Best 500$ amp for HD800

I use HD800 + sonarworks with ifi ican.

Im really looking at Schiit Valhalla 2 or Schiiit Lyr 2. which between those two would be ebst with hd800?
and what other amp I should consider?
thanks!!!!

 

I don't have an answer for you in that price range, however this thread is a good read (or a good place to even ask your question) in the meantime

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

 

Bottlehead crack with speedball? They have a special going on right now. $300 + 30 for speedball.

 

It depends on the "sonic direction" you want to take your HD800. The Lyr2 is said to lean more to the euphonic,'fun,' dynamic side of sound. The Val2 leans to the neutral, transparent, solid state side. The Val2 is renowned for it's resolving ability and clarity. The Lyr2 has more slam, but isn't quite as resolving or delicate as the Val2 is (with high impedance senns).

Of those two, my preference is for the Val2 w/ the HD800.. unless you plan to drive orthos or low Z dynamics in addition to the High Z Senns (HD800). I'm not a huge fan of the Lyr2, so I'd actually opt for the Vali2 instead of it if you wanted a hybrid. it's a better value proposition, only requires one tube.. and it said to sound damn good with the HD800.

Jun Li's recco for the CrackSB is good, too.. it's DIY (or you can hunt one down in the classifieds).

With the HD800, the DAC matters, too..

 

since I value neutral, transparent, clarity, I guess the valhalla 2 would be the choice vs lyr 2.


now, valhalla 2 vs crack vs...

 

Matrix HPA-3B, Schiit Asgard 2, the AGD C2/NFB-1AMP for solid state.
Vali 2 or Valhalla 2 for tubes. Valhalla 2 might be too dry with the stock HD 800.

 

ya
im pretty sure that valhalla 2 is the best choice for me in my price range
thanks guys!

 

Enjoy! Here's the Valhalla 2 thread for more information.

P.S. This is the type of question for the All Purpose Advice Thread.

 

HD800's sound great out of vintage speaker amps. Had one powered by my Spec system - plenty of bass and sounded great.

Just another option besides headphone amps.................

 

Picked up a Mjolnir 1 on clearance for $500 and I'm pretty happy.

 

Although a little more money (599.00) you ought to try a mojo. It drives the HD800 surprisingly well and has the advantage of a one box solution.

 

i refer here to hd800 owners.

this is crazy hobby.
This is really hard to choose and keep it up, first they say the BH crack is the best under 500$ and than Valhala 2, some say that half price Vali 2 is no slouch. either.
and than they say we got few new players and they are the best under 500$.
GUSTARD H10, Garage 1217 (Ember II,Polaris,
Garage 1217 Varations (Ember/Polaris etc..)
Lasonic Mini Night Blues
Feliks Audio Espressivo
Lambert- Play It By Ear
and dont forget the Matrix or BCL CLONE. who wins the 500$ catagory who knows...

and if you want something better you have the:

2359glenn
WA3/WA6
Feliks Elise
Liquid Cavali Carbon
Apex Volcano
ECP Torpedo 3
MicroZOTL 2.0
WA2


, oh i forget Schiit Mjolnir

and if you want more high end vocals and details separation the list go on...
M^3
Betta and Sigma 22 and maybe in the future you will have Delta ^-^
Bryston BHA-1
Krell KSA5 clone serious Diy by great Kevin Gilmore
WA 22
Schiit Mjolnir2
Decware TABOO MK III
Sennheiser HDVD 800
Trafomatic HEAD ONE
Violectric V281
LA FIGARO 339
EC Zana Duex S
Luxman P-1u
SCHIIT RANGAROK
Bakoon HPA-21
DNA Stratus
Headamp GSX MK2
Dynahi or Dynalo Sussy or what is name
EC BW/445/BA/Studio
Audio gd master 9
Ray Samuels Dark Star/RSA B52
Moon Neo Series 430 HAD
SPL Phonitor 2
Manley Headphone Amp
LIquid Cavali Crismon/Glass/gold/Lighting 2/2T
Mcintosh MHA100
APEX Tenton
ALO Studio Six
Viva Egoista 845
Audio Valve Mark RKV III
EAR- HP4
MAL VALVE (best ever by Steve Gutenberg ^-^)

