Mycenius

Thanks for the additional comments guys... Got a stack of demo gear last night so about to start listening to a bit of stuff...

Yeah that's pretty much it Beefy - however just to confuse the issue I see the local importer for Little Dot has the "Little Dot I+ Hybrid Amplifier" available for only about US$115 - I'm quite happy to spend a hundred bucks to grab something like that just to play with as a way to get an initial look at hybrids and provide an alternate comparison to the other amp units I'll trial - especially as a way to just gain listening experience... I'm endeavouring to search out the reviews on it here & at Head-Fi but any comments - is it a reasonable hybrid unit (for the money) or is it too tainted/coloured/etc...? The distributor also has the "Little Dot MK III Tube Amp" for about US$245 - I could probably live with stretching to that alternatively if its a reasonable entry-level valve unit...? I may well go the Grado RS1 or RS2 or Alessandro MS Pro path for the cans right from the start so I suppose even an entry-level hybrid /valve unit would be good to have? (I'm assuming of course these units are okay to drive the above headphones - didn't see anything to contrary in specs but still to read reviews?) Right - yeah I've always preferred dedicated fixed voltage units for any good gear for IT stuff...

Long-term I'd happily consider them HeadphoneAddict, but as this part of my audiophile experience is 'all new' I want to (try to) stick with what I know - I haven't got to the point of using tubes for my main rig at all over the years, heck I haven't even seriously looked a pre/power amp combo (more for space reasons & the fact that the newer integrateds perform much better than they did some years ago). I'm simply not up to speed with valve amps 'per se' so reluctant to go that route as an HP novice... Having said that until I listen to a few I have no real benchmark to work from - I'm getting a stack of stuff to trial in a couple of days - once I start listening I'll have a better idea in my head... And I'll be able to make more meaningful specific comments - that may end up leading down a road like tubes... Alternatively as Boomana said it may end up being simplest short term to try as many as I can find locally, and if the one that seems the best ends up I also like it (enthusiastically) then just get that to get started and get on with listening and getting some experience and knowledge? Thanks for posting the review link too HeadphoneAddict - much appreciated & very interesting, especially the stuff about how forward the presentation is... Thanks for the input Skullguise - yeah I'd expect most Warts today to be multi-voltage and handle 110V & 220V-240V fine - although I suppose some US one's might still be 110V only?

Sorry - forgot to convert the peso - it's about NZ$1350 all up (plus as mentioned any duty if NZ has duty on electronics - I think these are free of duty). As mentioned NZ RS1 about $1495... In both cases there may be discount - certain I'd get something on the RS1's I believe sourced locally... Hhmm, good point - that'd be about NZ$1250 or so at current exchange rate... (again assuming no duty).

OK. But shouldn't the sound be what matters?

Thanks Beefy - the Alessandro would need to come out of Australia as I don't think there is an NZ distributor - list price is AU$959 (at Headphonic) less AU GST add NZ GST & Freight convert $ equals about NZ$1050 or so (+ any import duty if applicable - not sure on that)... List Price for RS1 is about $1495... I have heard that the Grado profile is modified on the units used by Alessandro - so not actually near-identical in performance?

Thanks for the comments Boomana - yes that may well be the case - If I had been listening to audiophile quality cans for a couple of years and had an existing amp (& benchmark), plus the experience & knowledge time brings of the web community (like here), reviewers, manufacturers, etc, it'd be a bit less hard/risky to buy 'blind' from overseas but at this stage I just don't have the confidence (in this area of audiophilia) to make that sort of commitment... ...and I accept that may mean I end up deciding to upgrade the amp in 12-18 months if necessary... OK - that's good to know - its usually associated with reducing fatigue so I assume you don't find that issue? Appreciate you taking the time to contribute. Minor Update: Also hoping to get a Grado RA1 Amp to try as well... Possibly could get a Rega Ear from the local distributor also but just doesn't excite me (or it seems anyone for that matter looking at a couple of reviews/comments). Pity Musical Fidelity are no longer in NZ as it might have been nice to at least trial an X or V series Amp alongside the others...

Guys - appreciate any ongoing input - just to update things - Am now looking at trialling Grado RS1's alongside the other phones (this will be in a couple of days) as no RS2's available locally at present. Will probably have to open the budget up to allow for that if I really like them and can't accept something lesser - so will also probably switch approach and try to pick cans first now, then match the amp to them - if I go upper range (like RS1's) may need to accept spending a bit more on the Amp... Oh dear, Megalomania sets in... Also please note I source off CDs and some SACD & DVD-A primarily with reasonably good to high quality gear & cables - not MP3s and such off a computer or iPod or similar - All of these IME can make a big difference to how something sounds, before you even get to your amp and speakers or headphones. I've also been told by headphone guy locally the Firestone CUTE Beyond amp is a very good match for the Grado sound colour - and can effectively be given a bit of an upgrade by replacing the external power supply... Considered a superior amp to the Cantate but lacks crossfeed function and obviously no integral DAC - am hoping to have 3 amps side by side initially for comparison (once I've identified which set of cans I probably prefer)...

