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Hi
Just picked up a pair of these and they are sweet.... unfortunately none of my gear has a headphone jack so I am listening through my tablet which is not doing them any justice. Any suggestions would be appreciated, I am particularly interested in the Woo Audio WA3 or Bottlehead Crack, which I am comfortable building but like the fit and finish of the factory built Woo.
Thanks
Follow Ups:
Hi,
I have RS2e with the Woo WA3. The Woo is a very nice sounding headphone amp, but I prefer using my Sennheiser HD600's with it. It doesn't seem to sound as good through my Grados.
I think its more suited to the higher impedance phones, rather than the 32 ohm Grados.
YMMV.
Mg16
Update: I realized maybe tube isn't the way to go given I have two pairs of low impedance phones. The O2 is a great little amp and after installing two 9v rechargeable batteries its even better.
I did something I seldom do, buy something sight unseen with no audition. I just ordered a Rupert Neve Designs RNHP headphone amp. I heard great things about it, hopefully it's worth the $$$......
greetings,
I own both the Grado RS2e and the Grado Statement GS1000 models.
Both models sound excellent through the Cary CAD-300SEI Integrated
Amplifier.I am currently using the exceptional JPS Labs Abyss AB-1266
planar-magnetic headphones.As to the tube compliment, I am using Western Electric 300B output
tubes, and the ken-rad 6F8G as voltage amplifier and driver tubes.I purchased the Cary used for $1200 in 1999. It has served me
flawlessly for close to 20 years now.Good luck in your search.
kind regards,
david
Edits: 05/04/18 05/04/18 05/04/18
Just wanted to update, I picked up a O2 Desktop by Massdrop...awesome amp for $102. It's perfect while I save for something that can drive any headphone I may get in the future. So after buying the Grados, and hearing them through this I am certain they won't be the only phones I'll own. I haven't even connected it to my main system yet, just driving it with my tablet and some spotify and pandora streams.....can't believe how great the combo sounds for the money.
Check out Schiit's new Lyr3. I just picked one up and it sounds fantastic. I really think you're going to be hard pressed to find a better amp for under $1k. It can be upgraded with either a phono pre, a delta-sigma DAC, or a multibit DAC for a few hundred more. Runs a single 6SN7 octal tube and a new continuous transconductance output stage.
You have low impedance headphones.
The two amps you're interested in are optimized for high impedance headphones.
Either you'll want to get different headphones or consider a very different amplifier.
Thanks for all the replies. I think the Objective 2 looks like it's pretty good for the money. I think I'm going to order a custom one with RCA inputs and rear power jack .
I have Grado RS-2s and SR-80s and have owned them for awhile. The RS-2s are my favorite headphones. I have briefly owned the Grado RA1 amp and returned it. I have 3 variations of the Cmoy type amps mentioned earlier in this thread. IMO none of the Cmoy or Grado amps are a good match for the RS2. I currently use a Garage 1217 Project Sunrise which is a tube hybrid amp. This is the minimum I would use and it sounds good with the right tube. If you are considering a Woo or Bottlehead, then a Cmoy or RA1 would be a waste of time and money. For several years I used the headphone jack of a NAD receiver and it sounded better than the Cmoys. The Project Sunrise sounds better than the NAD.
Edits: 03/13/18
You might check out the YFS website.They list headphones and amplifiers in a drop-down (spybot9000).This gives you a quick look at matching headcans and amps.Will indicate good/bad pairings.Worth a read.
Tom:cat
I made a mistake.
It is audiobot9000,not "spy".
Tom:cat
You haven't mentioned anything about budget limitations. Are you looking for a price point that does not exceed the cost of your headphones?
Be aware that a fairly common problem with cheap tube amps is noise. And because Grados are sensitive headphones the humming and other noisy artifacts found in cheap tube amp circuits are quite easy to hear and, potentially, quite annoying.
So if your heart is set on low-cost tube amplification it might be best to prepare yourself for a little background hum in exchange for that "tubey" lush sound.
You need an amp designed to drive low-impedance headphones but the quietest "budget" amps designed for low impedance headphones are typically the 100% solid-state ones, not the tube or "solid state/tube "hybrid" ones.
Little Dot and Schiit are two budget tube amp manufacturers that come to mind. Read the online reviews and take note of any noise or performance issues before buying. Just be sure (this is important!) that any amp you buy is designed to drive low-impedance headphones such as your RS-2s.
I prefer clean sounding, quiet, solid state amplification for my Grados. I like the sound of Meier Audio Corda amps. Grado's own RA-1 amp (or even one of the inexpensive "RA-1 clone" types sold on ebay) also sounds pretty good to my ears.
Lots of budget tube amp reviews and recommendations to be found on the Headfi forums. Good luck in your search.
So is the RA1 worth $350, I wish I could hear one. I auditioned the RS2es with the Parasound dac/headphone amp and it sounded really good. Although I have a NAD M51 DAC so looking for a good amp only because I think it's better than any headphone / dac combo under $1500
The RA-1 made my SR-60's sound very good. However it is just a CMOY amp and probably could be made for under $30. I calculated the gain is 13.5 db. Of course, you wouldn't have the very nice box or the great Grado service. I did replace mine with an Objective O2 with no regrets.
As far as using a tube amp, I think there is a problem. The Grado's are low impedance (32 ohm) and most tube amps have a relatively high output impedance which means there is a mismatch. A OTL amp can lower the impedance of the amp but then there is a possibility of frying the transformer if the headphone become unattached. Another choice might be to use a "hybrid" amp with a op-amp output buffer.
I married the perfect woman. The downside is everything that goes wrong is my fault.
Edits: 03/13/18 03/13/18
Search ebay for "RA_1 clone" or "portable headphone amplifier" and eventually you'll be viewing a number of "Cmoy" type portable battery-powered amps, some of better quality than others are. Usually, the clones are built into Altoids tins but some use fancier housings made of wood or metal. What matters is that you'll be getting something that sounds like an RA-1 amp, for a fraction of the cost.I'm not affiliated with this EBAY seller, but check out the one who calls himself "biosciencegeek". He'll make you a high quality "RA-1 clone" (using the exact same op-amp that Grado uses) for not much money. He may not have any listings on ebay right now but he has sold items within the past couple of months so do a member search there and shoot him an email request if you are interested.
Edits: 03/10/18 03/10/18
Thx, I'll check it out
Hey, "biosciencegeek" just relisted his amps on ebay. Item # 142718226213.No affiliations.
One of the nice things about these little amps is that you can change out opamps in a snap. Simply unplug one and plug in another. With a few different opamps in hand you can experiment with different tonal signatures.
Have fun.
Edits: 03/11/18 03/11/18
Hi
Thanks, forgot to mention price.... around 600 to 700
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