Suggestion for desktop amps......current budget overstretch

[Asr]

The Gilmore Lite can drive a wide variety of headphones pretty easily including the K701, even if it was originally designed for low-impedance headphones. It's not the last word in driving the K701 but it can do the job pretty handily and you'd have to spend at least a few hundred more to get an amp that will really show you what the K701 can do.

[forbigger]

My feeling is proven when I bought this damn 701. That I'd get deeper into this audio mess..........I like it so far but it eat my portable amp for breakfast (as you all know), as soon as I wanted to crank up the volume, the sound start to distort, bass rolled off, etc........

[morphsci]

The Gilmore Lite should drive the K701's just fine. The reason I originally listed it as maybe is because it dpends on how critical you are. I utilize a GS-X (it actually once belonged to ASR) and my K701's are balanced so a G-lite will not sound as good in comparison but it still should sound damn good. If you move up in amplification, the K701 will scale up also.

[forbigger]

Hi Morph, I listen to music to enjoy it. Not to criticize it. So long it sound good in my ear, I'm happy. So if critical have a scale from 1 (dont give a damn) to 10 (most critical), maybe I'm 3.5......Thanks for your word of assurance......

[forbigger]

Talking about ear buds, you can put together this very nice system:

G-Lite > Pico Dac > Yuin PK1

This would beat many, many headphone based systems. Of course Boomana's is a great approach if you insist on headphones:

G-Lite > Pico Dac > Grado HF2

If you must base your system around the K701, you'll have to spend enough money to get a good amp that can give them the current and voltage they need to sound their best.

Tried Yuin although briefly and kinda like it but the build quality IMHO quite shoddy. But I have no plan to buy anymore earbuds or IEM. In fact I'm getting rid of my old IEM's like E2C, d-jays and UE SF-3. I plan to keep only the q-jays......

[Filburt]

There seem to be two variants of the K701 around, although mostly the rather lean one seems to be confined to the first couple months of production. I remember discovering this by accident when I first thought mine were broken due to sounding so dramatically different from three pairs owned by some folks I knew. They do take a while to settle out though (e.g. hysteresis). Mine are a fairly bassy headphone, overall.

As far as "driving" them, they really don't take that much power. However, if the amp isn't rather linear under load, it's going to be pretty easily audible on the 701. Since a lot of the most audible distortion is going to be from around the midbass up, this can mask 'treble' and I guess this might be why people find a more linear amp 'opens up' the sound. The Gilmore Lite is a good pairing for the K701 IMO, so long as the source is good.

[TheSloth]

There seem to be two variants of the K701 around, although mostly the rather lean one seems to be confined to the first couple months of production. I remember discovering this by accident when I first thought mine were broken due to sounding so dramatically different from three pairs owned by some folks I knew. They do take a while to settle out though (e.g. hysteresis). Mine are a fairly bassy headphone, overall.

As far as "driving" them, they really don't take that much power. However, if the amp isn't rather linear under load, it's going to be pretty easily audible on the 701. Since a lot of the most audible distortion is going to be from around the midbass up, this can mask 'treble' and I guess this might be why people find a more linear amp 'opens up' the sound. The Gilmore Lite is a good pairing for the K701 IMO, so long as the source is good.

I remember that the original HR graph for the 701's showed more bass than the 650 throughout. Now the graphs for 701 and 702 show significantly earlier roll off. But that would be the wrong way round for your theory...

[morphsci]

I have a relatively low SN (13XX) and mine does not sound lean at all. I do agree about the rather long time to settle in.

Edited July 10, 2009 by morphsci

[laxx]

Mine is around the 9k SN area and I don't find them bass lean (maybe just a little bit), but definitely not as lean as other people describe them to be.

[forbigger]

I was listening to Guru Feat DC Lee Aint No Time to Play track today on the 701. Out of curiosity I thought, "hey, lets try this song with my 5 month old MS1 whom I just got a bowl pad for"......And the result is like night and day. Not to blame 701 but I think I'd rather continue to listen with MS1 and wait for the desktop amp to arrive. To keep listening wont give 701 justice at all. I may ended up selling it as a matter of fact.

