$1100-$1500 budget for headphone amp. Only Bumblebee need apply.

WhiteNoise · Dec 10, 2014

So gonna buy a new amp. happy with both of my Garage1217 amps but want to invest in a higher end amp to play with. Please provide sum suggestions.

Will use with my Pagoda DAC and LCD-2 Rev 2F

Tube I prefer. SS okay if good enough.

I love good prat, clean highs, robust mids and clean bass. Clarity, natural, yet providing lows through highs in a realistic yet slightly colored sound.

I'm just looking for a quality amp.

Give me some ideas. I will research. I've been looking at amps for a few months now and I'm no closer to buying anything.

and I would prefer an amp that pushes 2.4-3 watts @ 50 ohms if that is even possible.

AhokZYashA · Dec 10, 2014

i assume you need a desktop tube amp,

have you tried the WA6SE from wooaudio?
its a pretty darn good amp, but i think it lacks the 2.4W@50 ohms power

OneMoar · Dec 10, 2014

you might be better off asking over at head-fi .. .

https://www.frenzeltubeamps.com/

WhiteNoise · Dec 10, 2014

I already asked at Head-Fi as I spend more time there than here. I just want Bumblebee's thoughts on the matter. I respect her knowledge.

on hind sight I suppose I should have just sent her a PM.

WhiteNoise · Dec 10, 2014

AhokZYashA said:
i assume you need a desktop tube amp,

have you tried the WA6SE from wooaudio?
its a pretty darn good amp, but i think it lacks the 2.4W@50 ohms power

Yes I'm actually considering the Woo Audio WA2. And yes a desktop amp.

AhokZYashA · Dec 10, 2014

i havent tried the WA2,
but seeing those 2 are quite different in design (OTL on the WA2, transformer coupled on the WA6SE) and the same price
it comes down to your choice.

i havent really used much the LCD2 2F, but the amp which sounds good on the LCD2 rev.2 and i have tried is the burson HA160D.
or if you want, the soloist is also pretty good

the WA6 with the sophia princess tube amp sounds very nice, especially if paired with a neutral DAC.
i tried it once with DACMini > WA6SE > Senns HD650, sounds very very good.

BarbaricSoul · Dec 10, 2014

if you want Bumblebee to answer here, try tagging her. @BumbleBee

EarthDog · Dec 10, 2014

Or just PM her as you mentioned you should have...

How does the tagging work? How does that notify the person they have a post to read?

RCoon · Dec 10, 2014

EarthDog said:
Or just PM her as you mentioned you should have...

How does the tagging work? How does that notify the person they have a post to read?

Like this @EarthDog

EarthDog · Dec 10, 2014

Ok, but where do I see that? Where does it notify me that someone tagged me? I wouldn't have known you did that as I didn't get any kind of notification (like a PM would).

RCoon · Dec 10, 2014

EarthDog said:
Ok, but where do I see that? Where does it notify me that someone tagged me?

Your Alerts tab at the top right

(Apologies OP for hijacking the thread)

BumbleBee · Dec 10, 2014

WhiteNoise said:
So gonna buy a new amp. happy with both of my Garage1217 amps but want to invest in a higher end amp to play with. Please provide sum suggestions.

Will use with my Pagoda DAC and LCD-2 Rev 2F

Tube I prefer. SS okay if good enough.

I love good prat, clean highs, robust mids and clean bass. Clarity, natural, yet providing lows through highs in a realistic yet slightly colored sound.

I'm just looking for a quality amp.

Give me some ideas. I will research. I've been looking at amps for a few months now and I'm no closer to buying anything.

and I would prefer an amp that pushes 2.4-3 watts @ 50 ohms if that is even possible.

I really liked the Decware Zen Taboo MKIII but if I had to do it all over again.. I would have bought something from Eddie Current

Easy Rhino · Dec 10, 2014

Ever heard of sending a PM?????????????????

edit: nevermind looks like you have been scolded accordingly.

WhiteNoise · Dec 11, 2014

BumbleBee said:
I really liked the Decware Zen Taboo MKIII but if I had to do it all over again.. I would have bought something from Eddie Current

Those look awesome but way out of my budget. Wooo nice though.

WhiteNoise · Dec 11, 2014

Easy Rhino said:
Ever heard of sending a PM?????????????????

edit: nevermind looks like you have been scolded accordingly.

I do realize that I should have PM'd her instead but at the same time this thread might be helpful to others looking to upgrade if more suggestions are made.

I was about 6 shots into a bottle last night and common sense was out the window. lol

If I had around $3k I'd consider one of the Eddie amps for sure but $1500 is my max budget.

