Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I recently got a Sennheiser HD800, and am now hesitating between these thwo options that would be easily available locally as headphone amp. I really like the looks of the Sennheiser HDVA600: Sennheiser HDVA 600 - headphone / audio amplification - acoustic And the fact that it was designed for the HD800 is obviously comforting. On the other hand, the SPL phonitor 2 has received some great reviews, and I like the idea of professional audio equipment (and I always wanted VU meters...) In Kürze: Sound Performance Lab Any recommendations? Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Boris75 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I looked for an answer to this question a while ago. I found a thread addressing this question on Head-Fi. It counts 283 posts, however. That number made me dizzy; therefore, I gave up and stuck to my Benchmark DAC2 to drive my HD800. Link to comment
mkrzych Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I have heard a lot of good things about the Vioelectric and Lake People amps: Headphone Amplifiers -- Krzysztof Maj http://mkrzych.wordpress.com/ "Music is the highest form of art. It is also the most noble. It is human emotion, captured, crystallised, encased… and then passed on to others." - By Ken Ishiwata Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I looked for an answer to this question a while ago. I found a thread addressing this question on Head-Fi. It counts 283 posts, however. That number made me dizzy; therefore, I gave up and stuck to my Benchmark DAC2 to drive my HD800. I had the same reaction, they have just too many posts on the HD800. So I hope I get more selective feedback here. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I have heard a lot of good things about the Vioelectric and Lake People amps: Headphone Amplifiers I saw that I just haven't found a dealer for them yet. Plus I don't really like their design. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
mkrzych Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I saw that I just haven't found a dealer for them yet. Plus I don't really like their design. If you look at outer ones, yes, I must admit. But inner parts are top notch as I've heard. -- Krzysztof Maj http://mkrzych.wordpress.com/ "Music is the highest form of art. It is also the most noble. It is human emotion, captured, crystallised, encased… and then passed on to others." - By Ken Ishiwata Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 You want VU Meters? Check these out... McIntosh MHA100 Headphone Amplifier I am demoing one of these right now and with the HD800 it sounds amazing, plus you get a 50 watt integrated amplifier and a 32/192 DAC as well. No electron left behind. Link to comment
The Computer Audiophile Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 You want VU Meters? Check these out... McIntosh MHA100 Headphone Amplifier [ATTACH=CONFIG]17616[/ATTACH] I am demoing one of these right now and with the HD800 it sounds amazing, plus you get a 50 watt integrated amplifier and a 32/192 DAC as well. That's pretty cool looking. Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 That's pretty cool looking. and pretty damned cool sounding as well! No electron left behind. Link to comment
dalethorn Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 A guy I know from the Philippines says he's tried a few integrated amps with his high-end headphones, and he says the reserve power in those amps usually makes the headphones perform better than most headphone amps, even when the headphone amp is rated plenty powerful enough for the headphone. Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 You want VU Meters? Check these out... McIntosh MHA100 Headphone Amplifier [ATTACH=CONFIG]17616[/ATTACH] I am demoing one of these right now and with the HD800 it sounds amazing, plus you get a 50 watt integrated amplifier and a 32/192 DAC as well. Wow, that's a nice piece of gear (and indeed the VU meters I had in mind). But $4500 is exceeding what I was planning to spend on this. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 A guy I know from the Philippines says he's tried a few integrated amps with his high-end headphones, and he says the reserve power in those amps usually makes the headphones perform better than most headphone amps, even when the headphone amp is rated plenty powerful enough for the headphone. That probably works, but I'd be to afraid of accidentally grilling my HD800 with a 200W peak... Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 No no no the headphone out on the integrated. Some integrated amps like my Marants 2230, the Leben Cs300x and others take the speaker out put and run it through a resistor to the headphones. No electron left behind. Link to comment
AudioDoctor Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 It can sound pretty good if done right. No electron left behind. Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I just read the HD800 is pretty tricky in pairing. I'm running it out of the headphone out of my Exposure DAC, which is nice but I hope that there is some room for improvement if you get a decent dedicated amp. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
