Sennheiser HD650 Headphone Amplifier

mpasanthosh

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Looking for a mating amp for the HD650 headphones.
I find it tough to drive the headphones without a amplifier.
Any suggestions to those already using it please let me know .
Thank you.
 
Schiit Asgard 2/3

Suggested as per user reviews. No personal experience yet.
Do you already have the HD650 interested to know what equipment is being used in the chain.
Thank you.

Schiit Valhalla 2 if you don’t mind a tube amp. It will make the HD650 sing.
With respect to the Schiit Valhalla I am clueless on how this is going to sound in the HD650, the headphones themself have a slight warmish tonality.

Williams Penn Stores it is.

BTW, some of you folks may be aware of this place:
PEN HOSPITAL

Hope to visit this place if and when I visit Calcutta.
thanks for this...funnily this thread popped up as similar threads
Yup would love to give this a dekho if and when I am in Kol..
 
Do you already have the HD650 interested to know what equipment is being used in the chain.
Thank you.

No. I don't have any Sennheiser HPs as of now. My Asgard 2 is in transit.

I've bought the amp for my AT M50X and suggested the same as per user reviews only.
 
Asgard 2 wont be good pairing with hd650, both have warm tonality which doest gel well. Valhalla being an OTL may suit hd650 as its a high impedance can. It would be good if you can share budget for amp, as I have heard HD650 with Apex teton amp and that was one of the best Headphone experience i ever had.
 
With respect to the Schiit Valhalla I am clueless on how this is going to sound in the HD650, the headphones themself have a slight warmish tonality.

Valhalla 2 is surprisingly fast and neutral for a tube amp. Yet, it makes the high impedance cans come alive.

Do read this extensive thread on the subject:
 
Asgard 2 wont be good pairing with hd650, both have warm tonality which doest gel well. Valhalla being an OTL may suit hd650 as its a high impedance can. It would be good if you can share budget for amp, as I have heard HD650 with Apex teton amp and that was one of the best Headphone experience i ever had.
Asgard2 is a neutral amp using it for last 1.5years with HD598se. If it is warm them it should neutralizes the piercing ATH M50X but it was not.
Many recomend it with audeze lcd2 which is infact a very warm can. So I would say it is a neutral amp.
FYI, I have meridian explorer which is a warm dac+amp makes further dull when it is paired with HD598. But it is perfect for Ath m50x as it neutralizes the tonality and highs.
 
Asgard2 is a neutral amp using it for last 1.5years with HD598se. If it is warm them it should neutralizes the piercing ATH M50X but it was not.
Many recomend it with audeze lcd2 which is infact a very warm can. So I would say it is a neutral amp.
FYI, I have meridian explorer which is a warm dac+amp makes further dull when it is paired with HD598. But it is perfect for Ath m50x as it neutralizes the tonality and highs.
YMMV, but it sounds warm to me when I compare it with other HPA I currently have (i.e. Jotunheim, magni3, Lyr1, whammy, Sapphire v4). Best pairing I have found for Asgard2 is hd800, and I dunno about LCD2 being recommended with it as it didnt fair well with planars for me, tried yamaha hp1, fostex t20v1, hifiman Arya (this wasnt that bad, but whammy was far better in producing that bass slam)..
 
I'd suggest you pair with an OTL tube headphone amplifier.
How about the bottlehead crack ?
Sounds more like a DIY Kit that can be assembled .
Do you think that Bottlehead Crack would suffice for the HD650's .

I'd suggest you pair with an OTL tube headphone amplifier.
The Bottlehead crack falls within my price range as well, but I have never heard it yet to make the move.
The DAC I have is the BelCanto 3.7, sorry i missed to add this in the first post, thanks for your suggestions as well.
 
With respect to the Schiit Valhalla I am clueless on how this is going to sound in the HD650, the headphones themself have a slight warmish tonality.
HD650 can be termed as a bit dark, due to its treble roll-off and mid bass hump. The Schiit Valhalla 2, is made exclusively for high impedance HPs esp, ones with impedance >250 Ohm. The Valhalla 2 is warm, but also very powerful, which will suit the HD650s perfectly well. Another alternative is the Lyr 3.
 
Looking for a mating amp for the HD650 headphones.
I find it tough to drive the headphones without a amplifier.
Any suggestions to those already using it please let me know .
Thank you.

I have had these in past with HD650.

Rupert Neve RNHP
SPL Phonitor
Violectric V200
 
JDS Labs offer pretty clean sounding Headphone amps
im using ATOM to drive my power hungry Dt990 pros 250 ohms
 
I have HeadRoom’s Ultra Amp & a portable RS SR71B.
Both are considered excellent, however since I have no idea how well they would drive the HD650s, I’m open to sending them for auditioning
PM if interested
 

I just purchased this. In low gain mode, it works well even with low impedance, relatively low efficiency headphones life the hifiman sundara. will try it out with my HD800s when I change the HP cables to unbalanced. (currently running them balanced into SPL phonitor HP amp)

its supposed to be wonderful with HD660s so AFAIK the HD650 Should be similar.


the owners are a pleasure to deal with as well. at this price, its a steal. For me, this has been one of the very few audio purchases with absolutely no post purchase dissonance.
 
If you are looking for portable amps , the Aune B1S synergize with them very well. The HD650/6XX are driven to relatively high volumes with most of the amps but the synergy is lacking with most of the lot, the Aune B1S does a very good job at driving them to high volumes and with great musicality as well. A new one is around 100-150$ in US and can be had for around 8-10k in 2nd hand market in India
 
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