[unl3a5h3d]

Well I am going to be buying a headphone amp after christmas. I now have the MS1i's and love them. I am wanting a tube amp/hybrid.

The main question I have is which amp would be better for the following:

My next cans will most likely be, HD600, SR325i, or used RS1/2's. It is all according to budget.

The main amps I am looking at are the LD 1+ and LD MKIII. I have read that the 1+ is good with Grados but I can't find much on the HD600's. And I have read that the MKIII is good with the HD600's. Should I just go ahead and get the better amp, the MKIII? Thanks.

 

[unl3a5h3d]

Anyone?

 

[DarKu]

I heard once an LD MK2 (the older version) and IMO it was not what I expected it to be, if you rise your budget a bit you can get a very nice Woo WA6 with PDPS mod which I strongly recommend to you, a SET transformer coupled tube amp is what you need

PS: LD MKIII and MKIV are OTL designs which IMO is a poor match for Grados, OTL loves high impedance load and it strugles to drive an low impedance load, a transformer coupled amp would do just fine for both low and high impedance headphones

 

[estreeter]

Check Larry's EF2 review - I believe he mentions the HD600 somewhere in there.

(bumping a thread so soon after starting it is considered fairly impatient imb)

 

[DayoftheGreek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check Larry's EF2 review - I believe he mentions the HD600 somewhere in there. (bumping a thread so soon after starting it is considered fairly impatient imb)

The EF2 review does also have favorable mentions of Grado phones with the amp.

 

[unl3a5h3d]

I would love to have the WA6 but I am afraid it is out of my price range. Even a used one, but what about the WA3? I might could find a used one of those. And what about Darkvoice?

 

[nyjets28]

try a Millet hybrid. it sounds great with my hd580 and i think i read somewhere that it sounds great with grado as well.

 

[sampson_smith]

I bet a Gilmore Lite or Pico would do the trick.

 

[MacedonianHero]

My MAD Ear+HD is magical with both my Senn HD650s and Grado RS1s. Actually, it has about the best synergy with Grados that I have ever heard and more than enough power for the HD650s.

 

[punkaroo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyjets28 /img/forum/go_quote.gif try a Millet hybrid. it sounds great with my hd580 and i think i read somewhere that it sounds great with grado as well.

x2

Re: MAD amps; I got to test one out with my HF-2s recently; what impressed me the most was how quiet is was: no humming; totally silent. Other than that, I wasn't blown away. Which is a relief for my wallet!

Just goes to show you that my $250 Millet Hybrid is just as good, if not better than a $600+ tube amp. This is NOT a knock on Dr. Peppard and his fine work. This was just my observation.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

The Mapletree Ear+ was designed with the HD600 in mind and it also has a reputation with Grado's (RS1 in particular). If you want to go cheaper, the LD MKIII should do you just fine. Or any hybrid like the Millet, EF1/2, LD I+...

Technically the MKIII is a bad match for Grado's, but it sounded great to me. Just set the gain setting to lowest and get one of those ohm adapters to preserve tube life.

 

[unl3a5h3d]

I have looked at the Millet Hybrid and I would love to try to build one but I don't know how well that would go. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the hardest, how hard is the Millet Hybrid to do DIY? PS: My dad is a electrician and although it has been a while since he has had electronics classes, I showed him some diagrams and schematics and he says he thinks we can do it, as long as the board is already etched? If that makes any sense?

 

[iancraig10]

An X-Can V2 modded is superb with Senns 0r the V3 (The V8 is good as well) and I hear that the X-Cans are supposed to be good with low impedance headphones as well.

Ian

 

[nyjets28]

well they don't sell the boards for the millet hybrid anymore (afaik), but you might wanna try out the millet hybridmax

 

[unl3a5h3d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyjets28 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well they don't sell the boards for the millet hybrid anymore (afaik), but you might wanna try out the millet hybridmax

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't that this?

How is the Audio GD Compass and WA3/WA3+ with these headphones. I could probably get either of them used.