[odalanizi]

Hey all!

I love the SR60's, they're my first venture into the Audiophile world. I'm quite happy with them, and don't want to upgrade just yet (even though I'm itching to) because I want to give them some love, maybe next month ... or the one after ...

ANYWAY I just found out about "Cmoy amps" and I want to get one! So I have a question for you trustworthy headfiers:

The SR60 runs great without an amp, will one make a difference?
Specifically, will the CMOY make a difference?

please let me know!

PS. There's a review
(Grado SR 60 Headphones Review - Headphones. Review of 246577)
and he claims he used his SR60's with a "... CMoy amp using the Burr-Brown OPA2132 op-amp (+/-9VDC, R5=100-ohms) and you'll hear what these phones are capable of."

does he know what he's talking about?

if so can someone please provide me with a link, I want to buy one!

 

[Zombie_X]

Basically a CMOY will supply more power to these power hungry phones. A CMOY does make a difference, but not a giant one. I have heard bigger differences with the PAV2 than a CMOY.

 

[xkRoWx]

Buy/build yourself a cMoy, and use the legendary Burr Brown OPA627 chip that Tangent here described.

 

[odalanizi]

Zombie: so does that mean that an amp DO help the SR60's? please give me a link to the best/cheapest amp for the SR60's! I'm looking to get one this week.

Xkrowx: I'm currently unable to build one myself. I'm gonna need to buy one ready.


so basically since it seems that amps do help the SR60's, what's the best/cheapest option(s)??

 

[Rex81]

I'm not a huge fan of the SR60, but I do own a pair that I never use. I've found that they're very easy to drive, I wouldn't call them power hungry at all. You'll hear a very slight improvement with a small amp like a CMoy.

If you really want to try an amp with these I'd get the Fiio E5 instead. It sounds nearly identical to most Cmoys and will push almost any headphone plenty loud. Plus its got a bass boost, its 1/4 the size and its more durable. And its only $25 and can be charged through USB.

 

[SpudHarris]

E-bay Sellers!

JDS Labs (John Seaber)
BioScienceGeek
Juice
PAV2 (Gary at Electric Avenue)

The JDS Cmoy has a bass boost, the next 2 are pretty much standard Cmoys (although BSG will do a custom job i.e. attenuation for line out signal, choice of knob and LED colour etc...) and the PAV2 is a nice little rechargable portable and Gary who sells them is a top man.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpudHarris /img/forum/go_quote.gif E-bay Sellers! JDS Labs (John Seaber) BioScienceGeek Juice PAV2 (Gary at Electric Avenue) The JDS Cmoy has a bass boost, the next 2 are pretty much standard Cmoys (although BSG will do a custom job i.e. attenuation for line out signal, choice of knob and LED colour etc...) and the PAV2 is a nice little rechargable portable and Gary who sells them is a top man.

I've got a set of SR325is paired with the RA1 Grado amp and just love it. But my PA2V2 (Gary at Electric Avenues) sounds really good too. A great match for Grado headphones.

 

[xkRoWx]

There's a schematic for the RA1, which was a close resemblance to the CMOY. I will be building one after I finish my CMOY.

 

[SpudHarris]

Anyone want a crack at a JDB Bass Boost Cmoy PM me I've still got a few boards left. I don't know what the shippping would be though for international. UK would be about £1.00.

 

[Zombie_X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by odalanizi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Zombie: so does that mean that an amp DO help the SR60's? please give me a link to the best/cheapest amp for the SR60's! I'm looking to get one this week. Xkrowx: I'm currently unable to build one myself. I'm gonna need to buy one ready. so basically since it seems that amps do help the SR60's, what's the best/cheapest option(s)??

The Caffeine Ultra one sounds exceptionally good with my Grado's. It's also around $50-$60.

The Fiio E5 sounds better than most CMoy IMO. The Fiio E3 bass bass boost on by default (more like permanent), so I don't know if you'd like that one at all.

Most of this is preference though. Actually I'll send you a PM about this.

 

[rds]

I definitely recommend a CMOY over a Fiio or PAv2. A well built cmoy is easily superior to the other two options.
Also in my opinion it really is worthwhile for Grado headphones.

 

[Drag0n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds /img/forum/go_quote.gif I definitely recommend a CMOY over a Fiio or PAv2. A well built cmoy is easily superior to the other two options. Also in my opinion it really is worthwhile for Grado headphones.

Thats it! Im selling it all and buying a CMOY!!!!!!

 

[odalanizi]

why the sudden decision drag0n? I've been talking to Gary the dude who sell the pav2, he's great and has a lot of faith in the pav2's ability with the sr60. I'm leaning towards getting a pav2 from him!

 

[LeonWho]

hmm. i don't know about that. while the e5 might be slightly (and i mean very slightly) inferior sq-wise to the more expensive cmoy, i do believe that the pa2v2 is better than the cmoy in sound quality and build quality.

 

[rds]

Since the OP asked in a pm for me to elaborate I will say that an amp absolutely must have the current and voltage overhead necessary to sound nice. Imo (and many other people's) a 9V battery is an absolute minimum for this. One or two double or triple A batteries just doesn't cut it. Beyound that you need a good capacitive bank to supply power instantaneously. The Fio definitely doesn't have this.
The PAV2 does have a decent amount of capacitance, but I didn't like the sound of it. The treble is very rolled off and overall I preferred the sound directly from headphone jack than through the PAV2. I never bothered to figure out the circuit, but it appears to be a basic form of cmoy with a very low voltage op-amp.
A well built cmoy with a quality op-amp will trump those other two easily imo. You should get a cmoy and PAV2 or Fiio and see for yourself. You can sell the one you consider inferior at a very low loss.

Drag0n - no cmoy in your collection?

Of course if you want something significantly better than all three of those look at the mini3. I think you can get one for around $100 in the FS forum. That is a very nice amp that is really in another league.