[jmttdr]

UH OH. Just pulled the trigger. I will be an owner within 24 hours! 

 

[Androb]

Welcome to the family

 

[wink]

YAY....!

 

[JamieMcC]

  UH OH. Just pulled the trigger. I will be an owner within 24 hours!

Jay, cheers

, and congratulations, I hope you get as much pleasure out of them as I do mine.

 

[jmttdr]

  Jay, cheers

, and congratulations, I hope you get as much pleasure out of them as I do mine.

Thanks Jamie, thanks for your advice also, was very helpful indeed. I owe you a beer if you're ever in london!

 

[JamieMcC]

  Well.. I've owned the HD650 for two weeks.. used it daily (so I sense it's pretty well conditioned by now).. and I'm in love with it.  There's few, if any, other full sized phones (I've owned) that I've looked so forward to using more than the 650... yes, the 650 slots above the HD800, HE-500, and HD600 in this respect.  The HD800 is something else.. an absolutely magnificent achievement.. but it was practically almost distracting in it's 'epic'-ness.  The 650 really feels like a blend of many of my favorite parts of the HD600, HD800, and HE-500.. so it's no wonder I seem to enjoy it so much.
 
 Regardless of how I find it, I can't see myself letting go of the HD650.  It simply sounds too impressive (and addictive) off my BH Crack.  There may be better phones than the HD650.. and better amps than the BH Crack.. but this combo could go toe to toe w/ practically anything I've heard.. when it comes to sheer enjoyment and immersion.
 
I shall report back on how the LCD-2 stacks up to the HD650 when it arrives!

 
I feel very much the same way about my Beyer T'1s I am in awe at their ability every time I use them.  I honestly planned to move the 650's on but they are just so good for just sitting back relaxing and enjoying music with.  Listening with the BH Crack just took that enjoyment to a whole other level.  I have no plans to let go of them as they are a magic combination.

 

[randy98mtu]

You all have convinced me to acquire bh crack. Now to convince the wife!

So far I have only used my 650 with the Dragonfly. I am very happy with it but it has yet to blow me away. I think it is underpowered to really impress. So far I find them similar to my P7, but I haven't done any direct A/B time. Hopefully I can find some time during the holidays. And hopefully I can find some Christmas money to write the letters BH on.

 

[dxanex]

You all have convinced me to acquire bh crack. Now to convince the wife!

So far I have only used my 650 with the Dragonfly. I am very happy with it but it has yet to blow me away. I think it is underpowered to really impress. So far I find them similar to my P7, but I haven't done any direct A/B time. Hopefully I can find some time during the holidays. And hopefully I can find some Christmas money to write the letters BH on.

 
You definitely won't be disappointed with the Crack/HD 650 combo. I think you'll find that it lifts the HD 650 to that next "wow!" level. And down the road, it gets even better with the Speedball upgrade. Do you plan on building yours or buying pre-built? (Assuming you can convince the wife!)

 

[randy98mtu]

I would build it I think. I enjoy projects like that. I'm probably a bit rusty on soldering but I have built a few rc cars in my day so I think I would be ok. Actually the build is part of the appeal to me. If they were still $219 I would be all over it. At $279 it will take a bit more convincing.

 

[dxanex]

I would build it I think. I enjoy projects like that. I'm probably a bit rusty on soldering but I have built a few rc cars in my day so I think I would be ok. Actually the build is part of the appeal to me. If they were still $219 I would be all over it. At $279 it will take a bit more convincing.

FWIW I've listened to, and owned amps twice the price and I'd say at $279 it's still very much worth it. The speedball upgrade, while great, might be pushing it though if you are concerned about cost. The BH drives a lot of other headphones really well too. Hell, even the Q701/K702 sounds pretty nice on it. Only headphones I didn't like on it were the HE-400/500/6. HE-400 treble was a bit harsh and the 500/6 sounded underpowered.
 
I had never soldered anything before my first Crack build. I've since built 3. It's pretty straightforward.

 

[randy98mtu]

FWIW I've listened to, and owned amps twice the price and I'd say at $279 it's still very much worth it. The speedball upgrade, while great, might be pushing it though if you are concerned about cost. The BH drives a lot of other headphones really well too. Hell, even the Q701/K702 sounds pretty nice on it. Only headphones I didn't like on it were the HE-400/500/6. HE-400 treble was a bit harsh and the 500/6 sounded underpowered.

I had never soldered anything before my first Crack build. I've since built 3. It's pretty straightforward.

I have no doubt it's a great value. It's just a harder sell to the wife. And thanks for the words of comfort on the build. Now to wait for the right time to bring it up.

 

[connieflyer]

Or you could look at this ember thread here on head fi I have this one and love it.  http://www.head-fi.org/t/675850/project-ember-review/90#post_10079918
With the Senn 650's it really is a nice upgrade, and if you want to build it yourself, you have that option.  

 

[FlySweep]

The Ember is a terrific match for the 650.. if you're tight on space, it's a great choice since it's pretty tidy.  That being said, the BH Crack + SB is a more impressive combo (to my ears).  The Ember is, comparatively, more intimate in presentation (not intimate in an absolute sense.. cause the SB'ed BH Crack's stage is positively spacious).. but the upside is it can power a variety of phones (including orthos) quite well.  Being able to roll both 6v & 12v tubes (on the fly!) is really cool, as well.  The Ember is very transparent to the tube used.. it's dead quiet.. and possesses excellent dynamics.  I've liked how it pairs with every headphones I've tossed at it.. especially the HE-500.
 
Many seem to like the LCD-2 most with solid state gear.. but most solid state gear I've heard in the $300-$700 range seems to lack a realistic sense of stage depth.  IME, that's my favorite aspect of the tube gear I've owned.. it provides a better sense of depth than the SS gear I've owned.  I'm keeping the Ember around to see how it pairs with the LCD-2.. if it doesn't float my boat, the Ember will be up for sale.
 
Re: the speedball option for the Crack.. I haven't heard a Crack w/o the speedball, so I'm not sure what a stock Crack sounds like.. but judging by the consensus of opinions on what the speedball does, I tend to feel it's a very valuable upgrade to the Crack you plan to use the 650 with it: a cleaner, tighter sound.. better clarity & dynamics.. a lower noise floor.. all things the HD650 would certainly benefit from.  But the beauty of the Crack kit?  You can always install it at a later time.
 
If Bottlehead sent boutique handbags with their Crack kits, it would be a whole lot easier to convince wives and they'd probably triple sales overnight.. LOL!

 

[JamieMcC]

I recently added the speedball and liked the results but its not a night and day type of difference .  Its more of a refinement of the qualities the stock Crack is already fantastic at.
 
From BH Speedball product page
 
"So what does it do for the sound? The most immediate thing you will notice is a better sense of clarity. Things get tighter and quicker, bass and midrange get cleaner and more dynamic sounding, and the background gets more quiet. As with all of our upgrade kits, the improvement is easily heard."
 
And it does exactly that. Its good at all the above stock, Speedball is the icing on the cake.

 

[skeptic]

I totally agree with Jamie.  The speedball is a nice add-on, but the stock crack is excellent in its own right, and particularly well matched with hd650's to my ears.  From the outset, I far preferred my stock crack to my prior woo 3 (which aint a bad amp!), even with a pair of very pricey amperex pq 7308's driving the woo.  Adding the speedball, film caps, fancy pot, etc. are all fun potential tweaks to consider in the future, but I am definitely a proponent of enjoying and living with the stock build for a little while at least.