[raybone0566]

I've been listening to the liquid fire for the past couple weeks & it's excellent with the 650's. Very transparent, very resolving & smooth. ill be sad to see this go

 

[RiflemanFirst]

FWIW, I'm really enjoying my HD650s on my Mimby & Vali 2 setup. Especially after giving the HD650s a week of burn in & usage. Using a Gold Lion E88CC tube as well which seems to liven things up a bit compared to the NOS 6BZ7. I don't have any other DAC/amps to compare with right now, but its hard for me to imagine how it could get much better from here. I plan to keep my HD650s permanently and look forward to seeing how well they scale on higher end DAC & amp setups, which will inevitably happen one day whenever I get the upgrade-itis again. 

 

[DavidA]

 
Quote:

  Guys I'm not knocking the Ember at all, I've heard great things about Garage amps. I guess what I mean is that despite rolling 6-7 different tubes in the vali 2 it still sounded too similar to my magni 2. My Jotunheim sounds so good that I don't really want to bother with another amp unless it sounds significantly different (but still good obviously). I've had my eye on the BH crack for a while now after reading so many recommendations for it. Might be a while, I'm currently saving for a set of KEF reference model threes...

 

I have some KEF Ref 103.3, unfortunately they are in storage, not enough space in the place I live now to set them up, I think this is the last picture I took of them and its over 10 years old:

in the corner covered with a towel since the sun did shine on them for most of the afternoon, miss this place, the living rm was huge (16x33)

 

[Letmebefrank]

Sorry for big OT post guys.
 
Quote:

  I have some KEF Ref 103.3, unfortunately they are in storage, not enough space in the place I live now to set them up, I think this is the last picture I took of them and its over 10 years old:

in the corner covered with a towel since the sun did shine on them for most of the afternoon, miss this place, the living rm was huge (16x33)

 
Very cool David, I love the KEFs. I'm buying my pair from a family friend, in fact he has been my fathers partner at Chrysler for more than 20 years, and he is retiring to Hawaii in two years. He said the KEFs are too expensive to ship down there and he is cutting me a pretty amazing deal on the pair plus the granite slabs. He has the original grille covers in vacuum sealed bags as well.
 
Here is a picture I took of them a few weeks ago when I went up there to decide if spending as much as my whole klipsch HT setup for two speakers will be worth it. Hint: it will be. Oh man will it be worth it.
 
Heres to hoping my current living room will be big enough for them (17x20)
 

 

[LugBug1]

I like SS amps. I like tube amps.

I ******* hate tube-rolling.

Hahah good to see you! And as straight to the point as always  
 
I'm using either my NAD, a little dot mkII, or the highly 'neutral' hp out of my audiolab dac at the mo. I've always thought tubes were the way to go with the 650 as IME they help bring out the holographic soundstage that the HD650's are very capable of and also to complement the smoothness (kind of adding chocolate custard on to chocolate pudding. Overkill for some - not for me).  
 
Some prefer SS for the HD650 as it can bring out all the resolution and tighten up the low end. My only problem with some dedicated SS amps and the HD650, is that they can 'dry them out' too much for my preference (obviously generalising here with no specific amp in mind).

 

[LazyListener]

 
what I imply is that if there are those variations between left and right channels for headphones even when the manufacturer tries to match them, then obviously we can expect to have not only the same magnitude of variations between pairs, but most likely even more.
a driver is a driver is a driver ^_^.

 
In the case of the 650s, as someone had pointed out earlier, Sennheiser's website quotes the following:
 
"Systems with narrow tolerances (± 1 dB), hand-picked in pairs"
 
This is not a precise statement and is open to interpretation.  Is this tolerance for each driver to achieve the target frequency response?  Is it a tolerance for allowed variation between 2 drivers for the purpose of driver matching?  Is it something else entirely?
 
It's uncommon for a manufacturer to post this type of spec, no?

 

[LazyListener]

  Hahah good to see you! And as straight to the point as always  
 
I'm using either my NAD, a little dot mkII, or the highly 'neutral' hp out of my audiolab dac at the mo. I've always thought tubes were the way to go with the 650 as IME they help bring out the holographic soundstage that the HD650's are very capable of and also to complement the smoothness (kind of adding chocolate custard on to chocolate pudding. Overkill for some - not for me).  
 
Some prefer SS for the HD650 as it can bring out all the resolution and tighten up the low end. My only problem with some dedicated SS amps and the HD650, is that they can 'dry them out' too much for my preference (obviously generalising here with no specific amp in mind).

What amp gives the 650 the best balance of all of the above you mentioned, for say, under $300?  What about best balanced and best bang for your buck, regardless of price?

 

[DavidA]

  What amp gives the 650 the best balance of all of the above you mentioned, for say, under $300?  What about best balanced and best bang for your buck, regardless of price?

