[Plasmaskin]

Recently I bought a Sennheiser HD 598 that I'm currently driving with a Fiio E10 (used as a DAC + amp). I must say that I'm quite impressed by the results.
 
Although I love this setup, I'm already thinking of adding a tube amp in the mix. I've always wanted to try a tube amp for its advertised warm sound and I think that this could be beneficial to the HD 598. I'm planning to keep the Fiio E10 as a DAC and use its line out to the tube amp.
 
Anyway, I have been looking at the Little Dot amps (MK II, MK III, MK IV and MK IV SE) as they all have great reviews. The most I'd be willing to spend for the amp is in the $400-$500 range. I also realize that I would probably have to buy tubes "to play with" later...
 
I'm listening to various genres: rock, pop, jazz, etc. The HD 598 seems to do a good job with all sorts of music and ideally I would like to keep it that way when adding the tube amp.
 
Are the Little Dot amps right for me? Would the MK IV SE be overkill considering the rest of my rig? Would you recommend another tube amp?
 
Thanks

 

[PurpleAngel]

If your willing to spend $400-$500 for audio improvement, get better headphones, maybe the Hifiman HE-400, the HE-400 seems really well liked.

 

[Plasmaskin]

Thanks PurpleAngel, that makes a lot of sense. The thing is that, as a newbie, I wanted to try tube technology with what I already own (if this makes any sense...). Ideally I'd like to spend a lot less than $500... I still have those RS 180 to upgrade to RS 220 I will look into the HE-400 as they do have great reviews.
 
So, how much should I spend for a tube amp (if anything at all)?

 

[mikek200]

Quote:

Thanks PurpleAngel, that makes a lot of sense. The thing is that, as a newbie, I wanted to try tube technology with what I already own (if this makes any sense...). Ideally I'd like to spend a lot less than $500... I still have those RS 180 to upgrade to RS 220 I will look into the HE-400 as they do have great reviews.
 
So, how much should I spend for a tube amp (if anything at all)?

Just a suggestion...
If you do decide to get another headphone...I would absolutely start your search here:
http://www.head-fi.org/f/6550/headphones-for-sale-trad.
Other head-fiers go out of their way to give fair prices,especially to other head-fiers.
 
Also,if you do decide to go with a tube amp,the next step ,will probably?? be .....tube rolling....this can be expensive.
I went through 35 pairs of tubes,& about $3000.00..ouch!!
 
 
Good Luck,
Mike

 

[charliex]

Quote:

Just a suggestion...
If you do decide to get another headphone...I would absolutely start your search here:
http://www.head-fi.org/f/6550/headphones-for-sale-trad.
Other head-fiers go out of their way to give fair prices,especially to other head-fiers.
 
Also,if you do decide to go with a tube amp,the next step ,will probably?? be .....tube rolling....this can be expensive.
I went through 35 pairs of tubes,& about $3000.00..ouch!!
 
 
Good Luck,
Mike

 
There have been some good suggestions made in your thread.  If I understand right, you are simply trying to get a feel for tube amps as you continue your headphone journey (believe me, it is quite the journey with the adage 'sorry 'bout your wallet' ringing true. 
My suggestion is going with the Little Dot MK III.  It has excellent reviews and really is a nice amp to start the game of 'tube-rolling'
And I agree with Mike, to start your search here in the Head-Fi 'for sale' listings.  I have amassed my collection over the years primarily via Head-Fi ads.  The community here is very trustworthy, fair and will go out of their way to provide help and assistance.  MUCH better choice for used audiophile equipment over eBay which I tend to avoid.
Have fun and good luck in your journey.
Bryan

 

[Plasmaskin]

Thanks guys. Yes, I'm actually just curious and I would like to try a tube amp for the warm sound (I'm not even mentioning the "hot & awesome style" factor ). The Little Dot MK III seems like a good choice because it got great reviews and its price tag doesn't seem shocking compared to what I paid for the headphones.
 
I indeed foresee myself rolling tubes and I realize this isn't cheap. This is why I was considering going directly with the MK IV SE because it reportedly has good tubes out-of-the-box and it would cost over $100 to match these if I started with an MK III...
 
Would it be silly to get an amp that costs twice the price of the headphones?

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Thanks guys. Yes, I'm actually just curious and I would like to try a tube amp for the warm sound (I'm not even mentioning the "hot & awesome style" factor ). The Little Dot MK III seems like a good choice because it got great reviews and its price tag doesn't seem shocking compared to what I paid for the headphones.
 
I indeed foresee myself rolling tubes and I realize this isn't cheap. This is why I was considering going directly with the MK IV SE because it reportedly has good tubes out-of-the-box and it would cost over $100 to match these if I started with an MK III...
 
Would it be silly to get an amp that costs twice the price of the headphones?

 

Hey there! Since no one else beat me to it,   WELCOME TO HEAD-FI!!

 
Unfortunately your headphones sit on a kind of threshold. They sound pretty good on their own, and I fear you may not notice a huge change in the sound if you upgrade your amplifier. How are you currently listening to these headphones? Do you ever plan on upgrading the headphones to a different pair? If so, which pairs are you looking at? 

