[burnspbesq]

For those of you that have adopted the Ayre QB-9 as your DAC, curious as to what headphone amps you are using and/or would recommend.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

You match an amp with your headphones, not your DAC.

 

[Raez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountChoculaBot /img/forum/go_quote.gif You match an amp with your headphones, not your DAC.

That's not true, whatsoever. Every DAC (or analog player) has a different sound, and when you're talking about a high-end DAC like an Ayre, you want to compliment that sound. You should, however, match your amp to your entire system, which includes your headphones.

Is yours the Ayre using the Wavelength asynch DAC?

 

[burnspbesq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raez /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's not true, whatsoever. Every DAC (or analog player) has a different sound, and when you're talking about a high-end DAC like an Ayre, you want to compliment that sound. You should, however, match your amp to your entire system, which includes your headphones. Is yours the Ayre using the Wavelength asynch DAC?

Yes, that's the one. And to answer the Count's question, the headphones are Senn HD 800s.

 

[Raez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnspbesq /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, that's the one. And to answer the Count's question, the headphones are Senn HD 800s.

That's a very nice DAC mate, I am very jealous. #1 on my list of DACs.

However, very few people have them. I'd suggest reading some reviews and seeing what amps they paired with them. Even though they might not be optimal, if they liked them...

 

[AmanGeorge]

I listened to the Ayre at RMAF, and while it sounded great I thought it sounded slightly brighter than the other DACs I had tried in my system. I'd recommend getting something that's a touch warm.

 

[burnspbesq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif I listened to the Ayre at RMAF, and while it sounded great I thought it sounded slightly brighter than the other DACs I had tried in my system. I'd recommend getting something that's a touch warm.

Raptor, or Rudistor RP series, maybe?

 

[Asr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountChoculaBot /img/forum/go_quote.gif You match an amp with your headphones, not your DAC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raez /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's not true, whatsoever. Every DAC (or analog player) has a different sound, and when you're talking about a high-end DAC like an Ayre, you want to compliment that sound. You should, however, match your amp to your entire system, which includes your headphones.

I would suggest ignoring the advice of both of these posts, no offense to their authors intended. The choice of an amp to pair with the Ayre QB-9 is completely up to you and no one needs to tell you what to get. While there are plenty of people who rant about synergy, so-called synergy is also very subjective. Add whichever amp you want to.

There are many amps in existence that would all theoretically pair well with the QB-9, and don't let anyone tell you that any one of them will be the best one for whatever reason.

I would recommend reading more threads about specific amps you might be interested in, as well as the Meet Impressions forum.

 

[T_Schmidt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are many amps in existence that would all theoretically pair well with the QB-9, and don't let anyone tell you that any one of them will be the best one for whatever reason.

x2. She's a trial process. And a subjective trial process at that. However, I suggest to begin demo-ing, if at all possible, with what's been offered so far in the above posts. Even if they're not the one's you end up with, they get your foot (and ears) in the door. It's all a matter of how far down the rabbit hole you're willing to go. Good Luck!



Trev

 

[Raez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would suggest ignoring the advice of both of these posts, no offense to their authors intended. The choice of an amp to pair with the Ayre QB-9 is completely up to you and no one needs to tell you what to get. While there are plenty of people who rant about synergy, so-called synergy is also very subjective. Add whichever amp you want to. There are many amps in existence that would all theoretically pair well with the QB-9, and don't let anyone tell you that any one of them will be the best one for whatever reason. I would recommend reading more threads about specific amps you might be interested in, as well as the Meet Impressions forum.

That is what I said. I never told him what amps, just that he should match one to his system. What amp he feels sounds synergistic is obviously his decision. Also, OP, you didn't state rather or not you had a place to demo amps near by. If not, I still feel my previous advice about reading reviews is best.

Not taking anything personally, just elaborating.

 

[lovefancy]

i have an ayre c-5xe mp cd player, if im not wrong the QB-9 has similar dac/analogue output. i hope my finding on ayre product would give you some help on your next purchase. the single most important thing i found, is the balanced output from my cdp, which is way better than the rca out, i tried both rca/xlr with like 8 interconnects. xlr output is in another league. sound signature is the same, you got bigger and wider soundstage, more information coming out, a lot more detail, richness, full body,solid images and yet very musical sounding, etc..some hifi review had also posted similar finding on ayre's int amp, and they concluded using xlr has noticable improvement..so if you are gonna use balanced out, it pretty much narrows the choice of your headphone amp

 

[lovefancy]

ayre cdp is closed to neutral with very little bit foward high, not thin nor thick. if you dont like that tiny brightness, u can always tune it with different cables. though i doubt using low/mid level interconnects would reveal that simply because a neutral cable is very hard to find and cost probably more than a dac itself.