burnspbesq Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I recently got a Sennheiser HD800, and am now hesitating between these thwo options that would be easily available locally as headphone amp. I really like the looks of the Sennheiser HDVA600: Sennheiser HDVA 600 - headphone / audio amplification - acoustic And the fact that it was designed for the HD800 is obviously comforting. On the other hand, the SPL phonitor 2 has received some great reviews, and I like the idea of professional audio equipment (and I always wanted VU meters...) In Kürze: Sound Performance Lab Any recommendations? What's your budget? At the entry level, or just above, the Schiit Valhalla 2 works very well with the HD 800. John Grandberg (project86 at Head-Fi and InnerFidelity) is fond of Violectric amps with the HD 800, but I find the combo sleep-inducing. FWIW, when the HD 800 was introduced in 2009, Sennheiser used Lehmann amps at the press introduction. I haven't heard the combo, but people whose judgment I trust has suggested staying away from the Auralic Taurus with the HD 800 (apparently there is such a thing as too much brightness and open-ness). I think my favorite amp of all those I've owned so far, for use with the HD 800, is the criminally under-appreciated Luxman P-200. Office: MacBook Pro - Audirvana Plus - Resonessence Concero - Cavailli Liquid Carbon - Sennheiser HD 800. Travel/Portable: iPhone 7 or iPad Pro - AudioQuest Dragonfly Red - Audeze SINE or Noble Savant Link to comment
dalethorn Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 That probably works, but I'd be to afraid of accidentally grilling my HD800 with a 200W peak... Sorry - I didn't mean run it off of the speaker taps. The headphone jack is safe, and that's what the guy was talking about. Link to comment
dalethorn Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 What's your budget? At the entry level, or just above, the Schiit Valhalla 2 works very well with the HD 800. John Grandberg (project86 at Head-Fi and InnerFidelity) is fond of Violectric amps with the HD 800, but I find the combo sleep-inducing. FWIW, when the HD 800 was introduced in 2009, Sennheiser used Lehmann amps at the press introduction. I haven't heard the combo, but people whose judgment I trust has suggested staying away from the Auralic Taurus with the HD 800 (apparently there is such a thing as too much brightness and open-ness). I think my favorite amp of all those I've owned so far, for use with the HD 800, is the criminally under-appreciated Luxman P-200. I've also heard the Lehmann suggestion from someone who really knows what the HD800 is capable of. Link to comment
scan80269 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 For solid state headphone amps I'd like to mention Bryston BHA-1 and Auralic Taurus MKII. Both amps are Class A. I highly recommend converting the HD 800 to balanced with an after-market cable. The differences between single-ended and balanced are not subtle and well worth the upgrade. Both the BHA-1 and Taurus MKII support 4-pin XLR connection for balanced. The BHA-1 also supports dual 3-pin XLR. I use an Endorphin HD 800 balanced cable by Stefan AudioArt with excellent sound. Link to comment
Guidof Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I tried the HD 800 with my Benchmark DAC2 as well as with my Little Dot Mk III headphone amp/preamp (<300 USD) and MUCH preferred the sound with the Little Dot (with Raytheon driver tubes) No VU meters, though, but you get to look at tubes ;-). Ultimately, I returned the HD 800, but I may go back to them at some point in the future. Regards, Guido F. For my system details, please see my profile. Thank you. Link to comment
DavidL Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I recently got a Sennheiser HD800, and am now hesitating between these thwo options that would be easily available locally as headphone amp. I really like the looks of the Sennheiser HDVA600: Sennheiser HDVA 600 - headphone / audio amplification - acoustic And the fact that it was designed for the HD800 is obviously comforting. On the other hand, the SPL phonitor 2 has received some great reviews, and I like the idea of professional audio equipment (and I always wanted VU meters...) In Kürze: Sound Performance Lab Any recommendations? I'd be very interested to hear what you finally choose. I upgraded from HD600 to HD800 some time ago but have not yet upgraded my headphone amp. I'm using a Musical Fidelity X-CANVBP with an X-PSUV3 which sounds fine but I'm sure I could improve matters. I've stuck with this setup partly because it has a very good pre-amp section which any replacement would need to better. ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control > Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition . Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800 Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Burson is indeed a name to add. I'll be auditioning next week the HDVA600 vs. Burson Soloist vs. Auralic Taurus at a local shop I know well. Unfortunately, this shop doesn't have the SPL, so I will have to compare that independently. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
Musicophile Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I've also heard the Lehmann suggestion from someone who really knows what the HD800 is capable of. The Lehmann Linear was the amp used by Sennheiser to originally promote the HD800 when it came out, so it must do something right. However, I heard from my local dealer it may not be on par with Burson and Sennheiser's own. Check out my blog at musicophilesblog.com - From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms Link to comment
mkrzych Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 There is also Graham Slee -- Krzysztof Maj http://mkrzych.wordpress.com/ "Music is the highest form of art. It is also the most noble. It is human emotion, captured, crystallised, encased… and then passed on to others." - By Ken Ishiwata Link to comment
Boris75 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 FWIW, when the HD 800 was introduced in 2009, Sennheiser used Lehmann amps at the press introduction. Thanks. Very interesting. I was unaware of this brand. Their headphone amps fetch for reasonable prices, and What HiFi rated their Rhinelander model five stars. Lehmann Rhinelander review | Headphone amps | What Hi-Fi? Link to comment
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