Headphone Amp for Sennheiser 650

Check out the What Hifi headphone amp reviews, see what you like the look of, what is in budget and what has the features you need. I would add to that the Musical Fidelity X-CAN range, available second hand off ebay, but units still come close to their original prices as they are so well made. They are hydrid valve and solid state amps which have the power to drive all but the most in sensitive headphones, so the HD650s will be fine.

I have a Little Dot III amp, i'm using with the 650's, works really well, i also have the AKG 701's but i prefer the 650's as the bass is better.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Check out the Graham Slee reviews on the web. This one for instance.....

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Graham-Slee-Novo/

Read his forum on his website too and you'll get a feel for how much care and pride he has for his products.

Mickgw:

I have a Little Dot III amp, i'm using with the 650's, works really well

Graham_Thomas:

Mickgw:

I have a Little Dot III amp, i'm using with the 650's, works really well

Ditto with Senn HD600s....

I'm really pleased with mine and i'm happy i changed to the Senns, the AKG's are awesome but the Senns are just better with the type of music i listen to, does changing to the mullard tubes make a big difference? i dont really want to start going down the road of analysing the sound to the point of not enjoying the music anymore, i believe you can get upgraded cables for the HD650's but as i previously mentioned i'd only change if it was only going to make a noticable difference.

Thanks,

Mike

Just a slightly warmer, more well-rounded sound with lovely bass and definitely an urgrade in my opinion for £20.

I believe from reading that the HD650 cable is the same wire gauge as the HD600 but with more shielding - with virtually no difference in sound quality.....

Save your money on esoteric cabling. I agree that we should just listen to the music and not over analyse - and stop tweaking!

Burson HA-160 (£450), awesome headphone amp, and doubles up as a preamp. I have the 160D which has built-in dac with usb connection - really very very good piece of kit. The HA-160 was better than the Violectric and some say it is also better than the Lehmann Black Cube, MF xcans.

Also, a replacement cable can make a significant improvement. The Russ Andrews cable is superb - more detail, deeper & more defined bass and better sound all round really.

For a lower budget you might consider the NuForce HDP - haven't heard it but it has an awesome reputation as a bargain and for working well with the 650s

I've got a headroom MicroAmp/MicroDac stack, and really not very happy with it. (US$350 for the DAC, Ditto for the Amp).

Any ideas on whether the RheinLander that WhatHifi raves about would be an upgrade? What would be a good DAC to go with it?

Anyone done the Arcam rDac with a Headphone amp?

The Graham Slee Novo is a great choice for HD650s. As an alternative choice, have a listen to the Creek OBH21SE as well if you can 

I'd second the Burson, all their kit is top stuff, the KingRex HQ-1 is also a very transparent head amp.

" I would add to that the Musical Fidelity X-CAN range, available second hand off ebay, but units still come close to their original prices as they are so well made. "

funny that. My x-cans fell to bits after a few months as did my old A1000, I think their build quality has been poor.