Headphone amp and headphone synergy

Dpod4

Dpod4

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Apr 5, 2013
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So I have been on a headphone journey recently. Previously I thought nothing could beat my Beyerdynamic T1 cans and matching A-1 amp. Boy was I wrong. I also thought my Sennheiser HD 650s were forever second place as a veiled headphone experience. Boy was I wrong.

I recently bought a Sugden Headmaster amp on Audiogon. Have lusted after it for years. Got a minty one for a good price. Went to my home in Bend this weekend and compared beyer T1 and sennheiser 650s on sugden headmaster and pathos aurium head amps.

HD 650s came to life on Sugden. Mids and highs came to life and first time sennheisers beat my T1s. The T1s sounded best on Pathos.

Bonus is the sugden will serve as a preamp feeding my CJ 350 and KEF LS 50 speakers.

Best headamp I own tho is my new ALO studio six. I did a shoot out and it won by a wide margin. Greatness by a big audible difference.
 
I plug my Sennheiser HD800s straight into my Oppo 105's headphone out and it sounds great. Maybe their matching $1500 amp would sound better (I'm not convinced as I hear nothing wrong now!), but since headphones are not my primary method of listening, I'm not in a great hurry to spend more money. Besides, the analog section of this player has received special focus from their engineers and is widely praised.
 
Bachtoven said:
I plug my Sennheiser HD800s straight into my Oppo 105's headphone out and it sounds great. Maybe their matching $1500 amp would sound better (I'm not convinced as I hear nothing wrong now!), but since headphones are not my primary method of listening, I'm not in a great hurry to spend more money. Besides, the analog section of this player has received special focus from their engineers and is widely praised.
Click to expand...

Yes Oppo makes great stuff for sure.
 
Do tube headphone amps have less low bass than solid state? I've read a few reviews that mention such an issue. I've been considering a Schiit Audio Lyr or a Woo Audio WA6 for tubes, or a Musical Fidelity M1HPAP for my HD 800s.
 
Oh my, the Woo WA6 arrived today, and man is it sweet! It has a far richer overall tone, more detail, and a wider/deeper sound stage compared to the Oppo's output. I'm quite a happy camper!

Woo1_zps72d53e0c.jpg
 
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