[heliosphann]

 
Go to http://www.garage1217.com/ they have a few tube amps to chose from.  I have a project ember which is a little out of your price range but its the most versatile amp that I have seen and works great for many of the headphones that I have.  The project solstice is under your budget even after adding shipping cost which some have said is a poor man's ember.

I own a Solstice and it's great with my K7xx. Also really, really like it with my 650 and Grado 325is. 

 

[DavidA]

  I own a Solstice and it's great with my K7xx. Also really, really like it with my 650 and Grado 325is. 

I like the K7XX on the Ember but it sounds a little fuller on my Lyr2, the bass goes lower and is more controlled, the mids are slightly more forward and the highs have a nice shimmer to them.
 
Did you ever try your HD-650 on a BH Crack?  As good as the Ember is the HD-650 with the BH Crack is a step up IMO, its just a outstanding pairing to me, like they were made for each other.

 

[RyHi-FiGuy]

  I own a Solstice and it's great with my K7xx. Also really, really like it with my 650 and Grado 325is. 

 
 

 
Go to http://www.garage1217.com/ they have a few tube amps to chose from.  I have a project ember which is a little out of your price range but its the most versatile amp that I have seen and works great for many of the headphones that I have.  The project solstice is under your budget even after adding shipping cost which some have said is a poor man's ember.

 
 
I noticed that some of the amps where named "OTL" while the Solstice and the Ember are solid-state, yet it talks about tubes with them all. I guess I am just a bit confused. Are they all tube amps? And is there a big sound difference with the solid-state vs OTL? Also, how would you say the the sound compares between the Solstice and the Ember>

 

[heliosphann]

  I like the K7XX on the Ember but it sounds a little fuller on my Lyr2, the bass goes lower and is more controlled, the mids are slightly more forward and the highs have a nice shimmer to them.
 
Did you ever try your HD-650 on a BH Crack?  As good as the Ember is the HD-650 with the BH Crack is a step up IMO, its just a outstanding pairing to me, like they were made for each other.

I've heard the Crack/650 are amazing together, but the assembly portion is what has shied me away. Maybe someday I'll step up and build one.

 

[RyHi-FiGuy]

  I like the K7XX on the Ember but it sounds a little fuller on my Lyr2, the bass goes lower and is more controlled, the mids are slightly more forward and the highs have a nice shimmer to them.
 
Did you ever try your HD-650 on a BH Crack?  As good as the Ember is the HD-650 with the BH Crack is a step up IMO, its just a outstanding pairing to me, like they were made for each other.

Do you think that the price jump to the Lyr 2 is really worth it? I actually wanted those, but find it very hard to justify the cost as I am practically a beginner when it comes to the audiophile world...

 

[DavidA]

  I've heard the Crack/650 are amazing together, but the assembly portion is what has shied me away. Maybe someday I'll step up and build one.

You can always get a built one, @cCasper TFG has his for sale now in the FS thread.
I have to say that it was fun to build, took me one night (about 14 hrs) to build while I was drinking wine, listening to some music and talking with my girlfriend.  The instructions with pictures are about as good as they get, only thing you will need is a good soldering station and good solder.

 

[DavidA]

  Do you think that the price jump to the Lyr 2 is really worth it? I actually wanted those, but find it very hard to justify the cost as I am practically a beginner when it comes to the audiophile world...

From the Ember to the Lyr2, No.  This is only because I have both and have hind site now.  The price jump is actually even higher due to the cost of buying "matched pairs" for the Lyr2 vs a single tube for the Ember.  To give you an idea on cost of tubes:  I've spent approximately $700-900 on tubes (15 sets) for the Lyr2 while only $300 (18 tubes) or so for the Ember.  Note that the Ember can use some of the tubes from the Lyr2 but it makes no sense to by matched pairs only to use one at a time so I keep them separate.  Another reason I got the BH Crack is that it uses the same driver tube as the Ember.
 
There are some headphones that I have that sound better on the Lyr2 IMO like K7XX, HE-560, LCD-2f, and TH-600 but if I didn't have the two amps to do a direct comparison quickly so my audio memory was still fresh I would be really happy with the Ember.  Also, the Ember having the adjustable output resistance / impedance and input gain is a much more flexible amp IMO while the BH Crack is like a specialist, really great with HD-650, HD-800, and DT-990 (T1 coming soon).
 
