[MrFaust]

first, how did this thread end up on page 2?

Now for the real question, I have been ripping a rather large classical music collection to flac for a friend's stepfather, who happens to be one of the inventors of the cocleur implant. I suggested to his wife that he should have a pair of T1's to enjoy this collection when he is relaxing in his library once he retires at the end of this year. So she jumped on Amazon and bought him a pair today for $866 as well as a pair of DT1350's for when he travels with his Ipad mini.

Now his source for playback of the flac collection is an iMac and the flac collection will be stored on a NAS. And while yes he could just plug the T1's directly into the iMac headphone jack, it would be a sin to run them that way so finally the question... With a budget of $1000-$1500 max, can someone suggest a good dac/amp combination that will pair well with the T1's and make them really shine when he is listening to his classical music collection?

Thanks in advance for any advice here.

 

[dduck]

I can personally recommend the solid state Beyerdynamic A1 amp. You can find pretty good deals on it, as it's just been discontinued. I pair it with a NAD D1050 DAC/amp that will also drive lower ohm cans if I ever need that. Tried the Modi DAC, but it made everything a little less engaging. YMMV.
 
Read the last couple of pages for other suggestions, but I think the consensus is that for DIY the Bottlehead Crack is great, for non DIY tubes the WA2 is best bet in the $1,000 range, and for another solid state option the Burson products are great, and they come in versions with an integrated DAC as well..
 
For a neat package that also supposedly pairs nicely with the T1, check out the WA7. Integrated DAC and pretty neutral tube amp.

 

[troymadison]

If i find the dt880 slightly fatiguing, would the T1 be better for me?

 

[HPiper]

Does anyone notice that the bass on the T1 has less physical impact than on a lot of other phones. I can feel the bass on a lot of my other phones, but on the T1 I hear it, but don't feel it as much.

 

[viper0700]

Personally I found the dt880's treble to be less pronounced than the T1 and therefore slightly less fatiguing but having said this I don't suffer greatly from fatigue. I'd recommend the HD650 but you mentioned you didn't like them too much. You might also want to have a look at the LCD 2. Having said all this I find the T1's treble to be one of its major strengths and is something I'm enjoying more and more compared to my HD800 which sometimes seems on the whispy side (I know, I need a better amp but the monies...)

 

[dduck]

  Does anyone notice that the bass on the T1 has less physical impact than on a lot of other phones. I can feel the bass on a lot of my other phones, but on the T1 I hear it, but don't feel it as much.

 
Before I had mine properly amped they seemed a little anemic. After I got the Beyer A1 amp the bass firmed up nicely. Still no physical thump though. My Denon AH-D600s do have the thump, but no definition.

 

[punit]

I get good bass thump & definition on the Master 9 & Btlhd Crack.

 

[JamieMcC]

Bass response and control I think is really good with the T1's its one of the reasons I like them so much.  Using the Crack also it will deliver bass with a pretty decent  punch and kick if required enough so that you can sometimes get a sense of impact for it also rather than just hearing it.

 

[HPiper]

Must be some kind of synergy going on between the T1 and Bottlehead. I have heard several people recommend those amps for the T1. Doesn't seem to matter which one you build, they all work well!

 

[cocolinho]

I'm a proud new owner of these fantastic headphones.
I'm currently powering them with a project ember +ODAC.
I'm now thinking to upgrade and I'll probably take a Crack+speedball and I found a good opportunity for a Bifrost with uber upgrade.
Is somebody using this combo? Don't think so but yeah...you never know.

 

[HPiper]

I'm a proud new owner of these fantastic headphones.
I'm currently powering them with a project ember +ODAC.
I'm now thinking to upgrade and I'll probably take a Crack+speedball and I found a good opportunity for a Bifrost with uber upgrade.
Is somebody using this combo? Don't think so but yeah...you never know.

Using half of it, you won't be disappointed by the Uber Bifrost. I will probably get a Crack/Speedball one of these days. Only thing stopping me is the expense of buying all the tools I would need to build it.

 

[Loquah]

 
Using half of it, you won't be disappointed by the Uber Bifrost. I will probably get a Crack/Speedball one of these days. Only thing stopping me is the expense of buying all the tools I would need to build it.

 
Don't let the tools cost stop you. 

You can make the Crack with <$100 worth of tools and they're all very handy tools to own except perhaps the soldering iron, but you'll probably get hooked and want to build more stuff so then it will be handy too!

 

[HPiper]

   
Don't let the tools cost stop you. 

You can make the Crack with <$100 worth of tools and they're all very handy tools to own except perhaps the soldering iron, but you'll probably get hooked and want to build more stuff so then it will be handy too!

Well I guess now is the time, my old LD amp kinda died last night so I need to replace it with something.

 

[Sotiris]

Hi,

I am finding an amp for my HD650 and T1. I know that normally most people will chose an amp for HD650 not more than $600. (just for normal case). Firstly I have the same opinion. But after I tried T1 once, I thought I will buy T1 in the next year. So I am thinking to buy an amp which can run both HD650 and T1  well.

I am now living in France, I just check the price of some proper amps, which have good price or good performance. (but I just got some information from internet ). So, I post them here, and hope to get any helps from you

1. Violectric HPA  V200
2. CORDA CLASSIC
3. PATHOS AURIUM
4. WOO Audio WA2
5. Schiit LYR

I just got some rough information below :

1. Violectric HPA  V200 (maybe the best balanced choice, price and performance may be both good for this two headphones) 
2. CORDA CLASSIC (I know this is good for T1, but I also heart it seems does not pair with HD650? )
3. PATHOS AURIUM (this is really attractive, but the price is high 1060 euros. Is this amp have a high CP ? I know it can drive most headphones well)
4. WOO Audio WA2 (it is not easy to buy it from Europe.)
5. Schiit LYR (The price is so good, and it is a hot amp in any forums, but I do not know how good it is, someone say it is good, but mostly due to its price and big power)

Thank you for any information you can give. I am not living in big city, so I do not have any chance to listen them...    Really hope anyone can give me any suggestions. 




PS : my audio source is PC + Atoll DAC 100 (it is not a hot brand, and made in France. But have good analysis , and maybe digital and cold, cost around 500 euros)

I have Corda and hd650 and T1....

Corba is....amazing with HD650..

and horrible with T1....

According to my ears....

 

[punit]

The Meier Classic is a good pairing with T1 IMHO. Infact I believe one of the the HP's he uses while voicing the Classic is T1. he in fact recommended the T1 when asked which HP pairs best with his amp.