For those eyeing the Sennheiser HD600 at $200, one of the best finds I got for them on the amplification side is the SPL Auditor at around $350-400. This was a minimalist take of SPL’s original Phonitor design back in 2012 without the crosfeed section, sporting a single 6,35 mm stereo 1/4" TRS connection output, an unbalanced twin XLR input, and a twin XLR passthrough output. The HD600 and the SPL Auditor is my current setup, and to be honest, even with the current crop of hp amps, I’d let the Auditor go only if I got a good deal on a Phonitor.
Sound is pretty phenomenal on this amp: very articulated yet easy on the ear, with lots of depth, little distortion, good transient response, headroom, etc. —basically all the good traits I’ve been reading around about the Phonitor combined with a beautiful price! While I did find it somewhat lacking in drive when I paired it with a HiFiMan HE500, it made a terrific pairing with the HD600 and the HD800, which, to my book, is all the praise one needs. With a min impedance at 9Ω and a max output performance at 1,7 W/600 Ω and 360 mW / 30 Ω connection respectively (per SPL’s own statement on the manual), the Auditor may be a little underpowered for power-hungry headphones such as some of the HiFiMan planners, but it’s more than adequate (possibly endgame?) for conventional requirements such as those of the HD600.
I had pretty much zero interest about a second after seeing the squashed/tilted chassis design (aesthetics matter to me, and those are probably even more subjective than sound …).
And my interest went completely negative when I learned that the production units were going to change the log-taper pot for a linear one, one with significant channel balance issues at that, and that the shipping units didn’t necessarily measure up to the prototype/pre-prod units.
I revisited the MK2 Argon after a reluctant sale but this time added MK3 baffles when I sent it up. The result to my ears was a slightly less recessed mid range.
I also bought a few vibrolab kits which I love but the maker never baked in removable mod and is after taking a hyaitus. Working on an open Alpha too which is the most layered T50’s I have heard to date.
The thing with these is you want 3+ watts per channel to really get them going.
I recall my time with the Phillips Fidelio X2 fondly. My inner child is a basshead, and these were a guilty audiophile pleasure on a budget. I eventually gave them up. That’s why I was kind of excited to see this news:
Hopefully they improved the sound a bit and didn’t stray too far from the X2 sound. Looks like they will be under $500, which is why I post this here.
We don’t have an existing thread suitable for general product launch announcements, and I didn’t want to start a new thread.
I think I may have found @metal571’s future portable headphones. K371BT. The k371 with Bluetooth. There is no mention as of yet on specifics like which codex it will have or when it will be available.
Ooooh… It would be interesting to have the normal wired K371 version in there too. Sometimes Bluetooth versions sound different.
Then he can sell me the one he likes best at a massive discount.
@taronlissimore@andrew - I don’t know the logistics behind it, but would selling Harman group products (AKG, JBL, Bang & Olufsen, etc) be a possible thing for headphones.com in the future? I know not all of their stuff is super high end, but if I get a cheaper knock around the office headphone, I’d rather buy from you than Bezos.
Have you heard Schiit’s recent Asgard 3? It’s quite the bargain supposedly being slightly behind the Lyr according to Currawong. I have one with the modi multibit. But for under $500 I would be VERY happy with a 6XX paired with an Asgard 3 + built in Delta sigma dac.
