Phones and an Amp 150 bucks

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shmitty

Gawd
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Jul 25, 2006
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Title says it, at the moment I have some JVC HA-RX700's which have been good enough for my ignorant ass until I downloaded this app for my droid called PowerAmp, I plugged my JVC's and became enlightened. I would probably be okay w/ just an amp for my desktop but wouldn't mind a little better set of cans if there is anything in that range that is worth it.
 
What kind of music do you listen to?
How long at a time?
Where will you use it? (quiet or noisy area)
Will this ever be used portably?
Is used ok?
 
I listen to all kinds of music(mostly rock), game, and for max probably 4 hours at a time. I do like a good sound stage and some heavyish bass nothing crazy the JVC's might be a little much. Mainly for my desktop background noise is no issue and used would be great if its worth the risk price wise.
 
a decent amp should run you around $100 to start so that doesnt leave alot of room for improvement on those JVCs.

if you didnt already have any headphones, i would suggest Sony MDR-V6s but thats really squeezing your amp budget down to $85.
 
Thinking of holding off on the amp for a bit and just picking up a pair of headphones, something in the 150 range currently I'm considering;
Audio Technica ATH-PRO700MK2
Sennheiser HD 558
and the Sennheiser HD 595's.
 
I think you should possibly look at the Sennheiser HD555 instead of the HD 595. I've read at places that the biggest difference between those two is that the HD555s have something covering the driver, and that if you were to take that off, then they sound just as good as the HD595s. The HD555s sound good in their own right, but if you don't mind having to open them up to take that piece out, then I think you could probably save quite a bit of money. Also I got my HD555 for around 80-85 dollars on amazon, so that would leave you with more money to spend on an amp. Although, you wont need an amazing amp to power those, where even a decent amp will do the job.
 
450 are those something that could be amped later or would go well with an amp'd sound card? I'm looking for somethign that will sound good for now and damn good amp'd later.
 
The MS1, and Grados in general would be my pick for rock. They might not be the best for long sessions though. While the MS1 and Grado's don't need an amp, an amp can help. The Sennheiser headphones you mentioned are far more comfortable, but don't have the clarity of the MS1s IMO.

If you can stretch to $213 then I think the Audio Technica ATH-AD900 would be a good choice. Very comfortable, can improve with an amp too! (not a big difference with these though)
 
Thought I'd update my post here with what I've currently got. I'm about 210 dollars over my 150 budget but extremely happy! Its budget conscious Media Monkey -> Sound Blaster 1240 -> Sony STR-6800 (vintage receiver) -> Sennheiser HD380 (really needed the isolation) Just picked the receiver up tonight on craigslist it was 150 dollars but this thing is well worth it as its in excellent condition it drives the hell out of my 380's. Hopefully this week I'll be able to place an order for some Sennheiser HD650's. The vintage receivers are said to drive phones just as well as the 500 dollar + headphone amps I don't have anything to compare it to but I can't imagine doing much better. Head-Fi has a 150+ page thread on vintage receivers in the dedicated full size amps section.
Here's a pic of the amp
photobucket-2332-1325394468187.jpg
 
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