Thanks Atothex but I'm not into putting anything 'in' my ears (for a couple of reasons I'm not gonna bother going through here) - needless to say IEMs are out... It's proper 'Cans' or nothing at all... Perhaps... Still a punt in the dark if you can't test drive and there's no guarantee on consistency of build quality, etc...

Thank You Sherwood! Can I just say, for the third time, that I am not interested in considering valve/tube amps (at this time), thanks! FWIW I've arranged that I'll be trying a Firestone Cute Beyond alongside the Cantate later this week, and am hoping to have a third different amp as well if possible (not confirmed yet). And I'm adding Grado RS2's and possibly also SR125's or SR225's to the headphone selection (i.e. Grado SR60's, SR80's, AKG K530, and AKG K701's) - so I'll have about 5-6 can alternates to try with each amp.

Thanks for taking the time to comment HPA - however as mentioned above not really interested in going the valve-amp route (at least at this time)... Just want a reasonable SS amp solution... But have noted your last comment re: M3 vs. the 336i. Cheers.

Will do. Yep appreciate that - but it's chickens & eggs to (i.e. how do you know without trying if that's all you have?) - I'm in NZ so limited to what's around locally to trial/compare... And I won't buy blind without hearing something... Right - okay - its not really a preferred option to be honest but it is a possible option... Yeah sorry mate that's what I mean - if you spent 2-3 times as much you'd expect to appreciate a 'significant' gain/improvement over the alternative to justify the spend - not specifically that it's 2-3 times 'better'... No one spends 3 times as much on something that does exactly the same job as well as what the cheaper one did (well unless you are a multi-millionaire buying a car or yacht or something)... Take on-board your thoughts on M3 costs... Haha, yeah of course mate - if enough people say yes it must be right, right? But yep, understand - as mentioned don't really want to buy anything without hearing myself or at very worst having it highly recommended by someone who's judgement I trust or I know has identical tastes to me, etc... (well, in an ideal world at least). Understood & taken on board!

Beefy & Icarium - thanks for the prompt responses - much appreciated. I will confess that although I have the skills I don't have hte inclination to do DIY stuff - I'd sooner buy a nice tidy commercially assembled unit - although I'd buy a DIY type unit through one of those guys who build on your behalf, etc... I chap here in NZ has a B22 from the same AMB team as the M3 - incidentally can you point me to any good operators who sell assembled M3's to give me an idea of the costs and such? I need to keep in mind too that if I ended up sourcing outside NZ the cost needs to allow for the GST (12.5%) plus any duty (I'd have to check that, plus freight - so base unit cost would need to be more like US$300 or thereabouts (as NZ GST would add about $40, plus if it came out of the USA the postage from there is now ridiculously expensive to NZ/Australia - about x2 or more what it is going the other way). Yeah I've seen that mentioned a couple of times... Certainly with my main gear I've gone that way with my Speaker s- my Chario's on my main set up are 4 ohm, and IIRC I think my Klipsch SB-1's are 6 ohm, vs. the more common 8 ohm for most speakers... The Charios give a lovely rich warm tint to the sound driven by the Plinius but don't overdo it (so Heavy Rock & Metal still have that slightly hard edge to the sound when appropriate and don't get smothered or softened). I'm hoping to get something similar from a Headphone & HP Amp combo... Yeah I'd certainly like to try and get a semi-reasonable amp - I'm happy to buy entry level cans initially and expect to upgrade/replace in a year or two based on (a) performance, and ( how much time I commit to the headphone rig vs. my main primary rig. If I'm only using it 4-5 hours a month and the sound (with mid-range Amp and entry cans) is 80%+ what my main rig is then I'd be happy (for a while at least). I don't expect to get it perfect first time, nor do I expect to be happy forever with whatever I get - it's just a case of mitigating the expense in relation to the perceived performance, I don't want to risk a big expense to get something I may not be happy with after a few months and/or that I may end up only using a couple of hours a month! That's one reason I'm not too put off by the comments on the Cantate at present - if I listen and like it (and no preconceptions there, but I am starting from scratch so judgement will be vs. full sized speaker set up), and I get it at the right price, it may be a good option to get me started and give me a chance to get seriously into the world of cans and concentrate on the headphones themselves... At the end of the day when starting out I guess it's principally about providing a sensible starting point - a baseline - that you can grow from and draw experience from without having something that's completely horrible! SPDIF not important at this stage Icarium - all I want for input is Analogue RCA inputs and in an ideal world USB+DAC for use with PC/etc... I buy my sources for music primarily based on how they sound (i.e. using their internal DACs) not on having an Amp do the conversion - the Musical Fidelity A3.2 CDP is a fantastic unit (despite being 6 or 7 year old design - I've had mine 6 years almost exactly), and the NAD C521BEE is (or was) highly regarded as an entry level CDP - I actually plan on having the later as my source about half the time (as it's not in a rig at present) and the MF A3.2 (& Oppo BDP-83 for SACD/DVD-A) the other half... I assume low impedance phones rules that out...? Would the Swing actually be a fair get started option to build some time/experience? (and save some bucks for a later upgrade in a year or two?) Beefy - what sort of cost comparison is it between what you spent for an Arietta vs. what you spent on the M3 (jsut ball park) - I mean if you spent 2-3 times as much you'd expect that performance gain, wouldn't you? I've heard a few fairly reliable people swear by the Opera that's now unavailable... Icarium do you think it's bad value just because you find the sound thin/sterile, or is there more to it than that? No, not really mate, sorry - should have been in the list above. I like tube sound but can't be bothered at present - happy to stay with solid state stuff... Hhmmm... Okay... that's a potential concern? Again - thanks for providing experienced feedback guys...

