[BobM]

I have a pair of Senn 600's that I use rarely, usually if I get up early in the morning and don't want to wake the rest of the house. Now since I don't use these often I have just plugged them into my Sony DVP-S7700 DVD player/transport.

I haven't thought about a separate quality head-amp because, again, I don't use them often enough to justify the expense in my mind. Are there any inexpensive head-amps that would be worth looking at and would make a significant improvement?

That would also let me listen to vinyl on the cans, so I could possibly justify a low cost option sometime in the future.

Thanks,
Bob

[BradJudy]

How do you define inexpensive Bob? 

A Little Dot III tube amp for ~$200 on ebay
A Firestone Cute Beyond is ~$200
A Total Airhead from Headroom is only $100

All of mine are DIY, so I can't give any opinions on commercial offerings. 

[dreamwhisper]

head over to head-fi and in the for sale section there are tons of inexpensive diy tube/SS hybrids,
(just keep a watchful eye for a little while maybe)

millet minimax
millet max
soha
soha 2

The SOHA 2 for one will brutally humiliate any competitors in its class, I know, I've owned one.
They hit above their weight for sure.
Talk to SACD Lover (SACD_Lover) on Head-fi for more info, he has a huge collection of them./

[ecramer]

Any idea on what a good price for those are. 

head over to head-fi and in the for sale section there are tons of inexpensive diy tube/SS hybrids,
(just keep a watchful eye for a little while maybe)

millet minimax
millet max
soha
soha 2

The SOHA 2 for one will brutally humiliate any competitors in its class, I know, I've owned one.
They hit above their weight for sure.
Talk to SACD Lover (SACD_Lover) on Head-fi for more info, he has a huge collection of them./

[ecramer]

Hello Bob

While there are quite a few inexpensive head amps out there i don't know of any that have a phono section with RIAA curve built in or even offered.  I honestly don't know how good the headphone amp in the Sony is but it would be my guess that a dedicated amp would be better. As in the two Channel hobby some good deals in the used market can be had. I like my Gilmore Lite a lot.  http://www.headamp.com/home_amps/lite/index.htm  and the M3 http://www.rockhopperaudio.com/Rockhopper_Audio/News_Prebuilt/Entries/2009/3/14_Prebuilt_M3.html

I have a pair of Senn 600's that I use rarely, usually if I get up early in the morning and don't want to wake the rest of the house. Now since I don't use these often I have just plugged them into my Sony DVP-S7700 DVD player/transport.

I haven't thought about a separate quality head-amp because, again, I don't use them often enough to justify the expense in my mind. Are there any inexpensive head-amps that would be worth looking at and would make a significant improvement?

That would also let me listen to vinyl on the cans, so I could possibly justify a low cost option sometime in the future.

Thanks,
Bob

[mbakes]

I know the guy that is Rockhopper Audio.  His name is thrice on Head-Fi.  He is a great guy and a great builder.  Not sure how much you are looking to spend but but the choices you have been given are all good.  The Gilmore Lite is a great choice for the HD 600 as well.  Another option is the Eddie Current EC/SS.  There are a number of people that will build you the Millet amps.  Not aware of a headphone amp with a built in phono stage.  I have my headphone amp connected to the tape out of my preamp so it's not an issue for me.  Another consideration is the Channel Islands VHP1.

[BobM]

Ha, ha, ha - not looking for a phono stage built in. That would be a bit silly, no? I meant if I have a separate head-amp connected to my preamp I could then listen to both digital and vinyl over the cans. right now, with only a headphone jack in my CD player I can only listed to vinyl.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll lurk a bit over at Head-fi and see what comes up.

Bob

[mbakes]

Ha, ha, ha - not looking for a phono stage built in. That would be a bit silly, no?

Agreed.

[cryoparts]

millet minimax

I currently have one of above as built by Whiplash Audio, and used to have the Millet Starving Student built by Whiplash and they are pretty darn good, for the price.

Peace,

Lee

[jrebman]

I'm in the process of building a Millet MiniMax and if you're into the diy thing, I believe beezar.com is looking to offer full kits of parts in the near future., or you can do what I did and buy parts a la carte from beezar, Mouser, digikey, etc.

The circuit board is small and there are a good number of parts on it, but everything is through-hole so if you can solder, you can probably build it.

The SSH -- Starving Student Hybrid is also another project which may be offered as a kit and should have fewer parts.  These are both tube/SS hybrids and should work with all standard dynamic phones, high or low impedance.

HTH,

Jim

[jrebman]

Bob,

Another option if you're into the diy thing is the Decware ZenHead in kit form -- $137.  It's the same as the ZenHead without the fancy case, and of course you have to put it together yourself.  I didn't build the kit so I don't know how involved it is, but I owned a ZenHead for a good while and it works nicely with Senns, and although all solid state does have a very tube-like flavor to it.  All in all a really nice and pleasing amp to listen to, thoug will not give you the last word in top end, low end and dynamics.

I've owned a total airhead, and both versions of the Total Bithead and this amp bests them both and by a wide margin, IMO.

HTH,

Jim