[Bootleg]

Aloha all,

As you can see in my signature, I'm in the process of acquiring four well regarded sets of cans:

1. Grado SR325i
2. Sennheiser HD650
3. Beterdynamic DT 880
4. AKG K 701

I bought all four in the hopes of doing extended A/B/C/D sessions in order to see which one or two I'm gonna keep.

The problem is I'm amp poor.

I've got a Headroom Total Bithead plus the Benchmark DAC1 and X-Can v3 on the way...but I know I need to go big guns and get a reference quality amp to truly sort out these fine cans.

I've got it narrowed down to the following (each suggested by Ray, Jack, and Mikhail respectively):

RSA Raptor - $1,175
Woo Audio 2 or 4 - $950/$1,150
Singlepower Extreme (14amp model) - $1,300

I'm very sure that each amp with drive the 701's, 650's, and 880's fine...but which will also play nice with the Grado's?

WHICH SHOULD I BUY?

I'm willing to spend up to a total of $1,500 for extra tubes, etc.

Mahalo!

 

[jp11801]

I would go with the Woo 2 if it were my cash and ears. Not that you could go terribly wrong with either of these but I think the woo has the best sound.
My issues with the singlepower amps is I know if three people who have had their amps back for service for extended periods of time, so if you het the amp and have no problems great but if you send it back to Denver you need to have a backup. I was never a fan of the raptor I had one for a while and it did a good job but it was a little too thick sounding for my tastes. If I was going with an RSA amp I might be more tempted to go with the HR-2 than the raptor.
The woo can get pricey if you factor in replacement tubes as really good 2a3 tubes can cost you but I really fell for this amp at the national, not that it matters but Wes Phillips (stereophile) seemed to like it alot as well, I think there is a nice mention of it in the write up he did.

It's out of your price range but for $1900 or so you can get the Eddie Current Zana Duex and this amp bests all the others you mentioned. I think you can still get in on the current build that is going on if you can make the $$ stretch.

 

[mrarroyo]

The Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 is a very nice amp, IMO reference quality. However it gets very little love here. So I suggest to modify you X-Can V3 by: 1) Getting the PinkFloyd kit, 2) A pair of matched 6NP1-EB valves, and 3) A better PSU like the Little Pinkie

With the 3 mods listed above the amp will go to a whole new level and if you do the mods yourself up to and including making your very own PSU the total cost would be about $150 to $175 for all three. If you buy the PSU and the kit (you install it) then the total cost would be about $225 to $250.

Good luck.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 is a very nice amp, IMO reference quality. However it gets very little love here. So I suggest to modify you X-Can V3 by: 1) Getting the PinkFloyd kit, 2) A pair of matched 6NP1-EB valves, and 3) A better PSU like the Little Pinkie With the 3 mods listed above the amp will go to a whole new level and if you do the mods yourself up to and including making your very own PSU the total cost would be about $150 to $175 for all three. If you buy the PSU and the kit (you install it) then the total cost would be about $225 to $250. Good luck.

X2.

 

[jcx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bootleg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Aloha all, ... I'm very sure that each amp with drive the 701's, 650's, and 880's fine...but which will also play nice with the Grado's? ... Mahalo!

Actually the AKG K701 requires ~ 30% more current for the same SPL as the Grado, but with 2.5x more Vswing too

the Grado V sensitivity will challenge your system noise floor more than the other cans listed

 

[SK138]

In the past, I had all the cans you mentioned and many amps. I would say one amp that does justice to any can I through at it is Berning MicroZOTL. It's less than $800 new and about $500-$600 used, if you can find one. The sound characteristic for MicroZOTL is "reference" and the Singlepower MPX3 Slam that I have sounds "Romantic". If your budget is about $1,500...you can get both (used). I got both used for about $1,000

...and this is my 1000th post