The All Purpose Advice Thread

agreed 1000%, GOv2 with a balanced adaptor is killer for the 650 at that price!

 

I still find them a little boomy, even though I EQ'd down the 60-150 Hz bands. But yeah it's been quite serviceable for the 3+ years I've had them.
Not too keen on opening them up--I haven't a clue what to look for. Might call the local distributor and see what he can do.

(Side update: went around auditioning some cheap PC speakers, and everything seems either terrible or overpriced. You know the Klipsch Promedia 2.1? They're US$ 250 here!!)

 

I found using the little stands for them helped a little with the boominess, but they were certainly serviceable for the price and their size. I couldn't find anything near their size in a 2.0 set that came close. Maybe your distributor can get them repaired for a reasonable price. I think you'd have to take on something bigger to get better value.

 

And look! There is a GOV2 Infinity that comes with accessories for sale! I also hear the seller is willing to negotiate on price for Friends.

 

You don't say. The JBL LSR305 costs 330USD here as well. Damned shipping costs mostly.

 

//Update: I just realised, it's the surround on the left speaker that's cracked.//

Yeah, I've got the stands and they help somewhat. Thanks for the advice though, it's good advice.
I'm at the point where I'm wondering, if I have to get something bigger, will stacking stuff on top of a speaker (e.g. a headphone stand) be bad?

IKR. Was excited when I saw that someone local was bringing in the JBLs, then saw the price.
What small desktop speakers have you had good experiences with here?

 

None so far. Been looking into it, but nothing quite has the same value as thier overseas pricing. Only ones that seem reasonably priced are the Creative ones but haven't actually heard them properly. Maybe you could try your luck at the IT show. I might but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

 

Creative T3 is on sale for S$ 179 in Singapore till Sunday, both online and at the IT Show.
I'd go for them but there's too many complaints about the volume knob failing.

 

Hi,
After SBAF members recommended HD650, when I was looking to buy an headphone; I decided to do a listening comparison for HD650/HD600/HE560 which were on my shortlist. I also wanted to listen to HE400S but the shop didnt have the stock. I also listened to some other brandsbut forgot their names. So this is how it went..

The shop had a Chord Hugo as their DAC/AmP.

HE560: Good, but the vocals sounded a bit thin.
In the end HD600 & HD650 were the most impressive.

For most of the music the two sounded very similar. Then for the vocals HD650 finally won me over. The lush and rich vocals of HD650 were clearly superior to HD600. I just loved that sound. At very low volumes or with poor amp, I think HD600 sounds better. But since I normally listen at higher volumes the HD650 was the absolute clear choice. In my mind I thanked SBAF and walked away with a brand new HD650.

Okay, now to the question for experts:
I got a NAD M51on a good deal and now using that as the DAC-I like it..

I want to upgrade from my Magni2 Uber and want to purchase a tube amp which matches with NAD M51. What tube amp will match with the NAD M51 & HD650??

My budget is around USD500-1000.

I have posted this query as a separate thread also in the Amp section. Sorry for the double posting..

 

I think you should get the Schiit Valhalla 2 for 350 USD (or 400 Euro if you live in Europe) and a pair of NOS 6N23P tube ( I got a pair on ebay for 35€, and it sounds much better than the stock tubes)

 

Trung has great advice. No need to spend more yet. Try out the Valhalla and you will be very happy.

Other common recommendation would be Bottlehead Crack, but you would have to built that (which is awesome). Warmer more laid back sound where Valhalla 2 will give better resolution but a bit dryer sound.

 

Any thoughts on whether Mjolnir 2 is a sidegrade from Liquid Carbon and Project Ember? I'm looking for an amp that works well with Gungnir Multibit, is somewhat "endgame" and doubles as a preamp for powered monitors. I'm I just swimming in mid-high purgatory? If so, suggests are welcome!

 

having owned both the LC and MJ2, I would say The MJ2 is the better amp. The MJ2 drives planers and High Z
Senns with ease the LC struggled with my HD650's.

 

It's all perspective...

Liquid carbon and project ember are both great amps. People wish they could own those. What do you not like about them? What headphones are you using?

But... Reasons to upgrade to mjolnir2 would be more power or wanting to run balanced headphones with different tube sound. The LC runs balanced and the ember runs tubes. Mjo is a combo of both. I don't know if you will see a huge improvement, but mjo does sound great.

 

I have no problems with either LC or Ember. The upgraditis is hitting hard and of course there's always the question of how much better can this get? My primary cans are HE-6 and HD650. I listen to the TH-X00 when I want to get smothered in subbass. What I am hoping to achieve is another jump in sound quality, specifically frequency extension and more importantly dynamics. I feel that with the HE-6 especially, the dynamics from the Carbon aren't that great.

I also like the idea of downsizing and having one amp to do headphones and act as a preamp for powered monitors.

 

How does the Mjolnir2 compare with the Valhalla2? Also is there any recommendations from the Woo Audio setup? Balanced amps will make a big difference for HD650 or not?

 

I'm looking for some input on a decision I need to make by tomorrow: keep the open-box HD800 I bought four weeks ago from Amazon, or return them and pay an additional $600 for the HD800S?

What would you do?

 

Keep the HD800 and effectively mod it into an S.

 

Just curious how we feel around here about the Lyr 2. I'm amp shopping for an HD 800. Considering the Valhalla 2 as well but I figured the Lyr may be a nice option as it works with a wider range of headphones. However my overwhelming priority is bang for the buck using the HD 800.

It's not likely 1000+ dollar amps will ever be in my future. I'd be curious though if there were any other decent suggestions in the price range.

 

Check out this thread on balanced setups: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...nd-better-discussion-for-noobs-and-boobs.733/

I saw Purrin say today that the HD650's do benefit from a balanced setup, but for all the added hassle and cost of balanced - running a better single ended setup might make more sense.

Mjolnir is a very different amp than Valhalla and twice the price. If you are using a 650 start with the Valhalla and give it a good listen. One of the great aspects of owning Schiit gear is that the resale value is fairly high and it will always sell quickly. Mjolnir will output more power, but it basically just has 2 of everything that the Lyr 2 has to run in true balanced operation.