[DDDamian]

Quote:

   
+10
 
The 650s are wonderful for 1970/80s hard rock -- Rush, Led Zepp, some Springsteen, Triumph, Aerosmith ( i.e. some badly recorded tracks that would shred my ED's on other HPs). Only my 650, so far,  can allow me to enjoy these tracks at modest volumes.

Triumph - under-sung Canadian trio from the arena-rock days. The whole Just a Game album was great (and a very cool vinyl cover), and the song Magic Power always gets me going
 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I doubt there is anyone at all who have listened to this amp here because the company is so small but has anyone ever listened to the HD650 paired with the Graham Slee amps?
I love especially the 650 paired with their Solo SRG2 and the Ultra Linear.
 
I'm considering getting a stationary desktop external amp (solid state only, don't want to bother with tubes no matter how good they may be) to hook up to my Hugo for use at home and other than the Graham Slees, I'm considering Cavalli's Liquid Carbon. Does anyone have any suggestions for a solid-state desktop amp that pairs well with the 650s other than the two I have mentioned?
I have tried some amps like Burson Audio's or Vioelectric and found them not doing so well with the 650s. Burson for being too bright, energetic, and fast with the 650s which took away the things I loved about the 650s like the tonality, darkness, bass decay, and such. Then Vioelectrics did not fare well either because it was too analytic and somewhat boring with the 650s (good with HD800s though).
 
Thank you.

 
Slee makes beautiful amps -- have heard some with a Grado, but not with 650. They're quite pricey, though, around here.
 
I've only had experience with BHA-1 and Soloist for 650. I also found that SR-71B sounded beautiful with my 650 -- it's also balanced, and portable. Good for lawn mowing duty...

 

[Jeff Y]

   
Slee makes beautiful amps -- have heard some with a Grado, but not with 650. They're quite pricey, though, around here.
 
I've only had experience with BHA-1 and Soloist for 650. I also found that SR-71B sounded beautiful with my 650 -- it's also balanced, and portable. Good for lawn mowing duty...

I actually never listened to Bryston amps before and I really do want to try them but I can't find a place to audition them in Korea.
I've been to an audio show that paired Bryston amps, preamps, media servers, and so on with Rockport speakers. They sounded terrible. Way too much shrill- treble so I'm worried about the Bryston headphone amps but I'm not really in the position to judge because I can't listen to them myself.
 
SR-71B is nice but I would like to go desktop. Are you saying it's good for mowing duty just because or actually because you can use it for that purpose 

? I would have to turn the volume up so high with the lawn mower, my ears wouldn't hear anything afterwards or something

 

[CanadianMaestro]

   
I've been to an audio show that paired Bryston amps, preamps, media servers, and so on with Rockport speakers. They sounded terrible. Way too much shrill- treble so I'm worried about the Bryston headphone amps but I'm not really in the position to judge because I can't listen to them myself.
 
SR-71B is nice but I would like to go desktop. Are you saying it's good for mowing duty just because or actually because you can use it for that purpose 

? I would have to turn the volume up so high with the lawn mower, my ears wouldn't hear anything afterwards or something

SR71B fits in your pocket and is limited by having a source that you can also lug around with you.
 
Bryston gear at an audio show isn't ideal -- the rooms are far from acoustically viable. The exhibitors know this fact. And yes, Bryston can be "bright". Problem is, they are legendary for their bullet-proof amps, with associated power handling that is the envy of many. With unfettered power handling comes the unfortunate mental association among some people that you can and should crank up a Bryston amp to near-max volume without suffering distortion ("brightness"). Not always true, of course. They are also ruthlessly honest amps. Bad recordings will sound exactly that.
 
SYNERGY is key. Bryston gear matches very well with certain gear/speakers.
 
 
cheers

 

[Solrighal]

  I doubt there is anyone at all who have listened to this amp here because the company is so small but has anyone ever listened to the HD650 paired with the Graham Slee amps?
I love especially the 650 paired with their Solo SRG2 and the Ultra Linear.
 