Hi All, I have just signed up as I am getting into the world of cans for the first time (at least at an audiophile level) - much like Forbigger in his Suggestion for desktop amps......current budget overstretch thread I've been looking at a Corda Cantate (as its what a local distributor has available, note: its not a Cantate.2) but see it seems not an overly popular unit here (getting a little 'shot down' as Forbigger said). However as I am in NZ there is a limit to what's available locally from distributors to try out in the range I'm looking... Anyway I'm after a good value mid-range home use type amp (i.e. not a portable), it'll be for a secondary set up that I only use occasionally instead of my primary for music (see my signature for details of the components in my primary set up plus my secondary set-up) - as mentioned at this stage I'm looking at the Cantate as my preference is to buy a fairly good amp and just get some fairly well matched entry level cans initially and then (hopefully) just upgrade the headphones after a year or two if I am giving them enough use... Anyway some basic thoughts on what I'm thinking: Looking in the sub-US$400 price range if possible for the amp,* I'm a tactile person so want something that looks good and you can touch where possible, not a fan of the appearance of the small cigarette packet type amps that look like they'll get dragged off the table by the weight of the leads, Generally like a slightly warm experience to my music, with headroom, and well developed bass and don't mind a forward presentation, Unit will be driven by sources in my sig below - either from tape out feed on Plinius (supplying CDs from MF A3.2 CDP or SACD/DVD-A from Oppo BDP-83); or by a direct connection with my NAD C521BEE for CDs or rarely directly to my Denon 640 Cassette Deck (neither is currently used in either of my other set-ups), and may also source from a Creative Zen Neon portable or similar on very rare occasions, Integral DAC is desired but not essential to allow occasional use with both PC (64-bit Windows) and Laptop (32-bit Windows) - prefer that to having a separate DAC if possible, but would sacrifice DAC to get really good Amp around my price point (if there was one with no DAC included)... At this stage would be looking at probably pairing with the best match for sound & comfort of the following entry level cans; Grado SR60 or SR80 (not the new 'i' models); AKG K530; Audio Technica ATH-A900; or something similar, Musical Taste: Very varied - basically everything except Country, Rap or Modern Hip-Hop, & modern R&B. Listen to lots of female vocalists (e.g. Eleanor McEvoy; Loreena McKennitt; Holly Cole), lots of Indie & Punk Rock & New Wave/Post-Punk (Pearl Jam, Greenday, Evermore, Ben Harper, Blondie, Talking Heads, etc), the rock classics (like Bowie, Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, R.Stones, The Who, Hendrix); some Classical - especially Mozart, Jazz (mostly older 'classic' recordings), Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder, Graham Parker, B.Eno, bit of Blues, some Heavy Metal (AC/DC, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Ozzy & Sabbath, etc), lots of guitar stuff (like Manzanera & Satriani), a little Pop & early R&B/Hip-Hop (e.g. Grandmaster Melle Mel, Finley Quaye, Osibisa), and I just bought the Beatles Remastered (the Mono box set & half-a dozen of the Stereo albums) for example... * I'm just not prepared to spend the dosh on something like a Serenade.2 or a B22 or anything like that (i.e. US$1,000+)... Might consider a Corda Opera (if any still floating around) once I've trialled the Cantate and seen what it sounds like (on the basis the Opera is a step up if I generally like the Cantate sound but it doesn't get me sold) - but want to try and get Amp & Headphones for under perhaps US$650-$700 all up. Sorry - that's turned into a bit of a novel - anyway appreciate any feedback, criticism, advice, thoughts on units... Where possible I want to try buy something that has a distributor in NZ, or otherwise at worst Australia... Many TIA for any advice.