penguindude
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2006
- Posts
- 1,475
- Likes
- 11
So yea, I don’t wanna offend anyone, but i really feel the need to point this out. Recently I’ve been doing the same thing, making comments and advice to people about which headphones need or don’t need amps. I was wrong.
I recently purchased the ATH-A500 from Audiocubes (I must say, their sales service is fantastic and im very happy with them). I bought this can ‘cause I wanted a closed one with a rather big soundstage for gaming and one that doesn’t need an amp. After reading reviews, I went for it. If you search for old threads, you’ll probably find my review for them with a pretty impressive rating considering the price ($100).
I also own a pair of KOSS HV/1 (oldschool). My source is a creative notebook soundcard. And after I did some reading, I found that my HV/1 has an impedance of 120ohms. So, I decided to go ahead and buy a portable amp to drive these oldies. I ended up getting the PA2V2 from Electric-Avenues.com.
After plugging the HV/1 into the amp, I felt the sound signature of the HV/1 did not change – a still rather small soundstage and forward and bright sound. If I listen very closely, I can probably tell the amped sound is LESS bright and more bass than the unamped one.
After all the talk about how the A500 doesn’t need an amp or how it wont benefit much from one, I decided to break these “stereotypes” and go ahead and hear how they sound through the PA2V2. And then
The sound signature of the A500 was very much improved. The lack of mids which I previously wrote about became much more evident in the amped version. The sound came forward and became MUCH warmer. When switching back and forth (amped/unamped), the unamped A500 sounded much more shallow and “cold.” Listening to songs with high male vocal (Andrea Bocelli): unamped lacked mids, laid back, cold, and “shallow,” whereas amped sounded much more forward, warmer, and engaging. Highs sounded great and clear, and the bass remained punchy.
Impression and feel of Gary’s Pocket Amp2 Ver2
All I thought when I opened the package was “Wow, this is SMALL.” Very well constructed. The soft-touch knob was smooth and accurate. At first, when the volume knob was turned, a hiss was present. However, after 5 minutes of warming up, the hissing went away. Some people complained about the noise when AC adapter is plugged in, I experienced NO such thing. Sound and volume remained the same whether it was DC battery or AC adapter operated. The small AC Adapter is Japanese made and the amp is Canadian made (by Gary!)
I definitely feel the need to compliment Electric-Avenues on this sale. The transaction went smooth; Gary and I had GREAT communication, time and manner wise; and Gary even personalized a sticker on the bubble-wrapper for his customers! Considering this is only $60, I’m very pleased with my purchase. Everything feels solid and its portability will without question, become a NEED for my everyday music/movie/game listening.
So what's the conclusion? Don't repeat what others say on Head-fi. If you havnet tried a specific phones and compared them amped/unamped, then don't use those comments in your advice to others!!
I recently purchased the ATH-A500 from Audiocubes (I must say, their sales service is fantastic and im very happy with them). I bought this can ‘cause I wanted a closed one with a rather big soundstage for gaming and one that doesn’t need an amp. After reading reviews, I went for it. If you search for old threads, you’ll probably find my review for them with a pretty impressive rating considering the price ($100).
I also own a pair of KOSS HV/1 (oldschool). My source is a creative notebook soundcard. And after I did some reading, I found that my HV/1 has an impedance of 120ohms. So, I decided to go ahead and buy a portable amp to drive these oldies. I ended up getting the PA2V2 from Electric-Avenues.com.
After plugging the HV/1 into the amp, I felt the sound signature of the HV/1 did not change – a still rather small soundstage and forward and bright sound. If I listen very closely, I can probably tell the amped sound is LESS bright and more bass than the unamped one.
After all the talk about how the A500 doesn’t need an amp or how it wont benefit much from one, I decided to break these “stereotypes” and go ahead and hear how they sound through the PA2V2. And then
Impression and feel of Gary’s Pocket Amp2 Ver2
All I thought when I opened the package was “Wow, this is SMALL.” Very well constructed. The soft-touch knob was smooth and accurate. At first, when the volume knob was turned, a hiss was present. However, after 5 minutes of warming up, the hissing went away. Some people complained about the noise when AC adapter is plugged in, I experienced NO such thing. Sound and volume remained the same whether it was DC battery or AC adapter operated. The small AC Adapter is Japanese made and the amp is Canadian made (by Gary!)
So what's the conclusion? Don't repeat what others say on Head-fi. If you havnet tried a specific phones and compared them amped/unamped, then don't use those comments in your advice to others!!