 

[Plasmaskin]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Great forum with great & helpful people posting.
 
Quote:

How are you currently listening to these headphones?

I'm not sure about what you mean exactly but I use them through the amplified output of the Fiio E10. The source is the latest foobar2000 on Win7 with WASAPI output (event-based, 1s buffer, 24bit). I listen to various styles... to be honest even styles I don't really like sound good to me on the 598... I have a bunch of FLACs (some at 24bit/96kHz) and some MP3s.
 
Quote:

Do you ever plan on upgrading the headphones to a different pair? If so, which pairs are you looking at?

I have no plan at this point but if I keep hanging on on this forum I'm sure I'll upgrade soon

 
Actually I've looked into the HE-400 recommended above and those planar magnetic headphones are intriguing me... that could well be the next buy. Would the Little Dot amps drive these?
 
Quote:

Unfortunately your headphones sit on a kind of threshold. They sound pretty good on their own, and I fear you may not notice a huge change in the sound if you upgrade your amplifier.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of. The coolness of tubes is definitely not sufficient to justify the investment.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Thanks for the warm welcome. Great forum with great & helpful people posting.
 
I'm not sure about what you mean exactly but I use them through the amplified output of the Fiio E10. The source is the latest foobar2000 on Win7 with WASAPI output (event-based, 1s buffer, 24bit). I listen to various styles... to be honest even styles I don't really like sound good to me on the 598... I have a bunch of FLACs (some at 24bit/96kHz) and some MP3s.
 
I have no plan at this point but if I keep hanging on on this forum I'm sure I'll upgrade soon

 
Actually I've looked into the HE-400 recommended above and those planar magnetic headphones are intriguing me... that could well be the next buy. Would the Little Dot amps drive these?
 
That's exactly what I'm afraid of. The coolness of tubes is definitely not sufficient to justify the investment.

 
 
That's exactly what I meant by driving them 

 The fiio unit is a pretty quality unit. I think my later concern is a little more valid then. If you were say listening out of your iphone, I might say a little dot will give you improvement, but not a lot compared to the Fiio.  I'm not too familiar with the HD598, so maybe someone will jump in
 
If you hang on this forum too long you'll end up spending thousands on headphones. "HAH! There's no way" you think to yourself. We all thought that at one point. "I don't have that kind of money" you respond. None of us do, but we find it somehow. "My wife/husband would kill me!" Oh, you still have one? Time to get rid of that, they'll get in the way of the headphones. 
 
If you get the HE-400 I think you'll notice the improvement in a little dot amplifier, however I don't think you'll really get enough of a jump with your current headphones, and may end up disappoint, and feel like you've wasted money, which wouldn't be fair to you or the little dot. Not to say you don't have excellent headphones, which you do, but those headphones were designed to be easier to drive and not need the power of a larger amplifier, if that makes sense. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Would it be silly to get an amp that costs twice the price of the headphones?

I would say yes it is.

 

[Plasmaskin]

Quote:

If you hang on this forum too long you'll end up spending thousands on headphones. "HAH! There's no way" you think to yourself. We all thought that at one point. "I don't have that kind of money" you respond. None of us do, but we find it somehow. "My wife/husband would kill me!" Oh, you still have one? Time to get rid of that, they'll get in the way of the headphones.

 
Hehe

and if only I had one single vice... she already has issues with my addiction to flashlights... "who in their sane mind would pay $450 for a flashlight?" Clearly, it doesn't help that the motto over at CandlePowerForums is "when you don't know which one to buy, buy both!".
 
From your insightful comments I think that it's urgent for me to... wait. Maybe I'll stick to my plan and buy the Sennheiser RS 220 to upgrade from my RS 180 (yeah, just for watching TV...).
 
Thank you all for your help.

 

[icehole]

I think if you are looking to change your sound to something more warm, I would do as others have suggested and just buy different headphones.  I have the LD MKIII with he400s and the senn hd650s.  The LD MKIII purchase was mostly from suggestion from PurpleAngel and I am very happy with it.  For me, swapping between different amps or tube rolling makes subtle differences, albeit at the time I needed an amp that could better power hd650s.  Tube rolling is enjoyable, but you get much more bang for your buck with buying different sets of cans for really noticeable differences. 
 
Also at the price range you are contemplating, the so called "mid-fi" range cans are all within your reach.  There are some really fun and different signatures worth trying.  I could list out a ton of different cans for you to try, but I found that part of the fun to this hobby was reading everyones reviews and eventually deciding and trying some stuff out. You cannot really go too wrong trying different things, as these items hold their value quite well if you buy used. 

 

[punks15]

Quote:

If your willing to spend $400-$500 for audio improvement, get better headphones, maybe the Hifiman HE-400, the HE-400 seems really well liked.

Yes i agree

 

[puccipaolo]

hi,
I have ....some cans and hd 598 too. Alone are not so magic, and with fiio E12 or my cube linear Lehemannaudio I not notice a good improve in sound, but with my little dot I+ and russian tubes they become magic ..also the bass ( really not special with 598) grow in presentation and impact.
If you can try a little dot I would be a good chance .....not ,so clear and articolate, but super cheep for try is biggermouth. (40€ in ebay) with nos tubes