Good luck!

 

[RyHi-FiGuy]

  From the Ember to the Lyr2, No.  This is only because I have both and have hind site now.  The price jump is actually even higher due to the cost of buying "matched pairs" for the Lyr2 vs a single tube for the Ember.  To give you an idea on cost of tubes:  I've spent approximately $700-900 on tubes (15 sets) for the Lyr2 while only $300 (18 tubes) or so for the Ember.  Note that the Ember can use some of the tubes from the Lyr2 but it makes no sense to by matched pairs only to use one at a time so I keep them separate.  Another reason I got the BH Crack is that it uses the same driver tube as the Ember.
 
There are some headphones that I have that sound better on the Lyr2 IMO like K7XX, HE-560, LCD-2f, and TH-600 but if I didn't have the two amps to do a direct comparison quickly so my audio memory was still fresh I would be really happy with the Ember.  Also, the Ember having the adjustable output resistance / impedance and input gain is a much more flexible amp IMO while the BH Crack is like a specialist, really great with HD-650, HD-800, and DT-990 (T1 coming soon).
 
Good luck!

Great thanks! Not sure if you would know, but do you have any idea how the Solstice compares to the Ember? It looks like the solstice just doesn't include a pre-amp, but I wouldn't know that was worth the cost alone.
 
Thanks again for the help!

 

[DavidA]

 
Great thanks! Not sure if you would know, but do you have any idea how the Solstice compares to the Ember? It looks like the solstice just doesn't include a pre-amp, but I wouldn't know that was worth the cost alone.
 
Thanks again for the help!

I don't have a Solstice but the Ember puts out more power and has the pre-amp output as you noted.  The Solstice can use some tubes that the Ember can't like 12SN7 so it might give you more flexibility for tube rolling.  I use the pre-amp outputs to connect powered speakers so it a useful feature for me.

 

[mandrake50]

  Do you think that the price jump to the Lyr 2 is really worth it? I actually wanted those, but find it very hard to justify the cost as I am practically a beginner when it comes to the audiophile world...

I haven't compared the Lyr 2 to an Ember... but I did to my Sunrise III. I sent the Lyr 2 back. Not because it was not good, just that it was not good enough to justify the cost difference... to me.
I also have a Polaris. It has lots of flexibility as doses the Ember. It does not use tubes, but it does have an FET output stage. It was designed to give a sort of tube flavor, without dealing with tubes. I think it does a very nice job with the K7xx. It is closer to your price range.

 

[DavidA]

 
I haven't compared the Lyr 2 to an Ember... but I did to my Sunrise III. I sent the Lyr 2 back. Not because it was not good, just that it was not good enough to justify the cost difference... to me.
I also have a Polaris. It has lots of flexibility as doses the Ember. It does not use tubes, but it does have an FET output stage. It was designed to give a sort of tube flavor, without dealing with tubes. I think it does a very nice job with the K7xx. It is closer to your price range.

I think I might have sent my Lyr2 back also but I had it for 8 months before I got the Ember so I had an investment in tubes.  With the tubes that I currently have (CCa Telefunkens, Siemens Lorenz, 75 Reflectors, Amperex PQ gold pins, 50's Mullards) the Lyr2 does pair better with some of my headphones so keeping it make sense at this point.

 

[Redshifted]

I recently picked up a Project Polaris and I think it pairs very well with the AKG K7XX.  It seems like you can't really go wrong with any of the Garage 1217 amps.

 

[DavidA]

  I recently picked up a Project Polaris and I think it pairs very well with the AKG K7XX.  It seems like you can't really go wrong with any of the Garage 1217 amps.

What tubes are you using?  I've got an Ember and had good results with a 12AU7 Telefunken and 12AX7 Mullard.

 

[mandrake50]

I have a Polaris as well, and would recommend it highly for the K7XX, especially in its price class. The thing is, I have never been able to find a tube socket in the Polaris...


It is an SS amp !

 

[DavidA]

 
What tubes are you using?  I've got an Ember and had good results with a 12AU7 Telefunken and 12AX7 Mullard.

Okay, I was really drunk last night, still hanging today