[Lorspeaker]

huh...your leftcuppa'sjammmmed.
 
and welcome to headfi, wonderful purchase...this should be your first n LAST can.( if u can RESIST

 )
go spend monies on the rest of the setupchain meanwhile.

 
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jascha_Heifetz
 
Hauntingly great, go get this cd if u are in to swansongs...final finales...sobsob. 

 

[joltman]

Quote:

huh...your leftcuppa'sjammmmed.

Well, that's good to know that the right cup isn't broken  Guess I'll find out tomorrow how that Fiio sounds.  Thanks!

 

[Solitary1]

Quote:

 
This sounds too good to be true. I was like... "Oh, newb post." But you've been on the forum since 2004! I'm totally intrigued. I've been looking for more impressions of the Pan Am with the HD650, especially since its low profile would be better for office use. Is the additional gateway necessary in your opinion w/ the HD650? And last, if you don't mind, can you compare the Pan Am/HD650 combo w/ either the Crack or Lyr? 

Yeah, I'm an old-timer 

 .Well, I can tell you that Pan Am pair so well with 650's, it sway me away from the WA6, which I was totally sold on. Doing a side-by-side with the Pan Am using the 650's and AKG K702's, the WA6 could not keep up with it. Mike at Headfonia, says he prefers the Pan Am over the Crack on the 650's. As far I can tell, I think my old X-Can v8 (gone, but, not forgotten) is better fit than the WA6 with 650's. Now, I have not heard the Crack or the Lyr. Getting back to the Pan Am , I bought the Passport  even though I only use mine as a desktop amp. The batteries have the better sound, if you do not want the Passport, you need at least the Gateway, the little wall wart should only be used as a backup.
 
Here is the review from Headfonia:
 
http://www.headfonia.com/portable-desktop-alo-the-panam/

 

[R Scott Ireland]

Yeah, I'm an old-timer 

 .Well, I can tell you that Pan Am pair so well with 650's, it sway me away from the WA6, which I was totally sold on. Doing a side-by-side with the Pan Am using the 650's and AKG K702's, the WA6 could not keep up with it. Mike at Headfonia, says he prefers the Pan Am over the Crack on the 650's. As far I can tell, I think my old X-Can v8 (gone, but, not forgotten) is better fit than the WA6 with 650's. Now, I have not heard the Crack or the Lyr. Getting back to the Pan Am , I bought the Passport  even though I only use mine as a desktop amp. The batteries have the better sound, if you do not want the Passport, you need at least the Gateway, the little wall wart should only be used as a backup.


Here is the review from Headfonia:


http://www.headfonia.com/portable-desktop-alo-the-panam/

+1. The Pan Am is very good with a wide range of headphones, including the HD650 (and HD800, LCD-3, DT880 among others). I have not heard the Woo, but I also have a Lyr/Bifrost Über stack which is also very good with the 650. The thing about the Pan Am is that finding good 6AK5 tubes is relatively easy and inexpensive compared to finding the right 6DJ8 tubes for a particular set of phones with the Lyr. Mullards, Voskhods and Cifte tubes all sound great with various phones in the Pan Am. By the way I use it with the Passport battery.

 

[Zuckfun]

so whats the "go to " amp under 1k for the 650's at the moment ?

If this hasn't yet been considered, are the HD650 your endgame headphones? In addition to the Lyr pairing beautifully with them, it is a versatile (powerful) amp. So is the Pan Am. If a planar magnetic pair is somewhere in your future, it's something to consider. Also, maybe I missed this, are you set on solid state, or a tube amp? Many say the 650's with a tube amp is a great combination. The Lyr does a great job with both the 650's and HE400's. I haven't heard the WA6 or the Pan Am. Such an intriguing question though- if I could spend $1000 on an amp, any amp, which would it be? I've wanted to hear the Graham Slee Solo for awhile. Then again, I'd also like to have two and half thousand for a WA5-LE...

p.s. If the 650's are to be your endgame headphones, I second the suggestion to buy a balanced amp, especially with a 1k price limit. Many say this improves the soundstage incredibly.

 

[joebobbilly]

Quote:

I just joined the club!  My wife bought me a pair of 650s for my wedding gift.  I've listened to 3 songs on them so far.  The 96khz album "Madman Across the Water."  I'm amazed that I can hear Elton opening his mouth before he sings.  Amazed!  Even the imperfections in certain string vibrations.  Just incredible.
 
I purchased a Fiio E17 DAC/HA and E09K amp.  Unfortunately, they're at work right now.  I thought I'd get a chance to listen today, but no.  The voicemail server decided to take a dump...  Anyway.  I'm at home, and the cans are hooked up to my Denon AVR-3312CI.  I'm streaming the album from MediaMonkey on my laptop to the AVR.  I have to turn the amp up pretty high (-23db) to get a nice volume out of the cans.  I guess they really are high impedance.  I'm wondering if listening through the Denon is limiting any of the highs/lows that the cans are able to hit?
 
Also, I noticed that the right cup can pivot at the point where the metal band meets the cup's plastic mount.  Is this correct?  I can't twist it all the way around, but it does pivot a bit.  Maybe 30 degrees?  The left cup doesn't pivot at all.  Please forgive the noobie questions, these are my first headphones that aren't $40 Sonys from 1994.
 
Thanks!
 
Joltman

 
Welcome! You have a wonderful wife with excellent taste! Yea, sounds like your left earcup might be jammed or just very stiff, they should be able to pivot a bit (try to wiggle it gently??)
 
The HD650s will sound even better as they "burn in" with more usage... the driver material will open up and be less stiff with usage so they'll sound even more dynamic after 100ish hours or more... note that it's not a night & day change, but a nice subtle improvement (YMMV).
 
