Advice for entry level amp

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Headphone Amps
1

Hi all,
I am in a bit of a pickle as I have been searching for a desktop amp to buy and I am in a peculiar situation.

The source would be an Axon 7 and because of that I concluded that for now I should not need a DAC (and any way I also have a DragonFly Red in case). I kinda suffer the Axon 7 distortion at higher volume even if I have likely easy to drive headphones, the DT 770 Pro 32Ohm. Since they are easy to drive I can and I have been using them without an amp so far with the Axon 7 alone so I do not want to spend too much for a desktop amp, which I will use mostly at work.

So I have kinda settled on a Fiio K5 as from where I am buying it seems to have the best price but I have seen it came out quite a while ago.

Is it still good? Is there something better up to 150 EUR?
Also since I really hate muddy bass and unclear mids can anyone tell me something about its sonic qualities?

1 Like
2

The k5 pro is pretty great, you would just need to get an otg cable for the phone to the fiio. The k5 pro is powerful, clear, and fairly detailed for the price, it’s a pretty nice unit. If you wanted something a bit more transparent actually, you could get a magni heresy or jds atom and use your dragonfly as a dac, and I think that might actually yield a bit more performance than the k5 pro (suggesting this because you have the dragonfly red)

3

I did actually look for a jds atom but I could not find a reseller here in Italy. Same deal for the magni. I guess anything built in the US is kind of hard to find and usually comes with custom duties. It sucks. That would have been perfect, even w/o using the DRF DAC which I want to keep at home for my pc mostly.

Is there a great difference between the standard Fiio K5 and the K5 Pro?
Other amps I found here are from SMSL, the Va2 and Sanskirt PHA, but they have also come out quite a few year ago.

4

Ah the k5 pro is what I recommend, the regular k5 is not that great imo. You could look for a topping a50 perhaps?

5

The schiit heresy off the schiit Eu store . Like an atom but with more power

6

https://www.schiit-europe.com/index.php/producten/amps/magni-heresy-headphone-amp-and-preamp.html

2 Likes
7

Yesss RiceGuru!!! I knew that someone had the answer! Thank you anyway M0N. I will check all of them out, but I believe I am biased towards the heresy.

8

Nice, the heresy is a sweet amp :+1: also I mentioned the heresy above too lol

9

you seem to like the heresy over the magni 3+

10

Heresy is a cleaner more linear amp. The 3 + sounds slightly warmer but doesn’t warrant the sacrifice in numbers. If you want to go warm might as well get the liquid spark

11

Yeah, I could not find any reseller though. I gave it for lost. I do not know how RiceGuru managed to find the EU store but I am glad he did.

12

Yes, the 3+ is good, but I kinda prefer the heresy here. Mainly because the 3+ is a bit less analytical but if I wanted less analytical I would pick up a liquid spark or archel instead

13

Hopefully you can get one :+1:

14

No problem man People seem to forget about the Eu store all the time. It’s basically my only hope when reccomending entry level gear in Europe

2 Likes
15

They have a UK one too :+1:

https://www.schiit.co.uk

1 Like
16

Can the OP access Monoprice products? The Liquid Spark is a nice little amp. And there are great specials on open box models that could balance out the shipping costs.

17

Outside of NA, it seems like the monoprice cavalli amps are fairly hard to get

18

For some reason I thought of Monoprice as a global company. They seem to straddle at least Asia and North America.

19

No Liquid Spark available, but I also discarded it because many reviewers say it has a bit of colour and rolls off the high end which I like. I like a more clear sound overall.

I went for the Heresy (even if I have to wait for about two weeks as they are out of stock). Ty all for the help.

2 Likes
20

Yeah it’s a preference thing, if you want a more cleanly sound the heresy is the right pick