[uraflit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mher6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I laughed

i LOL'd

 

[daltonlanny]

Reasonable to me: $2,000 or less.
Hope this helps.

 

[Jay B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFKMan23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Define reasonable price.

Oh that's easy, whatever is left in your bank account + credit line

. To the audiophile sound quality comes before all

.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Reasonable to me: $2,000 or less. Hope this helps.

headamp gs-x is probably your best bet. costs right under $1900. if i recall, there are new modules for this amp coming out in the next few months, so you might want to wait on buying new. if one came up used at a good price though, may be something to consider.

 

[PFKMan23]

What will you be using as a source?

 

[daltonlanny]

Marantz SA8001 SACD/CD player as a source at the moment...will upgrade to a balanced source later as well.

 

[decur]

singlepower sds xlr & headroom balanced max
without a doubt!!!!!

 

[Noobzor]

Does the DAC1 have enough power to drive the XLRs for a balanced headphone?

 

[Sovkiller]

Rant mode on:

Guys before stating opinions as: "get the amp X hands down", IMHO it will be a lot more useful for the OP, and will help him more in taking his decision, if the opinion is going to be such a radical one, to state at least the experiences with the rest of the balanced amps of the market as well, and then why the reco, and why excluding the rest in those recos, a little background will be really helpful ...

Otherwise why not being a little more objective or less exclusive...???

As we have not heard all the amps of the market, I think that we can only talk of the ones we have heard. Some of the posts here gave me the impression that the member had heard all existing and imaginable balanced amps and is recomending simply the cream of the cream, that even in the case that is true, it will be only to his/her ears, and not for everybody...YEAK!!!!

Rant mode off....

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller /img/forum/go_quote.gif Rant mode on: Guys before stating opinions as: "get the amp X hands down", IMHO it will be a lot more useful for the OP, and will help him more in taking his decision, if the opinion is going to be such a radical one, to state at least the experiences with the rest of the balanced amps of the market as well, and then why the reco, and why excluding the rest in those recos, a little background will be really helpful ... Otherwise why not being a little more objective or less exclusive...??? As we have not heard all the amps of the market, I think that we can only talk of the ones we have heard. Some of the posts here gave me the impression that the member had heard all existing and imaginable balanced amps and is recomending simply the cream of the cream, that even in the case that is true, it will be only to his/her ears, and not for everybody...YEAK!!!! Rant mode off....

Sovkiller, thanks for the rant caution flags.

I see your point. Makes sense that we ought to qualify our opinions by clarifying our experience with all or most of the other options. The problem is that if we try to follow this rule, only a handful of folks would have a voice. Granted that these may be the most knowledgeable and credible voices, but there's always the possibility that their opinions are based on flawed logic, invalid assumptions, biases, etc. When someone asks about the beaches in Miami, would it be permissible for Joe Blow who's been there to say they're great -- even if he hasn't been to beaches that touch the Pacific or even the New England coast? In a public discussion forum, I would think yes. Would his opinion be any less valuable than that of someone who's been to hundreds of the world's best beaches? Probably, but I'd still be interested in hearing what Joe had to say. A lot depends on Joe, in what he says and how he says it. I think we all weigh what others have to say, and sometimes the person who doesn't have the widest experience comes across as most credible. Just my opinion.

 

[Icarium]

I've heard the SDS-XLR/Solid State 1/Rudistor RP010/GS-X for reasonable amounts of time and out of these the first two are probably the best but weigh in at 5 figure price tags. Though truthfully I didnt hear the Solid State 1 with Sennheisers, so perhaps it isn't superr awesome for them. For the Sennheisers in particular I like the Rudistor amp much better than the GS-X as while the Rudistor definitely has a warmer sound signature rather than overwarm the already warm HD600/650 sound it somehow accents its strong points. They sound decent from the GS-X definitely better than with nearly any possible single ended amp, but comparatively I felt they sounded a bit thin and out of its element with the GS-X. You have to keep in mind that I am a self avowed detail freak so warmth isn't generally my thing, I love Qualias the most after all, but eh warmth without sacrificing any detail is definitely acceptible. Sometimes things just have that synergy like with the w5000s the GS-X have a mysterious synergy that did impress me given that I had been previously convinced that could only be achieved with a tube amp. I still feel that the w5000/Zana Deux combo is tops, but the GS-X definitely impressed me there. Other combinations I've really though were exceptional pairings in the past... SDS/L3000. Solid State 1/Quallas.

Anyway, I guess fundamentally its up to you what you want. Do you like the HD6X0 sound signature? Do you think it is overly euphonic and should be bled a bit to move closer to reality? GS-X/Dynamight/Beta22 is your bet. Think it could be significantly warmer? Perhaps Ray Samuels is your guy though his amp shoots past your price range. Headroom I remember has a fairly clinical sound as well from my experiences with their single ended amps.

 

[gswpete]

The HRD-B with crossfeed on sounds heavenly with the HD600

I liked it a lot more than with the HD650. It's sounds so good I am selling all of my other gear.

 

[ken36]

I would heartedly recommend the Headamp GSX. It doesn't get a lot of love in these forums, but it's a winner.

http://www.headamp.com/home_amps/gsx/index.htm

 

[tbonner1]

You may want to send cotdt a PM and ask his opinion.

 

[jbloudg20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbonner1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You may want to send codt a PM and ask his opinion.

Why? Do the rest of us not know anything? Apparently cotdt knows more than all of head-fi.

From know on, we can no longer speak. Only cotdt can chime in with his opinions, because they are the only ones that matter.