What's a Good Under $1000 Headphone Amp?

[MylesBAstor]

Schiit?

[Steve Lefkowicz]

Staying under $1000 I would start with Schiit. When the new small Cavalli is out that is a must hear item, and sounded great at the last Canjam out here.

[Chris F]

All of the Schiit stuff is great value for money.

HD-650 (often on sale for $350 new) with Valhalla 2 might be the best $$$/sound ratio in all of audio.

[Asamel]

It retails for just over $1000 but...

[JCOConnell]

Are all of the very best headphone amps tube based?

[Rob]

I own schiit amps in part because mike moffat is an audio god and a really cool dude so i gave him my business. so crowded is the 1000 dollar price segment that serious head-fi enthusiasts would probably name 10 other amps before they would say schiit...whatever. but i love my schiit Vali 2 its so good for the ridiculously low price of $170.

[Alrainbow]

To post just an amount I an amp is tough , without knowing the headphone . One might think it does not matter but it does very much . Imp matching is just one type of synergy . A headphone like hd800 needs a high imp TP sound great , while a low imp one needs 2 ohms or so. My woo audio WA5 has a setting for three types . A low imp , high imp and speaker output and a Speaker output . I also own a hdvd 800 SS amp from sennheiser . While it makes most all senhisser headphones sing it does not do so well with all. Then there is a great headphone the hifiman he6 . For anyone who loves speakers and wants to start to try headphones this is the one. While it sounds like planer speakers on your head . But it's major draw back is it needs about 15 watts at 8 ohms and it has about 45 ohms imp . It needs a low imp output too. But when you get the right amp it's a wonderful speaker sounding setup. Of I were shopping for a 1k budget amp I would go with an integrated amp . And use the speaker output terminal. In this way you have plenty of power and can use a imp matching resister network to better match low and high imp speakers. Also if you like warm or neutral ypu will know by the amp you buy. Some headphones need some warmth if not fed a great source as well.

[johnmah]

i've had very good results with the Massdrop/Grace Designs m9XX headphone amp/DAC and my Fostex TH-900 and TH-X00 headphones. a better combination IMHO then the WA7 + solid-state power supply (or Micromega MyZIC) i have at home.

for a portable setup, i also have geek out 450 which works in a pinch and works well with the Fostex cans.

i'm a tube fanatic but in this case the solid state headphone amps work better. is there a correlation with very low output impedance (< 1ohm) and the headphone impedences (32-ohm in both cases)?

[Alrainbow]

Are all of the very best headphone amps tube based?

no but tubes have an advantage . they give more openness and calm things with bad recordings .

[Alrainbow]

myles I have a phonitor the one with spl one I can loan it . I also have a great combo from cypher labs its a bal dac and amp . portible to my brain one of the best port combo ,s and it plays dsd as well as pcm . just ask check it out for a while . not asking you to buy it . the combo plays from an ipad or iPhone as well .

[MylesBAstor]

Thanks for the offer Al! Right now I am so up my neck in reviews and am barely staying afloat.

[Alrainbow]

Understood but know you have friend willing to help you if I can.

[cpp]

So many. Woo Audio WA6, WA5, Burson 160, Burson Soloist, Violectric V100, Violectric V200, HiFiman EF5, Schiit,, Graham Slee Solo SRG II, La Figaro 339, Lehmann Audio Black Cube Line and if you like a little DIY the Bottlehead Crack. Like anything it all depends on what you want headphones you trying to support.

[Steve Lefkowicz]

Got to try to the new Schiit Jotenheim "configurable control center" at the Schiit Show this weekend. Headphone amp, preamp, optional DAC or phono stage ($100 extra). The DAC was decent, but not anything special (better to use your own DAC through a line level input) but the phono stage should be a very good entry level MM device.
However, as a $400 headphone amp ($399 without either DAC or phono), it was shocking. Heard it with Senheiser 800S (not a favorite of mine) Ether C Flow (awesome), and my trusty 20 year old 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro. Feeding it from my Questyle QP1 (all FLAC ripped from CD, 24/96 or DSD files) it was actually kind of shocking how good it was. Initial impression was that it's one of the best under $1000 headphone amps I've tried, along with the pre-production Cavalli Liquid Spark (can't wait for that to hit the market). Plus, it is configurable for single ended or balanced (it is internally a fully balanced design) with multiple gain settings.

I think it will be big for Schiit, but also think it will seriously cut into sales of their pricier amps.

[cpp]

Ether C , I really like mine.

[Quint]

My best friend has the Jotenheim that he's using with a pair of Audeze LCD-2s. His lifestyle has changed a lot, so he's using it as his reference rig. I must say, it's pretty damn impressive for what he has invested into it!

[1morerecord2clean]

Schiit Lyre 2 is extraordinary. A hybrid tube in SS out. Six Watts. It will drive any pair of phones you throw at it. You can buy it with free second day shipping Amazon Prime. Never ceases to satisfy me.