Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
Like others have said, Jotunheim with Dac and be done. ($499), Also Schiit Vahalla 2 for $350 (plus a dac) or if you really have the money go for the Sennheiser HDVA600 ($1599).
I love my crack+speedball. And I recommend it for anyone looking for an awesome tube amp for under $1k.
But it if you are budged constricted I would look at the choices mentioned above.
Just whatever you do, remember that if you want to hear what all the "audiophiles" rave about when it comes to the HD6X0, you have to feed it good, clean, powerful signal.
Sennheiser these headphones to be used with the $1599 HDVA-600 amp I mentioned above.
So you will get what you put in them. If you are just going to listen from your phone, there are way better options out there under $150.
I personally recomend the Philips SHP9500S
Honestly, there are tons of third party companies that make them also, generally much less expensive. Occasionally, Massdrop sells the ZY HD6XX Balanced Cable for around $65 if I'm not mistaken. You might also look into "Best in the Verse" cables to custom build a cable to your exact preferences.
Remember that these headphones have 300 ohm resistance and a 600 ohm spike around 100 hz. So the power that the amp can supply at that resistance is what matters. The Vali 2 puts out 270mw at 300 ohm. Enough to get them loud. But not enough to unlock their full potential. These cans have so much more to offer. Way more.
To to unlock the pure music nirvana of these headphones I recommend a minimum of 500mw at 300 ohms. But my personal standard is what the Vahalla 2 offers,
Thats power. And so fresh and so clean. This is what you want if you want to experience your new headphones at their amazing potential.
Or for $50 more you can have a Jot for more power, more fresh, and more clean.
Oh yeah it has a completely balanced topography (that means it is two completely separate amps, one per channel) and for $100 you can add a Dual-Mono Dac.
The Jot + HD6X0 = Mind Blown. Get it, and we will be BFF'S.
You are welcome.
I really like the the sound of the built in DAC in the Jot, but the Modi2 multibit is a better DAC with more features. The only advantage the built in DAC has is that it is balanced (one dac per channel) and that adds to the channel and instrument separation. But the benefits of having a multibit DAC I think outweigh that.
And on reviews of people I trust the number 1 recommended DAC for the Jot/HD650 combo is the Modi Multibit. So you are halfway there already.
After I upgrade to a Modi2 Multibit I will be set with audio equipment for the time being. Then my sights are set on my End Game rig: Stax L700 + LRS 353X. That $1400 for the ear speakers and $1000 for the Energizer. Now that I have listened to that, nothing else comes close.