Long time Zeos viewer, a bit of hifi interest, yada yada, the usual.
So recently my MDR 7506 gave me the rattling of death, so I jumped the shark and went for the T50RP Mk3. But my budget at the time only allowed me to pair it with the FX Audio X6 Mk2. Granted, it does make the T50RPs make noise, but to my inexperienced ears, it doesn’t make them sound as good as Zeos and others said they should.
This brings me to the topic. While I can’t get a Watt-yeeter, I can get something in the ~140 dollar range (I am in Europe, that limits my choices just a little bit). From my looking around I could get either the Magni 3+/Heresy or the Fiio K5 PRO.
Now, the reason I’m asking for someone for advice is that while to me either would do well (with the Schiit route, I would be using the X6 as a DAC for the time being), I am missing the knowledge and experience to really choose the best option here. The Magni does deliver way more power, but that would funnel me into getting a DAC later on to complete the stack. On the other hand, if the K5 is more than enough, it would save me a chunk of change.
I am open to suggestions, just please note the somewhat limited budget and location, and thanks in advance.
As someone who has owned the k5 pro, I would say if you know you do not want to spend any more money than is necessary to get decent sound on your t50rp, then get the k5 pro because at that price it’s good enough. But if you are going to spend more money than your $140 budget down the road, then better to get an amp like jds atom, topping l30, liquid spark now and get a dac later.
x2. I agree.
T50RP owner from Germany here.
You don’t need to drown the T50’s in power like some say.
Amazon.de lists the K5 Pro for 160€, Audiophonics.fr for 180€
Liquid Spark can be had for 135€ from Audiophonics
+1 to Liquid Spark. That was easily my favorite price-appropriate pairing for T50 (technically Dekoni Blue, pretty much same thing).
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
I did consider the Liquid Spark, but with the Magni 3+ in the same price range, I dismissed it. Maybe too hastily, but I didn’t want to juggle too many options at the same time, since I can’t tell which one is better and on paper, they look very similar.
If I were to go with a stand-alone amp now, I will be able to afford a proper DAC a month or two later. So the main appeal of the K5 Pro is that I would have the complete setup now rather than later, and that power-wise it should be enough for the T50RPs.
I would consider waiting to gather around ~$200-$220 for a combo DAC amp, but from what I’ve seen there is a great void in combos in this price range, hence the current budget and goals.
So in fairness, it’s more of a Magni (and a DAC later) vs Liquid Spark (and a DAC later) vs K5 Pro, and I still have a hard time picking between them.