Some Future DNA Solaris/20A amps that will come in production this year 6-8k

you also have CARY SLI 80 or Leben CS300. for vintage touch
oh forgot the Fisher 500c

there is also this new WELLS AUDIO HEADTRIP for 7k that will make vocals and will make coffe for you.

and maybe there other amps that i forgot( i am sure of that!) (-: or they are no more in production like sonnet 2

there are also maybe more few thousnds amps that belong to speakrs amps that may be good for your hd800.


now seriously i had the crack+sb first sold it because the highs were little twisted and i want to try new stuff
now waiting for vali 2
and building bcl clone
but aiming for DNA Stratus for end game amp.

 

i've never read such a long post that conveyed so little. can i get a refund in units time?

EDIT: maybe it's some dadaist poem for the hd800 that will only be recognized for it's genius when we're all long gone.

 

Maybe just use your motherboard or stereo reciever at that point.

 

I dunno. It starts coherent, then reads like an early era viagra email spam, then gets kind of coherent again. I would like to think its a reflection of how the hobby feels for someone trying to get consensus based on all the recommendations that exist in all the internet (I saw the nice little jab at Gutty in there).

WARNING: Rant Ahead

Normally I would feel bad that the Dada-post derailed a thread, or that @brencho and my responses are derailing further, but then I have two thoughts: 1) this kind of thread is the death of coherent forums, and 2) the quest for "good amp for HD800 at price range X" is harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd. So hard that we already have an entire thread dedicated to this topic, and an entire thread dedicated to people asking any question. The best thing about the "all purpose advice thread" is that if your question seems bigger than a simple Q/A, someone will probably point you to the thread talking about that issue, or encourage a new thread if necessary.

I am confident @murphythecat didn't intend to muddy up the forum with a stub about his specific question, and I must be clear that my rant is not directed at said cat. I am also glad to see that many friends chimed in with good helpful advice (my ire also lies not with any specific friend). BUT I think we need to be better about getting straight to the points made by @PoochZag and @zonto: keep this in the proper place. Why? because a thousand little threads about related topics is what kills access to sites like head-fi.

I don't want this place to be like that. The reason we have a supermassive all purpose advice blackholethread is for all members, new or ancient, to ask whatever without fear of missing something while lurking; let that be the place where we ask anything and no one expects anyone to read the whole damned thing. The rest of the site should be reasonably easy to lurk; signal:noise is very high here, and this thread doesn't change that. My concern is that the learn:lurk ratio is also high here, and I really want to keep it that way.

So I guess my ire is directed inward. I saw this thread pop-up and didn't say "You should go to the HD800 amp thread, then ask your question in the all purpose advice thread" I held back because I didn't want to seem like a dick. I also held back because the responses were generally good advice, and eventually included the two point threads OP should be directed to. BUT when I read this thread, every piece of it belongs in the All Purpose Advice Thread, where it would be so helpful to so many in the moment, where the question will be asked a hundred more times, where answers will be given again and again, with little tweaks as preferences shift and more amps come out, etc. At least then it would be in one place and not in a hundred little pockets that will eventually overwhelm new users and long lukers.

Aaaaand, done. Sorry if I am seeming unnecessarily irascible, but well, yeah.

 

Preserving the forum's overall usefulness merits being slightly dick-ish if necessary. Friends don't hold that against each other...

 

I'm sorry @aufmerksam, I'm going to have to deduct points because your post wasn't in the form of a haiku.

 

Whats wrong with you people? chill out, i been little sarcastic...





the point is that in 500$ you have a few amps that consider "the best". you just have to gamble. i dont think anyone can did comprasion on all that amps.
the Valhalla 2 is very recomended dont know how it scale against the others but i think it will be a preety safe bet.

 

It seems that in response to my dislike of his post (above), listen4joy decided to send me a private message instead of saying something here. Don't worry, there's nothing secretive about what he said, so I'll paraphrase his words here so they can contribute to the conversation instead:
"Nobody has done a direct comparison on all the sub-$500 amps, so we can't know which is best. If someone would do this comparison I will take my words back."
(I assume that he's referring to his very long post in this thread)

 

Don't make threads like this.
Keep S/N ratio high!
Post your questions here.