[icebear]

I'm not familiar with the beta24 but it doesn't look "old school" at all. Whatever you intend to describe with that term

.
Obviously this is a powerful speaker amp and not intended for use with headphones. I would contact the builder, he should be the best to answer your question.
 
Before trying to rectify some sound signature that you don't like in your HD800 (I suppose you have one) ... what's your source component? The amp is supposed to amplify the signal from the source, not to bend it into a certain direction. Get a source that gives you a pleasurable sound with your favorite type of music and get a neutral/accurate amp to preserve this sound. Just my $0.02.

 

[tupi3]

I currently have the O2/ODAC combo sitting on my desk. I'm just wondering, if I bought a pair of HD800's would the O2/ODAC do justice to them?

 

[JeremiahS]

  I'm not familiar with the beta24 but it doesn't look "old school" at all. Whatever you intend to describe with that term

.
Obviously this is a powerful speaker amp and not intended for use with headphones. I would contact the builder, he should be the best to answer your question.
 
Before trying to rectify some sound signature that you don't like in your HD800 (I suppose you have one) ... what's your source component? The amp is supposed to amplify the signal from the source, not to bend it into a certain direction. Get a source that gives you a pleasurable sound with your favorite type of music and get a neutral/accurate amp to preserve this sound. Just my $0.02.

 
Hi icebear,
 
My source is an Esoteric P-05/D-05 stack. I still spin CDs unlike you young ones!

 
Cheers,
Jeremiah

 

[icebear]

   
Hi icebear,
 
My source is an Esoteric P-05/D-05 stack. I still spin CDs unlike you young ones!

 
Cheers,
Jeremiah

LOL, I do also spin CD's on a Krell CD-DSP (original owner) which might put the "young ones" into perspective.
And just taking a wild guess,  you should be OK with your source  - unless you just don't like it's sound and need to get rid of it urgently,  then sent me a pm and I'll help you out

.

 

[NickLondon]

Does anyone have any views on whether the HDVD800 is worth the money?

 

[Zashoomin]

  I currently have the O2/ODAC combo sitting on my desk. I'm just wondering, if I bought a pair of HD800's would the O2/ODAC do justice to them?

I would say no.  Will they drive them?  Yes.  But I don't think that it would be that great of a pairing.  I think you can do a lot better.  

  Does anyone have any views on whether the HDVD800 is worth the money?

I personally think that there are better options, especially in that price range.  So, no I don't think its worth the money.  

 

[akhyar]

Does anyone have any views on whether the HDVD800 is worth the money?

I've never heard it through the balance output, but from my audition with the single-ended output, I'd say it never makes me smile.
Best for you to audition few amp/DAC within it price range

 

[Currawong]

  Hi guys,
 
I haven't been here for some times but admittedly I haven't made a decision yet. Although the more I listen to the various high-end solid-state amps such as the Taurus and GS-X, the more I'm tempted to risk commissioning a Beta 22 because of its unique and positively old-school sound. Anyway, I have a question: can you modify this amp for headphone use? Apparently it's the ultimate AMB design.
 
http://www.amb.org/audio/beta24/
 
Cheers,
Jeremiah

 
It'd be pointless IMO to not simply build a balanced Beta 22. I don't know what "old school sound" is.
 
A good way to make the HD-800s more tolerant with a variety of amps is, IMO, to one of the HD-800 mods described over at Innerfidelity. I've been using them with a few different aftermarket cables and they are great on more amps now.

 

[Zashoomin]

   
It'd be pointless IMO to not simply build a balanced Beta 22. 

From what I read the Beta 24 uses Beta 22 topology with bigger power mosfets to generate more power for your speakers, so (Ti might slit my throat for saying this) I think that it will sound very similar to the Beta 22.  You will just save a lot of time and money by building a beta instead.  Which by the way is a fantastic amp.  I have no idea how good it is with the HD800 though.  

 

[SoupRKnowva]

From what I read the Beta 24 uses Beta 22 topology with bigger power mosfets to generate more power for your speakers, so (Ti might slit my throat for saying this) I think that it will sound very similar to the Beta 22.  You will just save a lot of time and money by building a beta instead.  Which by the way is a fantastic amp.  I have no idea how good it is with the HD800 though.  

 


Not exactly, I am pretty sure the B24 is a completely balanced design, whereas the B22 is just bridged amplifiers.

 

[JeremiahS]

 
LOL, I do also spin CD's on a Krell CD-DSP (original owner) which might put the "young ones" into perspective.
And just taking a wild guess,  you should be OK with your source  - unless you just don't like it's sound and need to get rid of it urgently,  then sent me a pm and I'll help you out

.

