I would rephrase that a tiny bit. The amp is not the most important, however in the absence of gear the best return on money spent IS spent on the amp for up to a $100. Sorry to nitpick.
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i meant besides the headphones
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Right, I agree with you there. I maybe just tired, but basically I’m just concerned someone goes for THX amp without a DAC and wonder why they can’t hear anymore details. Probably and extreme extrapolation I’m over exaggerating.
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Oh you mean over a DAC? Well my reasoning there is sometimes some computers have decent on-board DAC’s. I think amps are more important than DAC’s because a DAC is no good if you cant hear your headphone. I guess in order i believe Headphone > Amp > DAC. But of course all 3 is ideal
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The liquid spark is an excellent amp and so is the sdac being a good dac but I would personally get the topping d10 first just a better dac in terms of measurements and build quality. The k5 pro is pretty good if you want to go cheaper I wouldnt get the Zen dac unless you want to run balanced and I wouldn’t get the dac x6
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I was in the same spot about 8 months ago. My forum thread is HERE if you are interested. After months of researching and watching reviews, and chatting on these forums, i finally made up my mind on a budget setup.
I end up getting the 58X, D10 Dac, and JDS Labs Atom Amp. Cost me a about $450 CAD + Tax. I am very happy with those 3. The headset was lacking a bit of bass for my liking, but an EQ fixed that. Now i’m looking to upgrade the pads on it to make it more comfortable. Later i also added the Antlion ModMic Wireless to it to make it into a gaming headset. $150 CAD +Tax
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Strongly agree here. There will be almost no high end with this pairing.
I disagree somewhat. This pairing will have the same basic problem as the 6xx + Zen pairing, albeit to a much lesser magnitude. Both the Zen and the LS have a warmer signature with rolled off highs, but where ths LS does this subtly, the Zen does so somewhat aggressively.
I think you have to know you are very treble sensitive or just like a dark sound to do either of these pairings. I’d recommend an Atom or a Magni Heresy to drive the 6xx.
This is good stuff for the op 
I’ll stand by the pairing as I personally enjoy it (even more than the heresy) but really we just need more insight to what they’re after
So much so that it’s not a problem but more a preference
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Well i guess the real question is, what exactly do you wish to upgrade soundwise? want more treble? clarity? bass etc, do you have something you dislike about the bose sound? I think first we need to figure out the headphone u would want, and then decide on what amp to pair it with since amps can make or brake a headphone. For example, i have a audioquest nighthawk, which is very BASSY which is fine if you want to use em as bass cans but if i want them to be more of an all rounder i just pair them up with a brigther/neutral amp like my xduoo. If i wish to make them have even more bass lol just hook them up to the spark. so i think you should get an amp based on the headphone first
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Hi Everyone, thanks for all the replies on this. I really appreciate your time.
I mostly will use these headphones for music. I do play PC games but I’m not worried about that as much. (I have a hyper X headset that I use for chat) I listen to rock music (classic and modern) and a lot of sound tracks (hans zimmer, john williams, ect).
What I want are good headphones/equipment to make those types of music sound good. I think I’m pretty settled on the 6xx because a lot of the videos I saw said they were a good first pair of higher quality headphones and also that they were pretty neutral.
I understand I cant get much cheaper than say $200 to drive them properly. I do not want to use the onboard sound on my computer. I don’t even use that for my hyper x headset because the drivers are awful for it.
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6xx should serve you just fine then paired with a liquid spark/jds atom/magni 3+ (I’d avoid the heresy here personally) and a topping d10/e30 
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Thanks. I appreciate it.
I haven’t ordered yet but I’ve got some stuff in my cart. 
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What do you think about this:
Its a little cheaper than the D10 or Schiit DAC. I’m going to get the liquid spark amp.
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It’s pretty good how much cheaper is it than the d10?
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Sorry its cheaper than the D30. D10 is same price basically.
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not that it’s audible the d10 measures better so if its the same price I woudl go with that
sry, im confused, if they are the same price, you would rather get the D10? or the SMSL M100? and why?
I think he meant the d10 because on paper it measures better… though he made mention there will next to no audible difference
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Why avoid the heresy? Do you mean in general or just when paired with the 6xx?
Paired with the 6xx, I believe, as it’s a more analytical amp and the 6xx is a bit amp picky.