BumbleBee · Dec 11, 2014

WhiteNoise said:
Those look awesome but way out of my budget. Wooo nice though.

sometimes Craig's amplifiers pop up on the second hand market.

this was his first company

http://www.mothmuseum.com/mothaudio/products2.html

AhokZYashA · Dec 11, 2014

Eddie Currents amp are definitely very beautiful,

but last time i tried the Zana Deux paired with the LCD2s it sounds very bad, i dont know whats really wrong with it,
because when i tried the same amp with a dynamic headphones it sounds marvelous.

for planar headphones i think your best bet is to go solid state. like the burson soloist.
oh, and i really like Bakoon amp products, but i dont really know if its within your budget.

BumbleBee · Dec 11, 2014

Schiit Mjolnir is within your budget

WhiteNoise · Dec 11, 2014

BumbleBee said:
sometimes Craig's amplifiers pop up on the second hand market.

this was his first company

http://www.mothmuseum.com/mothaudio/products2.html

Oh right on. I've seen these amps before. Beautiful!

WhiteNoise · Dec 13, 2014

So I went completely against the grain and bought the Bryston BHA-1 solid state amp. Now let me hope that I don't regret selling my Ember amp earlier today.

NormanStokes · Dec 18, 2014

I advise you WA6SE from wooaudio amp. This can meet your expextations.

TheMailMan78 · Dec 18, 2014

I have come to realize spending more than 150 bucks on headphones is worthless to me. Spending more seems to just have a placebo effect. I say this because of years of "being manly" and not using ear protection shooting has cost me hearing quality. The only reason Ill even spend that kind of money is durability. I'm tough on headphones.

In the end I cant even tell the difference between 20 dollar cans or 300 dollar cans.

WhiteNoise · Dec 18, 2014

Thats a bummer dude.

BumbleBee · Dec 20, 2014

another LH Labs indiegogo

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/geek-audio-a-crowdsourced-high-rez-sound-system#home

brought the Geek Pulse back and some new products.

Aquinus · Dec 20, 2014

TheMailMan78 said:
I have come to realize spending more than 150 bucks on headphones is worthless to me. Spending more seems to just have a placebo effect. I say this because of years of "being manly" and not using ear protection shooting has cost me hearing quality. The only reason Ill even spend that kind of money is durability. I'm tough on headphones.

In the end I cant even tell the difference between 20 dollar cans or 300 dollar cans.

I could tell the difference between cheap headsets and my current Senheiser HD 280 Pros but only with a half-decent audio card. Nothing quiet sounds right after using those as not many headphones will offer a flat response and sound good at the same time.

There comes a point where headphone quality does you little good until you get a better audio device. I can say that my 280 PROs can be limited by the ALC898 on my motherboard or by the content I'm playing.

http://en-us.sennheiser.com/professional-dj-headphones-noise-cancelling-hd-280-pro

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Audio Device(s)	onboard
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Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	AsRock X670E Phantom Gaming Lightning
Cooling	Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Storage	Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Crucial P3 NVMe M.2 2TB
Display(s)	LG OLED55G2PUA
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL ROG Certified
Audio Device(s)	Digital out to high end dac and amps.
Power Supply	EVGA GQ 1000W
Mouse	Logitech G600
Keyboard	Logitech G413 Carbon
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Rift S, Quest 2, Quest 3
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	AsRock X670E Phantom Gaming Lightning
Cooling	Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 32GB (2 x 16GB)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Storage	Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Samsung 980 PRO Series 1TB, Crucial P3 NVMe M.2 2TB
Display(s)	LG OLED55G2PUA
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL ROG Certified
Audio Device(s)	Digital out to high end dac and amps.
Power Supply	EVGA GQ 1000W
Mouse	Logitech G600
Keyboard	Logitech G413 Carbon
VR HMD	Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Rift S, Quest 2, Quest 3
Software	Windows 10 Pro

$1100-$1500 budget for headphone amp. Only Bumblebee need apply.

WhiteNoise

AhokZYashA

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

WhiteNoise

WhiteNoise

AhokZYashA

BarbaricSoul

EarthDog

RCoon

EarthDog

RCoon

BumbleBee

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

WhiteNoise

WhiteNoise

BumbleBee

AhokZYashA

BumbleBee

WhiteNoise

WhiteNoise

NormanStokes

New Member

TheMailMan78

Big Member

WhiteNoise

BumbleBee

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

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Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser HD600, Audeze LCD-3F, Mytek Stereo 192 DSD, La Figaro 339, Burson HA-160, Geek Pulse X
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