For me in a under $300 amp it would be Asgard2 or Polaris, different sounding amps but both work with the HD650.
 
Best I've heard with the HD650 is Liquid Glass with some Ken-Rad or Sylvania chrome domes or EC Balancing Act (can't remember the tubes in them)

 

[LazyListener]

  For me in a under $300 amp it would be Asgard2 or Polaris, different sounding amps but both work with the HD650.
 
Best I've heard with the HD650 is Liquid Glass with some Ken-Rad or Sylvania chrome domes or EC Balancing Act (can't remember the tubes in them)

In what ways do the Asgard2 and Polaris sound different, if you don't mind elaborating a bit?
 
When I asked for best, I meant best value, but with no price limit.  Is the Liquid Glass the best value or just simply the best at any price?
 
It's just that so many people say that a several hundred dollar amp is the best you can get and anything costing thousands is not worth the extra money.

 

[EdwardPL]

The Vali 2 doesn't sound SS to me personally. If you've ever heard high end tube amps like the Zana Deux they all have a resolving, not overly lush characteristic. In fact this warm mushy tube sound is generally associated with cheap China made tube amps like the Little Dot and Dark Voice.

High quality tube amps are very resolving, have superior technical ability to most SS if not all if we are talking about some of the best tube bases amplifiers. The Vali 2 has that similar type of sound found on most high end tube amps but it does have somewhat messy sounding bass compared to higher end amps.

The problem with most Schiit Gear for me is the messed up metallic treble and only the Asgard 2 and Vali 2 have managed to break that trend.

 

[LugBug1]

  What amp gives the 650 the best balance of all of the above you mentioned, for say, under $300?  What about best balanced and best bang for your buck, regardless of price?

DavidA advice above will be better than mine at the mo. My experience with the HD650 and amping is based more on old memories. Having said that, what you are asking is a 'best of both worlds' in regards to the merits of both SS and Tube. My little Dot MKII is very good for the resolution and soundstage and the bass is reasonably tight. This is with Ef92 drivers and 6n6p power tubes. Cheap as chips too! 

 

[DavidA]

 
In what ways do the Asgard2 and Polaris sound different, if you don't mind elaborating a bit?
 
When I asked for best, I meant best value, but with no price limit.  Is the Liquid Glass the best value or just simply the best at any price?
 
It's just that so many people say that a several hundred dollar amp is the best you can get and anything costing thousands is not worth the extra money.

Take this with a grain of salt since I only listened to the Polaris a few times while I own a Asgard2: The Asgard2 is a good SS amp that has paired reasonably well with most of my headphones and IMO is neutral or very slightly on the bright side, has a decent sound stage and is resolving enough that its not an issue for me.  The Polaris is different due to the ability to change the output impedance (like my Ember) which lets it pair a little better with some of my headphones and the base sound signature is warm/neutral but the sound stage is not as wide as the Asgard2 but its about the same in resolving.
 
There is diminishing value for anything over $100 but to me the Liquid Glass is a good value even at its $4000+ price (including tubes) since it paired well with any headphone that I tried with it and changing tubes only made it even better with various headphones.  The EC Balancing Act is about the cleanest, best sound stage, great dynamic and resolving amp I've heard so far and with some headphones like the HD800, T1 and HD650 a sound that I preferred over the Liquid Glass but its not as good with planars like the Liquid Glass so I don't think its as good a value as the Liquid Glass in that you will most likely need a second amp if you have planar headphones that are a little harder to drive like the HE560.
 
To me these two high end amps are worth their cost if you can easily afford them like a friend of mine but for me I took the money I had saved for the Liquid Glass and bought 6 cases of high end wine, the way I look at it is I'm getting older and my hearing will go before my taste buds

.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

The amp that is "best of two worlds" is Polaris imo. It's not expensive compared to other amps I've tried, like WA6/7.  All the adjustable settings make a big difference. Probably also best value amp too, for HPs. If cost is no object, there are a slew of amps available, SS and tubes. ZD, Bryston, Cavalli, etc.
 
But law of d.r. kicks in fast.

 

[tonykaz]

Sennheiser HD580/600/650 love the Schiit Asgard, Asgard 2, Valhalla 2 and that Bottlehead .  I own the Asgard 2 which presents a consistent, sweet class A sound.  I've heard the tube Valhalla and Bottlehead, both are amazing and worth owing if I didn't already own the superb Asgard2. 
 
Tony in Michigan
 
ps.  My Audiologist helped me Eq. my rig to properly accommodate my "old" ears, now I have deep-deep-deep base response thats quite surprising and delightful. The Sennheisers respond well to Eq., resulting in a "keeper" headphone system for very modest expenditure.  I've owned and loved this same  system for a few years now, I feel no need to upgrade.  

 

[raybone0566]

Both the liquid glass & balancing act are now discontinued. Only place to find them in the for sale thread.