So, many people are asking, "what amp is BEST to pair with the HD6XX?"
You have 6 months to save your money. Buy a REAL tube amp. The entry level Woo Audio is the WA3. It's an OTL amp @$599.00. Factor-in tube upgrades. It blows away the DarkVoice 336se in both, build and sound quality! I've owned both. If budget is still a concern after 6 months, the DV is a decent solution. I found a super clean, used WA3 for $375.00. The owner had another $400.00 tied up in NOS tubes. He had (2) pre or drive tubes and (4) power tubes. We made a separate deal for the tubes.
You now own a quality pair of cans, do them justice and buy a REAL amp. There are a ton of nice solid state headphone amps out there too. I own a Beyerdynamic A20 paired with the new Beyerdynamic DT1990Pro's. BTW, the DT1990 Pro'S are great, great, did I say GREAT cans!!! An incredible value and fantastic sound quality for the price!
I just happen to prefer "tubes" when it comes to amplification....
KeeferAlso, the Bottlehead Crack is an amazing option if you are open to DIY. It's affordable and better sounding than many more expensive OTL, especially with the Speedball upgrade. The HD650/Crack pairing is quite famous on Head-Fi, and for good reason.
Benjamin6264I've read good reviews in the forums about Crack and speedballs. "Don't-knock-it until you try it" - huh? It was definitely DIY back in the day!....
KeeferBest combo paring with consideration to price would probably be the schiit jotheim. It will give it speed, attack, bass slam and clarity. Good match with HD 6XX since the headphones are already smooth sounding. Pairing HD 6XX with a warm and wet tube amp might be too much of a good thing but some prefer that sound. The HD 650 will also scale with better amps and dac as well.
A good value dac would be the schiit modi multibit.
KeeferI know the title says BEST amp, but for those with tighter budgets, I've found that an Audioengine D1 or an Aune T1 (all the way back to Mk 1) is more than sufficient to power HD 650's. I expect they would also fare well with the 6XX. Hey, at least the Aune has a tube *somewhere* in the circuitry ;-)
KeeferMy favourite has always been the mayflower o2 dac + amp. It has as far as I can tell no distortion or his even maxed with the gain on. Incredible for its price and not tubes so it has an extremely long lifespan.
KeeferI've got a Audioengine D1 + Darkvoice 336SE right now paired with the Audioengine A5+ and a Kanto Sub8 for my daily use.
Can't wait for the HD 6XX to come as I currently only have B&W P5 series 1 right now for "on the go" uses.
KeeferI recommend MP301MK3 from http://www.musicalparadise.ca . Read reviews in the site and in audiophile forums (audiokarma, audioreview).
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It's a known best kept secret among poor-in-cash audiophiles :D. It's an integrated amp that drives either headphones or speakers - even driving my B&W 805. I use it with my HD600 and HD598. Best imaging, clarity and detail - and still improving as I do tube-rolling which is very easy because it's auto-biasing. No need to twiddle with switches/buttons and testers.
ferdzThanks for the tip! Seems like a great product, but boy is their shipping expensive or what? 😵😵😵😵
They are in Canada and I am too, but their domestic shipping cost (i.e. within Canada) is more than some retailers have charged me for shipping from Australia to Canada! No joke!
CMac019CMac019; Kyung-Min - If you have not seen yet, head out to this thread https://tinyurl.com/y8hqrbv7 - we have discussions/instructions here on modding this amp (apply to MK2 and MK3) and make it 10x better. Cheers!
mmf1How would you rate that your 6xx's sound with just the Audioengine D1 vs the Audioengine D1 paried with any additional Amp? I only have a D1 right now and I'm debating whether I need to add an amp to it.
hyperlinkedThe D1 in terms of volume can drive the 6XX without much issues, but I've since hooked it up to a DV336 amp and got the tube rolling bug. Can't go back to just the D1. The sound is noticeably cleaner imo. Up to you though if you want to spend the money on an amp.
You have 6 months to save your money. Buy a REAL tube amp. The entry level Woo Audio is the WA3. It's an OTL amp @$599.00. Factor-in tube upgrades. It blows away the DarkVoice 336se in both, build and sound quality! I've owned both. If budget is still a concern after 6 months, the DV is a decent solution. I found a super clean, used WA3 for $375.00. The owner had another $400.00 tied up in NOS tubes. He had (2) pre or drive tubes and (4) power tubes. We made a separate deal for the tubes.
You now own a quality pair of cans, do them justice and buy a REAL amp. There are a ton of nice solid state headphone amps out there too. I own a Beyerdynamic A20 paired with the new Beyerdynamic DT1990Pro's. BTW, the DT1990 Pro'S are great, great, did I say GREAT cans!!! An incredible value and fantastic sound quality for the price!
I just happen to prefer "tubes" when it comes to amplification....