Now if only there were a ‘high’ or ‘high / low” impedance class A solid-state h/p/a. The Beyerdynamic A2 is 0 ohm / 100 ohm but does not appear to operate in class A…
I have a 10-year-old Burson HA-160 amp that has high gain and low gain outputs; it's solid state and 100% Class A. It handle HD-600's quite well, in addition to the other good headphones I own (AKG K-702, Focal Clear OG). It has a stepped attenuator instead of a smooth volume control, which some people don't like. It had become very noisy when changing levels, but the fix was quick and DIY.
I have a 10-year-old Burson HA-160 amp that has high gain and low gain outputs; it's solid state and 100% Class A. It handle HD-600's quite well, in addition to the other good headphones I own (AKG K-702, Focal Clear OG). It has a stepped attenuator instead of a smooth volume control, which some people don't like. It had become very noisy when changing levels, but the fix was quick and DIY.
I have several Burson Class A amps, ranging from a Soloist SL to a Conductor Virtuoso V2, for my various 300 ohm Senns. Sufficient power is not remotely an issue for any of them. However, interestingly, and sometimes to my annoyance (who doesn’t want their newest and most expensive toy to work best), the Soloist SL and the HA-160 DS, sometimes seem to hit the musical bullseye more squarely with the HD600 than their newer/more robust cousins. Probably time to sell one and try the bottlehead.
I have several Burson Class A amps, ranging from a Soloist SL to a Conductor Virtuoso V2, for my various 300 ohm Senns. Sufficient power is not remotely an issue for any of them. However, interestingly, and sometimes to my annoyance (who doesn’t want their newest and most expensive toy to work best), the Soloist SL and the HA-160 DS, sometimes seem to hit the musical bullseye more squarely with the HD600 than their newer/more robust cousins. Probably time to sell one and try the bottlehead.
An oxymoron? Lol! They apparently make their own IC’s out of discrete components. My equipment all predates the inclusion of those discrete IC’s in the circuit - I never own anything THAT new!
Amen! to ‘strat’ and to ‘bagwell’. For me, the go-to headphone amplifier for HD-600 (Custom Cans CNC-backweight, backfoam removal, earside foam replacement, Dekoni earpads) is high impedance tube OTL:
I’ve read a lot about amps for HD 600. Is still the Valhalla 2 from Schiit a great choice? Or has something taken over it’s place for getting great sound without paying a fortune (DIY kits like Bottlehead crack excluded).
Or would it be better to go for example the highly praised Jotunheim 2 or Lyr 3 (noticed that Valhalla 2 is a lot older now). I only care about the best fit for HD 600. I will not use any other headphones. Thanks.
I’ve read a lot about amps for HD 600. Is still the Valhalla 2 from Schiit a great choice? Or has something taken over it’s place for getting great sound without paying a fortune (DIY kits like Bottlehead crack excluded).
Or would it be better to go for example the highly praised Jotunheim 2 or Lyr 3 (noticed that Valhalla 2 is a lot older now). I only care about the best fit for HD 600. I will not use any other headphones. Thanks.
You’ll get as many different recommendations as there are amps out there. The one amp that keeps coming up in this context (and has been for years) is the bottlehead crack with speedball. If I was looking for a tube amp for my Sennheisers, that’s where I’d start. There are plenty of professionally built examples around. But you said you’re not interested in that one, so be prepared for a lot of guys telling you why what they have is best. The key for the 600 is it likes a lot of juice, so you’re primarily looking for powerful SS, probably class A (which may not be ideal on paper, but can get the job done - that’s what I use), or OTL or SET tubes, which work well into high impedances, but can also be fidgety and require a lot of ‘hands on’ involvement from the user. Ultimately, there are many good choices; you just have to decide which flavor suits your tastes and system the best.
I’ve read a lot about amps for HD 600. Is still the Valhalla 2 from Schiit a great choice? Or has something taken over it’s place for getting great sound without paying a fortune (DIY kits like Bottlehead crack excluded).
Or would it be better to go for example the highly praised Jotunheim 2 or Lyr 3 (noticed that Valhalla 2 is a lot older now). I only care about the best fit for HD 600. I will not use any other headphones. Thanks.
The Valhalla is still a great choice for the 600. The Bottlehead Crack especially with Speedball sounds even better so I would still consider picking one up already assembled from someone. I have a Lyr 2 and both the otl tube amps mentioned sound considerably better with the 600 than the Lyr. The Lyr excels with planars which is what I use it for. The Valhalla is probably going to give you the least expensive intro into the otl sound without much hassle. Some of the otl amps from Woo Audio, Feliks Audio, etc. are also worth checking out.
I have always been a lover of good audio, but up until not too long ago I was mostly into car audio and kind of thought good headphones were too expensive. I had the m50 for the longest but they were never comfortable enough to wear for long. Tried the 6xx a few months ago finally and liked them, was even wowed by them, but ultimately returned them as they were a little muffled sounding. Got the 800s and disliked the lack of bass and thinness I heard so returned them as well, and I felt like I had to turn them up too much to enjoy them and they were hurting my ears.
I finally settled on the 600 and they are perfect. I don't see myself going for stuff much more expensive than these anytime soon as they're literally the perfect sound for my ears with a small 100hz bump through EQ.
I have always been a lover of good audio, but up until not too long ago I was mostly into car audio and kind of thought good headphones were too expensive. I had the m50 for the longest but they were never comfortable enough to wear for long. Tried the 6xx a few months ago finally and liked them, was even wowed by them, but ultimately returned them as they were a little muffled sounding. Got the 800s and disliked the lack of bass and thinness I heard so returned them as well, and I felt like I had to turn them up too much to enjoy them and they were hurting my ears.
I finally settled on the 600 and they are perfect. I don't see myself going for stuff much more expensive than these anytime soon as they're literally the perfect sound for my ears with a small 100hz bump through EQ.
Only your second post on Head-Fi and you have it all figured out! Indeed, the HD-600 is perfect. I use other excellent headphones for variety, but the HD-600 is just perfect and irreplaceable.
Thanks, I've lurked a little here and there and try to find the best bang for buck purchase for my hobbies generally. As is the case with many people the HD600 was just right after a little trial and error! Now if I could stop wondering about other headphones it would be nice. LOL
I have always been a lover of good audio, but up until not too long ago I was mostly into car audio and kind of thought good headphones were too expensive. I had the m50 for the longest but they were never comfortable enough to wear for long. Tried the 6xx a few months ago finally and liked them, was even wowed by them, but ultimately returned them as they were a little muffled sounding. Got the 800s and disliked the lack of bass and thinness I heard so returned them as well, and I felt like I had to turn them up too much to enjoy them and they were hurting my ears.
I finally settled on the 600 and they are perfect. I don't see myself going for stuff much more expensive than these anytime soon as they're literally the perfect sound for my ears with a small 100hz bump through EQ.
Well done! Now if you want to ‘notch up’ the HD-600 experience, consider a tube headphone amplifier that is Output Transformer-Less (OTL). A reasonably priced example would be:
Well done! Now if you want to ‘notch up’ the HD-600 experience, consider a tube headphone amplifier that is Output Transformer-Less (OTL). A reasonably priced example would be:
Hah! I’m very curious about tubes but I’m running out of a solid state and they sound perfect right now. I’ll do more research and see if I think it’s worth a change. Maybe in the future .
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