I'm considering getting a stationary desktop external amp (solid state only, don't want to bother with tubes no matter how good they may be) to hook up to my Hugo for use at home and other than the Graham Slees, I'm considering Cavalli's Liquid Carbon. Does anyone have any suggestions for a solid-state desktop amp that pairs well with the 650s other than the two I have mentioned?
I have tried some amps like Burson Audio's or Vioelectric and found them not doing so well with the 650s. Burson for being too bright, energetic, and fast with the 650s which took away the things I loved about the 650s like the tonality, darkness, bass decay, and such. Then Vioelectrics did not fare well either because it was too analytic and somewhat boring with the 650s (good with HD800s though).
 
Thank you.

 
The Project Polaris from Garage 1217 works extremely well with the HD 650's. I demo'ed it alongside the Ember & the Ember got the nod based on the ability to roll valves. If it hadn't been for that I'd have bought the Polaris.

 

[Jeff Y]

   
The Project Polaris from Garage 1217 works extremely well with the HD 650's. I demo'ed it alongside the Ember & the Ember got the nod base on the ability to roll valves. If it hadn't been for that I'd have bought the Polaris.

Wow, that's very affordable! I looked in to this but forgot about it. Thanks for the response
 
 

  SR71B fits in your pocket and is limited by having a source that you can also lug around with you.
 
Bryston gear at an audio show isn't ideal -- the rooms are far from acoustically viable. The exhibitors know this fact. And yes, Bryston can be "bright". Problem is, they are legendary for their bullet-proof amps, with associated power handling that is the envy of many. With unfettered power handling comes the unfortunate mental association among some people that you can and should crank up a Bryston amp to near-max volume without suffering distortion ("brightness"). Not always true, of course. They are also ruthlessly honest amps. Bad recordings will sound exactly that.
 
SYNERGY is key. Bryston gear matches very well with certain gear/speakers.
 
 
cheers

Yes, I actually have a dislike for Rockport speakers in the first place so I would say my opinion about Bryston gear pretty much does not exist as of now.
Synergy, recording, show conditions, and even what I had for lunch at the day of the audio show affects me so like I have said, I won't even think about judging audio gear at shows.
But then some were amazing like Sonus Faber + Jeff Rowland, B&W + Dan D'agostino, Wilson Audio + Viola, and full MLB.
 
I just hate it sometimes at Korean audio shows because often times, they play complete crap recordings and badly mastered female (weirdly it's often Japanese for some reasons for 9 out of 10 female vocals) vocals. Better off are times when they play Hotel California (yes, the over played song) (for some reason, I have failed to find a headphone/speaker system that makes Hotel California sound bad) (probably because it sounds so good), or jazz.
 
Anyways, thanks for the response guys.
Cheers,
Jeff.

 

[Topazus]

  ...for some reason, I have failed to find a headphone/speaker system that makes Hotel California sound bad

I don't understand the Hotel California phenomenon either. I always use this song to check headphone quality and every headphone sounds great with this. I play it through HD650, 600, T1 and recently very cheap pair of mx-something Sennheiser earbuds... ALL sound great. I just don't understand it. 

 

[iancraig10]

I doubt there is anyone at all who have listened to this amp here because the company is so small but has anyone ever listened to the HD650 paired with the Graham Slee amps?
I love especially the 650 paired with their Solo SRG2 and the Ultra Linear

Sennheiser used to demo the hd650 with the Graham Slee Solo. I had one and liked it, but nowadays, I'm not so sure that it's great value for money. I saw some performance figures way back for the Solo compared with something else, and it put me off the Solo so I sold it. Mine actually went to China!! (As opposed to the other way around )

I have both an Ember and Polaris and if anything, I slightly prefer the Polaris with it. Power managent seems easier on the Senn and the sound is slightly less 'fruity' than the Ember. On the face of it, many would prefer the Ember and then continue on to go through a barrage of tubes which to me always suggests that they want improvements. The Ember is impressive alongside the Polaris which doesn't sound quite so 'flashy'.

