I’m looking for a amp for my HD800s, I already have a D90/A90 stack so I’m looking for something with a fun sound, and also preferably available in Europe.
If you have any other suggestions that are better than the ones in the title my budget is $1200
If you have that much, you do have options. I’d personally look towards a violectric v280 (now fe I think) as that is a great pairing for the 800s if you were looking for something a bit thicker, smoother in the treble, spacious and slightly relaxed maintaining good technical performance.
A feliks elise mkii is pretty solid option for something smoother, dense, relaxed, spacious, and organic while being decently technical when needed, def worth a look (if that ends up being too pricey the echo 2 is also a solid pick although I’ve only heard the echo 1 myself)
Looking used, if you could find a questyle cma800r, bryston bha-1, or luxman p1u those would also be worth consideration. If you could find a woo wa6se that’s solid too but that might be more us (but still wide spread enough to potentially get one)
There are other options like the decware csp3, quicksilver headphone amp, and zmf pendant but those are I’m guessing not going to be easily aval in europe. There are also other options I would mention but they might be too no nonsense and something I wouldn’t consider fun so I won’t mention them
Personally I don’t think the jot is a good match and also isn’t exactly on the level of amp I would want to be for a hd800s (and is more neutral than fun), the ta-20 was similarly unremarkable in this case as well but did have a bit more fun signature. The valhalla is also not exactly where I would want to be, but while it’s signature is more neutral it had a bit of fun to it in spatial recreation and tonal density
Or a used Espressivo Mk 2 for something in between?
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Thanks for the suggestions but the issue with being in Eastern Europe is that shipping, import fees, and VAT will add 20-40% to the price. I bring that up because other than the echo 2 every other amp you mention is way out of my price range.
Ah damn, then ignore what I have mentioned lol
It’s hard getting audio gear in Europe. Would a Feliks Audio Echo Mk II be better than a Tor Roger or a Flux Lab FA-12
So I would rather have that over a Roger or flux for an 800s personally yes. I think it offers a higher level of performance with an equally fun sound
So I was about to order the Echo II, but decided that there’s no point buying a $1000 amp only to upgrade again in a year or two. I went through your list and picked all the amps that were under $2200 with shipping, and added two, just wondering which you’d suggest?
violectric v280
bryston bha-1
echo 2 ( for some reason shipping the elise mkii would push the amp into the $4000 range)
HeadAmp GS-X Mini
iFi Pro iCan
For an 800s I’d really want this one tbh
This is also a really nice match if you want something more fun than the vio, could come down to price
That’s absurd lol, so that’s out
Personally this leans to bright and analytical with an 800s
This is a very fun amp, but imo it falls behind in comparison to the bryston or vio in technical performance
After shipping the Bryston ends up being $400 more than the Violectric, would that be worth it? At this price I’d like the amp to last me a couple years so I’ll pay the difference.
If that’s the case, how much all in is the vio?
Vio will be $1900 and the Bryston will be $2300.
If thats the case, the vio makes the most sense imo. That would be a pretty nice pairing with something like a soekris dac2541 later on as well if you wanted to upgrade your dac
Excellent, thanks for your help