As I said above, 701 eats the portable amps for breakfast and it is even more evident on this particular track........ Oh boy, I learn something new everyday.......Was really surprised to see quite a few people @HF said that their 701 sounds great from their portable amp. I remember even one guy say it sounded okay from Fiio.....It's just a plain denial IMHO

[laxx]

Those people on HF are crazy. They say whatever it takes to justify their puchases.

[atothex]

HF is full of good headphones, blah amps, and blah sources.

[grawk]

I think it's fair to say that headfi is filled with good, ok, and shitty headphones, amps and sources

[atothex]

Darn, I was gonna rephrase that, but had to take a pee break. I meant expensive headphones and cheap other stuff.

[grawk]

Again, I think it's fair to say all price points of all the gear are represented at headfi

[Cankin]

I once used GLite with K702, and it drove K702 decently. My source was DacMagic not Pico DAC.

[forbigger]

Thank you for all the inputs. I've made up my mind and ordered the Glite+Pico DAC about a week ago. Really appreciate all the inputs and most of it pointed me to Glite+Pico. I'm quite sure that I've made the correct decision. And I kinda like this forum since I have more helpful responses than the so called "neighbour". At the least, I felt that as a true beginner, I felt more welcomed here......

Now, if only Justin can expedite the shipment of my amp and DAC.

PS. Justin - if you did receive my PM, my offer still stands!!.....

[guzziguy]

If you are offering meals from In-N-Out, then you have a good chance of Justin expediting your order, otherwise ...

[forbigger]

Guzzi : You help me to convince Justin with the in-n-out and if you succeed, take it that I owe you too......hows that ?

[Filburt]

Solid combination for a beginning rig. You shouldn't be disappointed. How long have you had your K701?

[forbigger]

I think it's fair to say that headfi is filled with good, ok, and shitty headphones, amps and sources

Grawk, you missed the cables, LOD and interconnects.....Ohhh, one more thing, silk USB cable where the silk is made by Mongolian worms which been fed by 55 yrs old Macallan ;D;D

@filburt : less than a week

[Filburt]

@filburt : less than a week

They probably need substantially more use then if you want the low end to fill out. Mine took a month or two to settle out. These sorts of things vary from headphone to headphone depending on driver design, and the 701 seems to need it more than most.

[forbigger]

Ok folks, here's how the story goes. Visited US for work for around 2 weeks. Email Woo audio and ask if they have any WA3 or 3+ in stock for immediate delivery. Got reply from Jack that he have WA6 with PDPS upgrade and it suited 701 better.

Impulsive feeling came again. The devil inside me said to me "wouldn't it be nice if you have both tube and SS amp so that it you can experience the best of both world?" and too bad the angel was away and wasn't available for advise. So the devil wins.........

Then I harassed Justin to send me whatever DAC I've already ordered from him that is also available for immediate delivery (irregardless the color).......

Cut the long story short, WA6 arrive earlier. Fire it up and hook it up direct to DAP (Zune) with mini-rca cable. Listen to it through 701 and WTF? The sound seems soooo distant and soft. Some of the folks here said its the source which I believe is the case too.

Buy my time and the Pico DAC arrive today. Hook it up with my notebook and playback the songs using Foobar and USB input to Pico. The sound ? To summarize.......orgasmic though not on every track. The thing have not burn in yet and I have been so impressed. Every little good thing about 701 were a reality now inside my own ear. Couldnt be more happier.......

I should be contended for the time being while waiting for the Gilmore Lite to be delivered to me and finally have a chance to compare between a medium end tube vs medium end SS amp. By then ,I will decide which one is a keeper (or maybe both).......

What would you guys think is better ? the gilmore lite or wa6 ?

[Dusty Chalk]

Couldnt be more happier.......

I love stories with a happy ending. This is all that matters.

And yes, you should get both and decide which you like better for yourself. I am personally a tube-head, but I heard a GSX setup this last weekend that I could definitely live with.

[Fungi]

I say Gilmore Lite because of aesthetics, size, and solid state. I have not heard either.