Headphone Amp

[BluRayExplosion]

What's the best headphone amp I can get for around $100 bucks? Or is this price range realistic for a quality amp? Thanks in advance.

[coolmilo]

$100...not sure if there is a good one for that price. Go to www.headphone.com and look at their offerings.

Also, search through www.head-fi.org for headphone amp pricing.

Personally, I am using a Ray Samuels Hornet and I am very happy with the amp. (http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/hornet)

Go to http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/ to see all of Ray's products.

Good luck.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by BluRayExplosion

What's the best headphone amp I can get for around $100 bucks? Or is this price range realistic for a quality amp? Thanks in advance.

Depends on your definition of good quality, I guess, and what head phones you're planning to use. If I wasn't going to go nuts*, I'd probably go for the Cayin Audio HA-1A and a pair of Sennheiser HD 650s. But that's probably way over your budget, so something like the Pro-Ject Head Box Mk 2 (much cheaper than the Cayin!) or Antique Soundlan HB1 might be what the doctor ordered.

* If I was to go nuts for a pair of headphones and matching amp, nothing less than the Stax SR-007 Omega II Mk 2/SRM-007T II will do. But I have other things to buy before I shell out more than $4K on those!

[BluRayExplosion]

Well I currently have a pair of Sennheiser HD280s which I love. Beats the hell out of the Bose cans I used to have/use before I did research on the electronics I bought. Anyway, I'm looking into a pair of Senn 595s. From what I've heard, the 650s don't really offer THAT much improvment (for 3x the price), they're better I'm sure, but being a partially employed college student, bang for the buck is important.

If the combination of headphones and the amp is important, I suppose we'll just assume I'm getting the 595s. I'm not really looking for audiophile quality equipment, I just don't have the cash. I'm really into music though, and being around instruments a lot, I definately know high quality sound when I hear it. My budget is a little flexible if need be, I don't want to get something and have to upgrade next year due to poor decisions now.

[btf1980]

Nothing is really great in that price range. That's the honest truth. The good news is that your Sennheiser HD280's are fairly easy to drive.

I recommend you look at offerings from Pro-ject. Their entry level headbox is a steal, and it's just a few bucks more than what you want to pay. That is the best you can get at that price.

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/74461

[BluRayExplosion]

Originally Posted by btf1980

Nothing is really great in that price range. That's the honest truth. The good news is that your Sennheiser HD280's are fairly easy to drive.

I recommend you look at offerings from Pro-ject. Their entry level headbox is a steal, and it's just a few bucks more than what you want to pay. That is the best you can get at that price.

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/74461

Thanks for everyone's input. So would one of these be a good compliment to both my Senn HD280s and the HD595s? I'm pretty sure I'll be upgrading to those as soon as I get some spare cash.

[Headphone Czar]

I love hi end headphones to death and would love to purchase the Sony Q 010, but I need a lot of money to make it happen.. A good bang for the buck is the 'starving student' tube amp..188.00, but hard to beat the tube sound.. More musical then SS amps.