It's that ordinary kind of sound that I actually like. It sounds a fraction cleaner and has less of a tubey flavour, although it is voiced to emulate a tube sound but has less of it. So it's not as 'sqeaky' as some ss amps and has a roundness about its sound that isn't quite as much as the Ember.

I feel that the hd600 is better with the Ember and the 650 with the Polaris.

That's just my preference though, but thought I'd try and let you know why to help you with choices.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I don't understand the Hotel California phenomenon either. I always use this song to check headphone quality and every headphone sounds great with this. I play it through HD650, 600, T1 and recently very cheap pair of mx-something Sennheiser earbuds... ALL sound great. I just don't understand it. 

Must have been the crack the band was singing about in the song -- the highs are incurable.

 

[DDDamian]

 
Must have been the crack the band was singing about in the song -- the highs are incurable.

On a sorta-Crack note - just received the Iron Upgrade for my BH S.E.X amp. Wow - very substantial transformers and plate chokes - heavy iron indeed. Have 2x Mundorf Supreme 2.2uf parafeed caps and 2x Mundorf Supreme 0.1uf coupling caps sitting in a box, the unit itself upside-down and stripped of the old caps, and a serious itch to solder!
 
Unfortunately I must cut the grass, weed the garden and install some ballisters on the stairs of the new deck before I get to play. Curse you female logic!! On a happier note it's a long weekend for me, and the sooner I get these puppies installed the sooner they can cook in lol.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

It's that ordinary kind of sound that I actually like. It sounds a fraction cleaner and has less of a tubey flavour, although it is voiced to emulate a tube sound but has less of it. So it's not as 'sqeaky' as some ss amps and has a roundness about its sound that isn't quite as much as the Ember.

I feel that the hd600 is better with the Ember and the 650 with the Polaris.

That's just my preference though, but thought I'd try and let you know why to help you with choices.

Thanks for this recommendation. Do you find the adjustable BW on Polaris to be a desirable feature to have, with the 650?
 
May check out Polaris sometime.
 
cheers

 

[Solrighal]

Hotel California is one of the most insipid recordings I've ever heard.
 
It's a great song but the recording is bland, bland, bland. Reference all the hi-res versions. Still bland, bland, bland.
 
Best guitar solo ever though, that counts.
 
YMMV.

 

[xkonfuzed]

   
The Project Polaris from Garage 1217 works extremely well with the HD 650's. I demo'ed it alongside the Ember & the Ember got the nod base on the ability to roll valves. If it hadn't been for that I'd have bought the Polaris.

I'm saving up to get a better amp for the HD650's and DT880's and the Polaris is on the list of Amps I am eyeing. I don't want to go with the Ember because then my chain would be Tube DAC (Aune T1) > Tube Amp, and finding the right synergy will be a pain. I was especially intrigued by the customization feautures, even though I don't understand some of them well (the bandwidth setting for example). Also, did you find the Ember to drive low-impedance headphones well?

 

[Solrighal]

  I'm saving up to get a better amp for the HD650's and DT880's and the Polaris is on the list of Amps I am eyeing. I don't want to go with the Ember because then my chain would be Tube DAC (Aune T1) > Tube Amp, and finding the right synergy will be a pain. I was especially intrigued by the customization feautures, even though I don't understand some of them well (the bandwidth setting for example). Also, did you find the Ember to drive low-impedance headphones well?

 
Both the Ember & Polaris work beautifully with a wide range of headphone demands.

 

[MattTCG]

   
Both the Ember & Polaris work beautifully with a wide range of headphone demands.

I agree. Ember is working beautifully with the hd650 and Ether for me. It has both power and control. Amazing for such a small package.