I started out with the E09K/E17 combo... truly very solid and versatile performance from such a budget package! It does pair well with the HD650 and with the E09K on high gain it will give you substantial juice for some solid bass. I would recommend using the SPDIF optical for the E17 and use the LO bypass... I wasn't a fan of the USB, it had some problems going through WASAPI for me... got static and clicks (jitter??). Feeding SPDIF from my PC into the E17 was just a much cleaner sound for my case.

 

[kellybundy110]

Quote:

If this hasn't yet been considered, are the HD650 your endgame headphones? In addition to the Lyr pairing beautifully with them, it is a versatile (powerful) amp. So is the Pan Am. If a planar magnetic pair is somewhere in your future, it's something to consider. Also, maybe I missed this, are you set on solid state, or a tube amp? Many say the 650's with a tube amp is a great combination. The Lyr does a great job with both the 650's and HE400's. I haven't heard the WA6 or the Pan Am. Such an intriguing question though- if I could spend $1000 on an amp, any amp, which would it be? I've wanted to hear the Graham Slee Solo for awhile. Then again, I'd also like to have two and half thousand for a WA5-LE...

p.s. If the 650's are to be your endgame headphones, I second the suggestion to buy a balanced amp, especially with a 1k price limit. Many say this improves the soundstage incredibly.

yes they are my endgame i dont plan on buying anything else ive already got 1 headphone setup lol now looking for an amp for the hd650 i have the akg702/ha160..ive got another  expensive hobby watches ;( which balanced amp ?
 
they remind me of my precious hd-555 soo comfortable i had for 8 yrs  rip

 

[ngyu]

Quote:

I just joined the club!  My wife bought me a pair of 650s for my wedding gift.  I've listened to 3 songs on them so far.  The 96khz album "Madman Across the Water."  I'm amazed that I can hear Elton opening his mouth before he sings.  Amazed!  Even the imperfections in certain string vibrations.  Just incredible.
 
I purchased a Fiio E17 DAC/HA and E09K amp.  Unfortunately, they're at work right now.  I thought I'd get a chance to listen today, but no.  The voicemail server decided to take a dump...  Anyway.  I'm at home, and the cans are hooked up to my Denon AVR-3312CI.  I'm streaming the album from MediaMonkey on my laptop to the AVR.  I have to turn the amp up pretty high (-23db) to get a nice volume out of the cans.  I guess they really are high impedance.  I'm wondering if listening through the Denon is limiting any of the highs/lows that the cans are able to hit?
 
Also, I noticed that the right cup can pivot at the point where the metal band meets the cup's plastic mount.  Is this correct?  I can't twist it all the way around, but it does pivot a bit.  Maybe 30 degrees?  The left cup doesn't pivot at all.  Please forgive the noobie questions, these are my first headphones that aren't $40 Sonys from 1994.
 
Thanks!
 
Joltman

 
welcome to the club! that's an awesome wedding gift! about your left cup: dont worry, mine had the same issue at first. after some usage, it'll loosen up. the pivot is only about 30 degrees, thats normal.

 

[joebobbilly]

Quote:

yes they are my endgame i dont plan on buying anything else ive already got 1 headphone setup lol now looking for an amp for the hd650 i have the akg702/ha160..ive got another  expensive hobby watches ;( which balanced amp ?
 
they remind me of my precious hd-555 soo comfortable i had for 8 yrs  rip

Hmmm, given I don't have much listening experience with tons of other balanced amps, so I made my own purchase based on various reviews and comparisons. But IMHO, there is no balanced amp more worth the money for it's price point than the Schiit Mjolnir. Ok let's be honest, there are not an extensive number of amps more worth it for the money than what Schiit puts out

.
 
EDIT: You could find a used Mojo for 600ish here... then just shop round for a balanced DAC with the leftover money

(tho I'd personally save up just a bit more and get a Gungnir or something better

well worth it IMO)

 

[Solitary1]

Quote:

+1. The Pan Am is very good with a wide range of headphones, including the HD650 (and HD800, LCD-3, DT880 among others). I have not heard the Woo, but I also have a Lyr/Bifrost Über stack which is also very good with the 650. The thing about the Pan Am is that finding good 6AK5 tubes is relatively easy and inexpensive compared to finding the right 6DJ8 tubes for a particular set of phones with the Lyr. Mullards, Voskhods and Cifte tubes all sound great with various phones in the Pan Am. By the way I use it with the Passport battery.

I forgot to mention the tube rolling, just another reason why this amp is the bargain.

 

[Jamesy1969]

This was my Facebook post this evening :-
 

Karajan Symphony Edition > foobar > Matrix CUBE > Matrix M-Stage > Sennheiser HD650.

Fcuking awesome. Turn it up!!

Luckily, I do mention Motorhead, the Clash, Rush, Napalm Death and Misfits often enough that no-one thinks I am actually a 96-years-old audiophile.

 

[kellybundy110]

has anyone used the the crack/ and the burson ha-160 i have the burson but i want to see if the crack is that much better

 

[Hellenback]

Quote:

Hey guys, any suggestions for amps to pair with the HD650's that are better than the O2 below $400?

 
If you are even remotely considering balancing your headphones sometime in the future, I'd recommend this at $399: MK-VII+  They can often be found used for much less.
 
This amp can be used single ended until you balance your 650s, which for me produced the most dramatic SQ improvement.

 

[imackler]

I thought the Yulong A800 was an awesome amp with the HD650. 

 

[cl5160316]

I just bought HD-650 again, for the second time.  I had them back in 2004-2005 I think, but I was using them with the worst sources etc. back then.  This time around, SPL Auditor all the way, better files too.  As they're starting to burn-in, I'm enjoying them more and more.  Totally different than how I remembered them before.