[mafaldich]

I have AKG k501 and k601.
My current amp is Corda Arietta, which is okay. I want to find an upgrade.

Currently, I am thinking about

Bottlehead crack
Schiit Lyr
Woo Audio 3

My budget is around $500
Any thoughts? Thank you.

[adydula]

Objective 2 from JDS Labs.

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

and you have $350 left over for a new set of cans!!!

had the lyr, its sold.

Alex
 

[SteveFord]

I had a similar question and was advised to go with the WooAudio 6 over the 3.
I had a Jolida two piece headphone amp some time back which worked well with the 701s.

[passingthrough]

Since you're open to tube head amps (from your short list), I'd recommend the Project Sunrise II.  I have one I use with AKG Q701 headphones and think it's excellent. 

You can buy it as a kit or fully built for $245 from the designer's company based in Arizona.  I bought mine fully built.

FWIW, here's a head-fi thread that has some comparisons between the Project Sunrise II and both the Lyr and O2:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/601207/project-sunrise-ii-kit-review

[eclein]

Thats a pretty cool looking piece also........very unique. I'll have to check into them myself when I get ready to grab another amp.

[Noseyears]

I prefer Solid state amps with Akg personally.
The Objective combo will do justice, but you are missing their potential.

Grab a used HA-160.

[LostInPA]

Another not absurdly priced headphone amp is the LittleDot Mk V.  This is their best solid state headphone amp, dual mono construction all the way back to separate power transformers for each channel.  More, including pictures, at [url]www.littledot.net/[url].   

I am using this to power an AKG K702.   I find the sound to be clean and fast.

[mafaldich]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I recently got a used SPL Auditor and it pairs very well with both K501, K601 and an K240df. I never realized K240df sounds so good before mated with auditor.  In addition, I really like its outlook (in black).

I believe O2 and the sunriseII will also be good choices for these AKGs. But frankly I want an amp which looks more robust.

That being said, I am not so sure if Auditor will be good for K701/2 or Q701, since it appears Auditor performs better with high impedance headphones.

Another characteristic of auditor, when compared with corda arietta, is that there is less fatigue when listening music through auditor.

[eastsoutheast]

I am using a Musical Fidelity HPA to drive a pair of AKGQJ701's with great results. Quite cheap, well built with a brilliant sound.

Good Luck

[Freo-1]

Check this one out:
 
http://www.diyforums.org/Torpedo/TORPEDOoverview.php
 
It sounds great, and you can customize a bit to your personal tastes.