[monsieurguzel]

Hi everybody, I am looking for some advice with a new high end headphone amp. My current setup is PS Audio DL III Cullen IV Mod > Wood Audio 6 SE (Sophia Princess Rectifier) > Headphones.

I am in the process of investing in new headphones, namely HD800, Beyer T1, I currently have HE-5's, and Silver Dragon recabled HD650s. My musical preferences migrate towards jazz, instrumental, indie rock, classic rock, with a little bit of classical music.

My current budget is about $2500, which puts 4 amps in my mind right now:

1. Woo Audio 5 LE - 300B singled ended amp that is powerful and I hear has great synergy with HD800s. I hear the 300B sound is legendary with speakers but am not sure about with headphones. Would I miss much from it not being balanced?

2. Woo Audio 22 - Balanced. I hear that it is a Woo 6 SE with more open soundstage and more power to drive. Would the HD800 Balanced or T1 benefit much vs. my current Woo?

3. Zana Deux - OTL single ended with warm lush sound. I hear it has wonderful synergy with HD800 (and I'm guessing T1) but not enough power to run HE-5 (which I might not keep). Also functions as a pre-amp which could be nice down the line.

4. Zana Deux Transformer - Balanced Transformer coupled amp that is supposed to be more neutral and fast paced than the ZD. I hear that HD800 might not be as good than with ZD single-ended but balanced might be different story. Finally, I know that the ZDT can drive 8 Watts @ 8 Ohm speakers but i'm wondering if that is useful enough to drive anything significant in terms of good speakers.

5. DNA Sonnett Balance amp - Heard some good things about this amp but don't know very much about it. Sounds interesting though!

Currently I am looking for a more holographic and 3 dimensional sound with better PRAT than my Woo 6, so I don't know if I need to go balanced for something like that. Also, aesthetics are very important to me and in that department i would rank them accordingly (1-Woo5 2-ZD 3- DNA Sonnett 4-ZDT 5-Woo22)

Please let me know what your opinions are about this matter.

 

[jenneth]

I was in a similar situation not too long ago (and we have somewhat similar setup as well), the only difference was that I was strictly looking for a SE amp. With $2500, you can add two more amps onto your list: RudiStor RPX-300 and Luxman P-1u. The latter is a little overpriced IMO, since the now discontinued P-1 offers a very similar performance. Aesthetic-wise, I think these two amps looks very good.

 

[DC5Zilla]

I would go for DNA Sonett out of those since I've had a great experience with it on the past.

 

[kunalraiker]

I will be interested to buy your WA6 SE

 

[plaidplatypus]

You should hold on to your current amp and try lots of headphones.

I personally prefer the WA6 to the ZDT with the Grado RS-1. The ZDT does a good job of powering a STAX adaptor, so I can imagine that it would do a good job of driving many speakers.

The P-1u may be more expensive than the P-1 but it's still one of the best solid state headphone amps ever made. I'm glad Luxman chose to update the P-1 rather than discontinue it.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've only listened to the Zana Deux and the Sonett.

I would not characterize the Zana as having "warm, lush" sound. If anything, the Zana is about as close to solid state as I've heard a tube amp get. It is crisp, clean, clear, and dead-nuts neutral. It has just enough warmth to let you know that you're not listening to chips. If that's what you're looking for, go for it.

The Sonett is a little warmer, but has plenty of detail, good timing and a great sound. I also recommend it.

If I were you, I'd nail down the headphones you want first. That's the vast majority of what you'll be listening to. Once you figure out which headphones you want (and attendig a meet is highly recommended), then figure out which amp works best with them. Headphones sound different depending on the amp, so you don't want to buy an amp without knowing that it'll synergize well with your headphones. The headphones are most important to the sound, so choose those first.

 

[Asr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monsieurguzel /img/forum/go_quote.gif My current setup is PS Audio DL III Cullen IV Mod > Wood Audio 6 SE (Sophia Princess Rectifier) > Headphones.

I haven't heard either the DLIII or the WA6 SE but it would appear that you are at the point where it may make sense to invest into a really good source before investing into an amp. Every amp is only as good as the source that feeds it - while I'm sure the DLIII isn't bad, I'm also just as sure that it can be improved upon. If the DLIII is the only source you've heard with the WA6 SE, how do you know the amp can't achieve a "holographic and 3 dimensional sound with better PRAT" with another source? It's possible the WA6 SE is capable of delivering even more that you haven't heard yet. As far as possible sources, I can't think of any as I have very limited experience with USB DACs, but plenty of info can be found here on HF and at other forums.

It can also take a lot more money than what you've already invested into your setup to achieve a noticeable extra degree of sound quality - as in, thousands of dollars potentially combined with amp and/or source. If you're not prepared for that, why not just enjoy your music with what you currently have?

I also find it curious the only amps under your consideration are all tube-based ones. Why not solid-state?

For the record I actually have heard all the amps mentioned but there's no way I'm going to comment on anything because almost every session was in meet conditions.

 

[nigeljames]

The W6se has plenty of PRAT & 3 dimensional sound with my source (Cyrus CD8se) so Asr may have point if the Woo is lacking those attributes in your system.
Never heard the DLIII but I have heard that it is warm and laid back so if that is true then maybe that is what's causing the lack of PRAT.
Also I have never heard the ZD descibed as warm and lush either.

 

[atothex]

Source upgrade.

Who even knows what amps work with T1 anyways? Does anyone in the States have one yet, other than Todd and Tyll?

 

[jenneth]

DLIII with Cullen IV Mod isn't bad, though I do have to admit that it is a warm-sounding DAC. And I agree with Uncle Erik in that you should nail down the headphones that you want first.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Thanks everybody for all your feedback! Definately helps me with which direction to take. As of this morning I order a pair of HD800 through amazon and should receive them tomorrow. Hopefully they will have good synergy with my WA6SE since they aren't as power hungry as my HE-5. I am very accustomed to the Senheiser sound but I head that HD800s are very different from HD650, so we will see.

As for my DAC, the thing is that I JUST bought it about 3 weeks ago as an upgrade from my Apogee Duet. I was debating between the DLIII and the Bel Canto Dac3 and heard better things about the modded DLIII. I have seen quite an improvement over the Duet and I like the fact that it is on the warmer side vs. the more sterile analytical sound of a Dac1. Do you have any DACs in mind that would be more suitable and well recommended?

Now I don't want to get into the debate about balanced vs. unbalanced but do you really feel like there would be a significant change in the clarity and soundscape of a balanced amp vs my WA6SE?

 

[jenneth]

Bel Canto DAC3 is a very well regarded DAC, people who are not satisfy with it usually go the CD Player route. Red Wine Isabellina is another well-received DAC (not sure if it's better than the DAC3 though). I think at this level (and beyond), most of the DACs are very good, and the only differences are, IMO, sound-signature and features. But if you want to move up to the next tier, you can always try either the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC or something from the MSB Technology (those are very pricey).

 

[The Monkey]

x to the whatever on the source. That is the next step for you.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monsieurguzel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was debating between the DLIII and the Bel Canto Dac3 and heard better things about the modded DLIII. I have seen quite an improvement over the Duet and I like the fact that it is on the warmer side

Cullen modded DLIII should be PLENTY good for your needs. Just make sure not to feed it via USB, which sounds MUCH, MUCH worse than its spdif inputs.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Mine is currently being fed through optical from my Macbook pro, which is running Pure Vinyl Audio Server alac files. I'm wondering if this is my weekest link and am thinking of getting a Squeezebox touch (when it finally gets released) since it can stream 24/96 and has a very high quality Coax output