Hi guys so I’m looking into amps and availability/price. Canadian so prices will be in CAD.
Choices I’ve looked at so far
Liquid spark - $172
Topping A50 - $230
These are both new from Amazon.
I’m not looking at Schiit 3+ because new from them would cost me roughly $250 with delivery and conversion from USD. Guessing it’s not worth that increase over those listed above.
What are thoughts between the two listed? Topping worth that price increase?
I don’t really wanna go over the $250 if anyone has any other recommendations to check out. Currently don’t have hard to drive headphones but may be looking into some 600ohm beyers in the future.
600 ohm Beyers are a great choice for gaming and classical music. Of the ones you’ve mentioned, the Liquid Spark would be my rec.
If you’re willing to stretch the budget just a little bit, consider…I have a set of DT880 600 for those very purposes of gaming and classical music. I think the Schiit Asgard 3 is the best price-appropriate solid state amp I’ve found to match the 880’s Spatial abilities. The Darkvoice 336SE is, with some tube rolling, even better at accentuating their Spatial abilities, IMO. The trick with the Darkvoice will be availability at a competitive price (Drop sells it a handful of times per year for 200USD) and then putting better tubes in it, which will add cost. To my ear the order of quality with the DT880 goes Darkvoice w/ stock tubes < Asgard 3 < Darkvoice with Sylvania tubes. IMO, the extra cost for these options is a substantial improvement in gaming audio and classical music quality over the Liquid Spark.
From another Canuck, the Liquid Spark does go on sale occasionally on Monoprice.com. I bought one for $80.00US and my landed cost was about $155.00Cdn.
You should also have a hard look at used. While there is Kijiji, the best used audio gear seems to end up on CAM (Canuck Audio Mart). I even have a few used amps on there right now.
I scan there regularly for headphones, amps and DAC’s. If you find something that is in your budget and looks intriguing, then you can research it here and on Head-Fi.org.
Then you can just ask here to get more specific info.
PS: The Schiit Asgard 3 is a nice amp, but will run you close on $400.00 landed. Ignore if you were looking at the Magni 3.
