The All Purpose Advice Thread

As specific as possible….Simply put, I bought a valhalla 2 a while back to pair with my HD650 because it was cheap and generally liked. On the old HD800 amp recommendation thread the valhalla is compared to Eddie Current. Always wanted a Zana Deux, but I find the bass quantity on the Valhalla lacking (this is my only issue with it after burn in and rolling some Phillips SQ tubes). Is this indicative of the Zana Deux Super as well, or am I reading too much into this? As a reference I have the same problem with my Decware CP2 unless I turn the volume up to ear destroying levels and the opposite problem with my WA2 where the bass quantity is there, but literally everything else is lacking.

Other recommendations are welcome, so long as the unit can also act as either a preamp or a low powered speaker amp (I like dual functionality).

 

IMO having owned a WA2 and driving the 650's with it for a couple of years, then going to an original Zana Deux, I much prefer the presentation of the ZD.

The WA2 sounded as "ballsy" as possible with Tung Sol 5998 power tubes in the mix. I also used Brimar rectifiers, and various driver tubes (Telefunken CCa, Holland pinched waist, Siemens CCa, etc). It always sounded overly warm, kind of muddy, and smooth to the point that it was glossing over details. I also rolled some more refined sounding power tubes (GEC 6080, TS 7236). I was always trying to find the perfect tube combo.

Once I used the ZD, I kept the stock Tung Sol driver tube and left it. It has much better clarity than the WA2, while also retaining very luxurious sounding tube euphonics. I find the bass to sound nice and full... dynamics are also very good, and overall it just sounds like the 650's are being driven to their full potential.

The original ZD doesn't sound like any other tube headphone amp I've heard... It's level of clarity while retaining beautiful tube euphonics is startling. I would say it is bested by other TOTL amps if you're purely interested in macro dynamics, or taking the resolution to a whole other level (eg. EC Studio). As for euphonics, and 650 synergy, the ZD works well.

 

What are some good amps for the HD800? Sub $300 anyways.

 

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/best-amps-for-sennheiser-hd800.330/

Initial list covers the price gamut, as does subsequent discussion.

 

Valhalla 2, Vali 2, Vali 1, bottlehead Crack.

 

why would anyone buy 800s and saddle them with a $300 amp?

 

HD6X0 + $800 amp (Torpedo III) better than HD800 + any $300 amp.

 

I think the bottlehead crack and the hd800 sound great together (but so do hd650's)

 

I've listen to the Valhalla 2 and a Liquid Crimson together with the HD800 and the Valhalla 2 did not embarrass itself, at all. I'm not saying there isn't a point to higher end amps, there certainly is, but there are synergistic inexpensive amps for the HD800.

 

Hands, Mikoss, thanks for the input. Your impressions of the Valhalla/Woo pretty much mirror my own and I just wanted to double check before saving for the upgrade. I just needed a little nudge. There is no way to demo anything where I live.

 

Thank you I'll check them out.

 

I totally agree that this is a very engaging and enjoyable combo for many musical genres - particularly with the right tubes and all the usual crack mods in effect. (It was my primary setup for at least a couple of years.)

But akin to Jun Li's comment about the t3, I would also note that hd650's via an unmodded mainline sound much better (to me) than hd800's with a super modded crack.

The added refinement of the mainline is just that much more apparent with hd800's though, and Yggdrasil -> upgraded mainline -> SD and cork modded hd800's has been and, I expect will be, the very happy stopping point on my dynamic hp journey for the foreseeable future.

 

Hello! Building a second system and looking for a dedicated DAC with SE output feeding into a speaker system (NAD 326BEE + Ascend Sierra-2)

Any recommendations? $500 MAX would like to be $400 and lower though

Looking at:

Bifrost 4490
Musical Fidelity V-90
NAD D 1050
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100
Chord Mojo (used)

Would like a flat neutral sound

 

I picked up a Theta Progeny DAC and talked about it a bit on the HD650 thread. For those who aren't aware, this is a DAC from 1994 that outputs 4V RMS from the unbalanced RCA. I have this going in to my Project Polaris.

My question: other than the obvious fact that the higher 4V output gives me a bit less travel on the volume knob of my amp, is there anything I should be concerned about SQ-wise with feeding an amp this way? (i.e. distortion)

 

I would be more worried about damaging the input, perhaps contact Solderdude or garage1217.

 

The Theta Progeny outputs 2 V rms @ 50 Hz 0 dBFS, says my multimeter. It really doesn't sound much louder than other cheap dacs. My Progeny is 230V and non-A, and I like it too.

 

For a few $s you can get one or two input attenuator modules from 1217 to reduce the input level and make better use of the volume control. I did that when I owned 400s Hifiman. Just email 1217 they will guide you.

 

nice thread