Quote:
I have Sennheisser HD600s. I'm wondering what could match well with it. More importantly is where do I get started in learning all the ins and outs of amps , headphones , cables , etc. There are many different posts about people asking questions about what could be matched best to the equipment they have but nothing in terms of general knowledge about the hardware or anything else.
Heya,
I'm biased since I'm enjoying it, but I have the HD580's which is the HD600's former soul before it got rebooted, same headphone. I drive it with a Little Dot MK III tube amp. Absolutely wonderful sound. It takes the neutral Sennheiser and makes it warm, crisp, and pushes it all the way. You could also investigate the Matrix M-Stage for a solid state amplifier.
To bring yourself up to speed, get ready to read on Wiki and here about (and related to sound reproduction specifically):
DAC (digital to analog conversion)
Amplifier (how they work, what milliwatts and volts and all mean)
Impedance (or resistance) (denoted and measured as Ohms)
Sensitivity (ie, volume it takes to hear something in the headphone, this is highly related to amplification in low impedance headphones)
Solid State amplifiers compared to Tube amplifiers and the technology behind them and the sound difference
Know the difference between electrodynamic and electrostatic so you don't grab amplifiers for one or the other depending on headphone (shouldn't be a problem, ever, until you splurge on Stax or something, but still know the difference)
Just search those terms and ideas on google or wiki and start reading. Then start reading
reviews here on head-fi on equipment. Before you glaze over reviews, get an idea of the terms being used by reading this
Glossary.
Welcome aboard.
Very best,