Do not really want to include a tube amp in my luggage...

 

[Midgetguy]

 
Many of Taobao's products have sold on aliexpress. Or you can use MrTao, like this:
http://www.mistertao.com/beta/pages/item/44767737349.html
But I', not sure about shipping. On the above one, I introduced the amplifiers I'm using. I love them both for 6xx.

I think they still all ship from China, which means the shipping time to the US is still gonna be unbearable haha. Since AliExpress is basically the Amazon of China and MrTao is simply Taobao with more English for international buyers, I would expect that all the shipping is from China.
 
Also, whoever makes the metal housings for Topping clearly also make them for the guys that made the amp you use for your HD650 lol. Like besides the I/O and power plug, the case is pretty much exactly the same as a Topping TP21 haha.

 

[Midgetguy]

  Thanks! Save those in my wish list and will check them when I return to China next time. By the way, how does A6 sound with HD600? Do not really want to include a tube amp in my luggage...

Well you could just buy them and ship it home if you aren't going to China in the next month or so. Like I said, I think AliExpress has international shipping. MrTao probably is the same way as I consider it the translated site for Taobao that has just enough stuff in English for someone who doesn't read Chinese to buy the right thing in the right quantity and ship it. Because why would Taobao need a site with English and USD as the main currency displayed if the people buying from it are all in China anyway? Hence, the co-existence of Taobao and MrTao; one is purely for China and the other is for someone who's just barely able to understand enough on the page to click buy and ship to someplace that isn't China.

 

[yangian]

  Thanks! Save those in my wish list and will check them when I return to China next time. By the way, how does A6 sound with HD600? Do not really want to include a tube amp in my luggage...

Pretty good! But it match 650 better. Sometimes, it can sound dry with A6. But that might be due to I've been used to 600 with the tube one.
That's ok if you pack well. I brough that tube one from China in the luggage.

 

[yangian]

  I think they still all ship from China, which means the shipping time to the US is still gonna be unbearable haha. Since AliExpress is basically the Amazon of China and MrTao is simply Taobao with more English for international buyers, I would expect that all the shipping is from China.
 
Also, whoever makes the metal housings for Topping clearly also make them for the guys that made the amp you use for your HD650 lol. Like besides the I/O and power plug, the case is pretty much exactly the same as a Topping TP21 haha.

Oh, yeah. that's funny.

 

[yangian]

 
Well you could just buy them and ship it home if you aren't going to China in the next month or so. Like I said, I think AliExpress has international shipping. MrTao probably is the same way as I consider it the translated site for Taobao that has just enough stuff in English for someone who doesn't read Chinese to buy the right thing in the right quantity and ship it. Because why would Taobao need a site with English and USD as the main currency displayed if the people buying from it are all in China anyway? Hence, the co-existence of Taobao and MrTao; one is purely for China and the other is for someone who's just barely able to understand enough on the page to click buy and ship to someplace that isn't China.

psychologically, I cannot accept the shpping has similar amount with the price of the products.

 

[Midgetguy]

  psychologically, I cannot accept the shpping has similar amount with the price of the products.

Is it the same price to ship to China as it is to ship internationally when buying something on AliExpress or MrTao? Cuz I'd find that hard to believe. Though with that said, I've seen stuff listed on US sites that ship from China and it's free shipping, just takes a few weeks. Still dunno how they can't be losing money with shipping costs. International shipping is expensive!