Do You Spend More on Headphones or Amps?

[wen1979 0]

just wondering if you guys spend more on headphones or more on the amps, cables etc.

 

 

[soundsync 0]

For me, try to get the best equipment mix that is within your budget. If you get the right mix, I don't see the need for further spending.

[wen1979 0]

would you spend money on a good amp and buy multiple headphones to alter your experience or will you spend on a good headphone and buy multiple amps to alter your experience.

 

sorry i am new to headphones and am learning not to overspend and to spend money wisely

[Eric Chia 0]

for me i will go for the cost effective and budget wise

plan well and u will reach the end of journey without spending a bombby making left or right turn

for example my xindak dac 5 is doing great for me and it is 6 input including xlr output as well

tube and solid state opamp and i can swap tubes or ss which i wan anytime

save me the trouble for looking for better dac and it is can compare to those usd$1000 dac in the market

 

 

 

that why we have meet so that we can test each others rigs out and share views

so that u will have the slighest idea on which amp or headsets u r aiming

a lot of ppl got confused on which sound signature they like

for me i aledi found my sound signature and i aimming for it only

it is my preference and my ears r the judge..

[peanutbutterjam 0]

would you spend money on a good amp and buy multiple headphones to alter your experience or will you spend on a good headphone and buy multiple amps to alter your experience.

Actually its both my friend. The amp and headphone come as a system, one amp that works well with one headphone might not do another justice.

 

sorry i am new to headphones and am learning not to overspend and to spend money wisely

Haha no doubt you'll spend wisely, but you definition of "wise" and "overspend" will change.

 

a lot of ppl got confused on which sound signature they like

for me i aledi found my sound signature and i aimming for it only

it is my preference and my ears r the judge..

Yep very sound piece of advice, if you want to save, you better be sure of what you want. However having said that, sometimes inevitably you won't know what you like without trying, so sometimes you just have to buy and try out.

 

Unlike Eric I unfortunately haven't found something that really impresses me yet, though I guess I know what I want. That's why I'm still trying around.

 

save me the trouble for looking for better dac

Don't make promises you can't keep

 

 

[ical 0]

I finally found what I really want after audition EAR HP4 yesterday. Too bad it cost more than $5k. Keep thinking about it now.

Edited January 25, 2009 by ical

[Eric Chia 0]

lol

actually this dac surprised me when the 1st time i heard it during the audition

and believe me i heard lavry 10 and benchmark before and cambridge as well

it is bang for bucks and i am very happy with it too bad it doesnt have usb input or as versatile as the cambridge magic dac btw cambridge dac used wolfson chip if u r interested.....

anyhow to each and other preference

cheers mate!! and gong xi fai cai!!

[uberburger101 0]

I finally found what I really want after audition EAR HP4 yesterday. Too bad it cost more than $5k. Keep thinking about it now.

 

Luckily I only had unfamiliar tracks, with an unfamiliar headphone.

[Whenesday 0]

I finally found what I really want after audition EAR HP4 yesterday. Too bad it cost more than $5k. Keep thinking about it now.

 

What's that?

[peanutbutterjam 0]

What's that?

Its a headphone amp, and apparently a very good one.

 

I finally found what I really want after audition EAR HP4 yesterday. Too bad it cost more than $5k. Keep thinking about it now.

Where did you audition it? I didn't know it was available in Singapore.

[kidult 0]

I finally found what I really want after audition EAR HP4 yesterday. Too bad it cost more than $5k. Keep thinking about it now.

 

haha...they will open on Friday...You still have time to consider

 

 

Its a headphone amp, and apparently a very good one.

Where did you audition it? I didn't know it was available in Singapore.

 

 

they are available in Reference Audio @ Adelphi

[cyberfrog 0]

With my limited audiophile experience, this is my take :

 

*generally* speaking, you get what you pay for. If Product A ($100) sounds as good as Product B ($500), do you tink the manufacturer of A will sell it at $100? [of course we will get into a heated discussion of what constitute "good" sound...but tats a different story :-D]

 

Secondly, there's the law of diminishing returns. Hence a $500 product, tho sounding better than a $400 one, may not be worth the extra $100. Again tats subjective and highly dependent on the "I want" factor vs affordability.

 

If money is no object and you simply buy the best there is (assuming there's such an option), then IMHO you dun get to enjoy the joy of this hobby. For a start, i would suggest buy what you can afford first. Move on from there, coz music/equipment/taste develop and change over time, not to mention affordability...and tats what makes this hobby so addictive. :-)

 

Hope i'm making sense...LOL

[rko 0]

With regards to the initial question, I spent equal amount on the amps and headphones. But most of the budget went into the source.

 

Why so? Cause i use the source for both my headphone and speaker setup. Priority for me is 1)source 2) headphone/speaker 3)Amp. First, get a good source that is capable of extracting all the info. Then get a headphone with my preferred liking, and finally get an amp that can drive and match that headphone well.

 

Easier said than done though.

[Rameish 0]

No easy answer here. You should look at system synergy instead and budget accordingly. I'll provide an illustration.

 

Let's say you went to a shop and compared both a Senn HD-600 and a Grado RS-1 via your iPod (music encoded with apple lossless). You'll probably prefer the Grado RS-1 because the Senn is gonna sound horrible without an amp the Grado RS-1 sound good. You then plug in a potable amp to your iPod - say an I Qube - what happens is this the SennHD-600 improves quite a lot and the Grado RS-1 improves a little. You scratch your head and say to the dealer let me try a cheaper Grado say the SR-225. You then realise that without the amplifier the SR-225 sounds almost as good as the RS-1. What to buy?

 

First you'll need to find out which music presentation you prefer - if it's the Senn HD-600 then you'll need to really budget for a good amp (I would say at least twice the price of the HD-600). If you prefer the Grado RS-1 then even a more modest amp costing say $600 will do the job. Keep in mind system synergy though - You can make both the Senn HD-600 and Grado RS-1 sound not soo good with the wrong amp. The Senn HD-600 seems to like expensive amplifiers while the Grado headphones seem to be more compatible with more amps that don't cost too much.

 

It's the same for a home CD Player based rig - system synergy is essential.

[ical 0]

Well said. It all about system matching.