[kayaker3057]

I will be purchasing the shure srh840's after the first of the year and I would like to possibly purchase an amp/dac setup, if room in my budget arises. I have been lurking on here for weeks looking. I am not necessarily interested in something portable(although would be kind of nice) as 95% of my listening would be at my desk at school, the other 5% being road trips. I listen to mostly easy listening(Switchfoot, Coldplay), some jazz and I am finding myself listening to much more trance(great for long hours concentrating in the studio!). The headphones themselves pride themselves on midrange(which is the reason I am getting them) but lack in low end punch and lack of sparkle in the highs. I am looking for an amp that reinforces the mids, gives punch to the lows, and I am not so concerned about the highs. I prefer a warm sound. My source is my laptop. Would just an amp suffice for now? I have a budget of around $150. My candidates for now are:

Musiland 02
Zero
AUNE
Little Dot I+

 

[AmanGeorge]

Pick up the Head-Direct EF-2 while it's on sale at Head-Direct for $169 or whatever - it's very good with low-impedance headphones like the Shure and has a built in DAC. I think it's a sure winner in your setup.

 

[wordfool]

I'm curiuous if anyone has any other suggestions (preferably solid state) for an amp or dac/amp for the Shures.

I like my SRH840s but they definitely sound like they need a bit more power to kick things up a notch, particularly in the bass and overall dynamics (I tend to listen more to rock and electronic). I imagine we're not talking much extra power to make them shine, so would a relatively low-power dac/amp like the nuforce uDAC make an appreciable difference?

I was also looking at something like the Zero or Aune on ebay, but it's hard to tell which will work the best.

 

[kayaker3057]

bump. would i be better just getting an amp? say little dot I+ or II

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayaker3057 /img/forum/go_quote.gif bump. would i be better just getting an amp? say little dot I+ or II

I use the Little Dot mk11 with my Shure but I have a dedicated source. I use it un-amped on my IPOD touch

 

[kayaker3057]

What is your source? Would it be better just to run 5g ipod>ld II>shure? It would be more of a hastle, but the thought has run through my mind. From my research I have found that the DAC(wolfson) is pretty decent in the 5g and up ipods are pretty decent.

 

[Frank I]

I use a Marantz DV6001 Universal player as my main source. it works fine on my IPOD Touch with no amp. The Litlle Dot MK 11 really makes them sing. It plays as loud as you want it but the tube amp and the Shure arer also a match. Whats great about the amp it works well on my AKG701 and Denon 1001/ So if you add to the stable you wont need another amp.

 

[kayaker3057]

great, thats the answer i was looking for, as eventually I would like to get the akg701's as they are very beautiful(and beautiful sounding) headphones.

 

[kayaker3057]

Frank, what tubes are you using on yours?

 

[roker]

If I had to choose between the LDI+ and the EF2, I'd go LDI+ and buy a DAC separately.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayaker3057 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Frank, what tubes are you using on yours?

I am using the Russian 6n6P and mullard 850. I am ordering more 6n5p on ebay and the tube depot has various 5654 for 4.95 each. I will be ordering RCS Ge and Raytheon from them. The russian are cheap 8 for 17.00 plus 12.00 for shipping. So for 2 russian tubes and 2 5654 your cost is about 18.00 to retube. David at Littlr Dot says they do not need matching. Hope this helps

 

[kayaker3057]

Thanks for the suggestion. I read the entire ld II thread this morning, and I came up with the Russian 6n6p-i and the mullard m8161.