 
Hi icebear,
 
I'm glad to see another old timer. I'm new to headphones but the demography is certainly a lot younger than the usual speaker folks! I feel a bit left out.

 
Cheers,
Jeremiah
 

   
It'd be pointless IMO to not simply build a balanced Beta 22. I don't know what "old school sound" is.
 
A good way to make the HD-800s more tolerant with a variety of amps is, IMO, to one of the HD-800 mods described over at Innerfidelity. I've been using them with a few different aftermarket cables and they are great on more amps now.

 

Hi Currawong,
 
I'm sorry, "old-school" is perhaps the wrong word. I'm thinking of something like the Krell house sound so something that is neutral but straying a bit to the warm side and most importantly there has to a certain effortless and liquidity qualities to the sound. Analogue maybe? Hard to describe with words.
 
I think the GS-X and AURALiC that I tried have a more modern, "digitized" sound but it's a bit too sterile and cold for me. They seem to sacrifice musicality for details and aggressive.
 
I've read about the mods, will try it as a last resort of things.
 
Cheers,
Jeremiah
 

  From what I read the Beta 24 uses Beta 22 topology with bigger power mosfets to generate more power for your speakers, so (Ti might slit my throat for saying this) I think that it will sound very similar to the Beta 22.  You will just save a lot of time and money by building a beta instead.  Which by the way is a fantastic amp.  I have no idea how good it is with the HD800 though.  

 
 

 

  From what I read the Beta 24 uses Beta 22 topology with bigger power mosfets to generate more power for your speakers, so (Ti might slit my throat for saying this) I think that it will sound very similar to the Beta 22.  You will just save a lot of time and money by building a beta instead.  Which by the way is a fantastic amp.  I have no idea how good it is with the HD800 though.  

 


Not exactly, I am pretty sure the B24 is a completely balanced design, whereas the B22 is just bridged amplifiers.

 
Hi Zashoomin and SoupRKnowva,
 
Thanks for the inputs.
 
So it's not possible at all? I think the builder of the Beta 22 amp that I tried also told me this and that's why I'm looking for second opinions from you folks.

 
Has any of you tried the legendary Krell KSA-5 amp with the HD800? In an ideal world I want to buy that amp but it's looking very, very unlikely.
 
Cheers,
Jeremiah

 

[Zashoomin]

  Hi Zashoomin and SoupRKnowva,
 
Thanks for the inputs.
 
So it's not possible at all? I think the builder of the Beta 22 amp that I tried also told me this and that's why I'm looking for second opinions from you folks.

 
Has any of you tried the legendary Krell KSA-5 amp with the HD800? In an ideal world I want to buy that amp but it's looking very, very unlikely.
 
Cheers,
Jeremiah

 
I mean its possible, but I don't think its worth the investment. Even with a completely balanced design, it is a huge amp that will require a lot of parts and be very expensive.  I think for your purposes a Beta 22 will do the exact same thing.  That and if you really want balanced you can get a 4 channel beta 22.  The beta 22 that I built and use even powers my speakers 

.  
 
I have never heard the KSA 5 with the HD800s, but I am building a clone currently and will see how it sounds.  

 

[ericfarrell85]

Been playing with adding preamps to my HD800 chain. At the moment I'm going CSP2+ > ECBA, which at first glance makes the HD800 a little more tonally palatable. Too early for any definite conclusions, but my concern of a hit to detail extraction may have been overstated. After this I'll see how the CSP2+ plays with the Zana and the BA with the Zana after that. Finally, I'm most interested in the BA > Balanced Beta combo. I've always felt the beautifully smooth Beta fit the HD800 like a glove.

 

[HiAudio]

  Does anyone have any views on whether the HDVD800 is worth the money?

 
 

  I would say no.  Will they drive them?  Yes.  But I don't think that it would be that great of a pairing.  I think you can do a lot better.
I personally think that there are better options, especially in that price range.  So, no I don't think its worth the money.

 
 

I've never heard it through the balance output, but from my audition with the single-ended output, I'd say it never makes me smile.
Best for you to audition few amp/DAC within it price range

 
So, the HDVD 800 made by Sennheiser at $2000 is not the best option at this price range, which amps can beat HDVD 800 hands down at around $2000?

 

[bigfatpaulie]

   
 
 
 
 
So, the HDVD 800 made by Sennheiser at $2000 is not the best option at this price range, which amps can beat HDVD 800 hands down at around $2000?

 
Check out the Audio-GD Master 9.