upgrade or leave alone?

[Arcam_boy]

Hi all.

I'm just having a little thought and wondering whether its worth upgrading anything on my system or put it towards my new pioneer kuro?

My system currently consists of apple itunes lossless > macbook ali > fubar II DAC > Kimber select KS 1011 interconnect > Graham Slee Solo with PSU 1 upgrade > Sennheiser HD 650's with stock cables.

Sound wise its very good indeed goes more than loud enough amazing detail, deep bass is slightly lacking but not sure how deep the Senns can really go. I have a budget of around £500 and was considering cable upgrade, dedicated cd player straight in to the slee or possibly a valve based headphone amp? I'm not desperate to upgrade but just considering it at the moment.

Thanks and Happy New Year

[LFC_SL]

Is there something that you do not like about the Graham Slee?

Maybe there is room to upgrade your DAC?

But a new TV is nice...

[Arcam_boy]

I'm still loving the Graham slee solo and senn 650 combo, but always fancied a dabble with some tubes

Yeah the fubar was basically purchased at the time to do the job I wanted as cheaply as possibly. I might look at upgrading that as it is definitely the weakest link in the system along with the standard cable

I've got my eye on a nice Pioneer Kuro 5090 plasma for my new place where my £500 might be better spent at the moment

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

Hi all.

I have a budget of around £500 and was considering cable upgrade, dedicated cd player straight in to the slee or possibly a valve based headphone amp? I'm not desperate to upgrade but just considering it at the moment.

Thanks and Happy New Year

You know the answer.....it's not cheap,but it is good.

Seriously though,the number of valve headphone amps in the £500 region is pretty small,and would include the Earmax Pro(not the standard version as this doesnt really have the drive for HD600/650 series phones).

The Naim Headline and Sugden Headmaster may be worth trying to track down secondhand,and whilst they will sound different from each other,are still worth trying out....both are S/s by the way.

[Arcam_boy]

maybe my plan should be buy the new tv and blu ray player then save and save and save a little more and buy a decent valve amp....I'd love to have a listen to a decent valve amp with the 650's before spending so much just to get an idea what sound I could achieve?

are there any good shops that offer this sort of service I'm restricted to my local sevenoaks and superfi which are ok for demoing speakers/tv's etc but fail to offer anything but the most basic headphone demo's

[trailer]

Arcam_boy you need to change your nick! Where did all the Arcam/B&W gear go????????

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

maybe my plan should be buy the new tv and blu ray player then save and save and save a little more and buy a decent valve amp....I'd love to have a listen to a decent valve amp with the 650's before spending so much just to get an idea what sound I could achieve?

are there any good shops that offer this sort of service I'm restricted to my local sevenoaks and superfi which are ok for demoing speakers/tv's etc but fail to offer anything but the most basic headphone demo's

I honestly don't know.....most of the demos centre around relatively popular devices like the Slee and X-Cans,and getting demos of any tubed gear is like pulling teeth.

Both of my tubed headphone amps were bought on spec and word of mouth,and luckily I've been more than happy with them,but I'm not sure I would have done so with some of the cheaper ones around.....I know that's a bit back-to-front,but at least with the Earmax and Cary I was getting something I knew would perform.

[Arcam_boy]

Originally Posted by trailer

Arcam_boy you need to change your nick! Where did all the Arcam/B&W gear go????????

I sold all my arcam equipment a long while ago along with my b&w 603 s3's. I then purchased some b&w 805S's speakers which I still have and a Musical Fidelity A5 amp, tuner and kw dac and transport.

I've sold all the musical fidelity kit as I just wasn't using my hi fi at all. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the 805S's yet as I'd love some 802D's and get a full 5.1 system going but might go down the MK route and stick to headphones for music listening as I really only listen to music when on my laptop and it sounds pretty good and doesn't disturb anyone else

As for demoing amps, if I had the money I would love a Cary amp like yours Alex but don't think I'll have the budget for a while for one of them I could possibly afford an earmax pro valve amp if you think that'd be a good choice with the 650's and possibly better than the slee?

I am tempted by the darkvoice stuff but I have seen a few problems with them that would worry me so I'd rather by from a UK dealer.

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

As for demoing amps, if I had the money I would love a Cary amp like yours Alex but don't think I'll have the budget for a while for one of them I could possibly afford an earmax pro valve amp if you think that'd be a good choice with the 650's and possibly better than the slee?

I am tempted by the darkvoice stuff but I have seen a few problems with them that would worry me so I'd rather by from a UK dealer.

The Earmax Pro would be sufficient to drive the HD600/650,as I have an Earmax Std that does work,but won't burn your ears off.

It sounds very nice and predictably warm,but whether or not it would suit you after the Slee,I cant say.

STONEAUDIO UK | hi-fi, home cinema, multi-room, design and installation

Audiophile Club:Distibutors of High-End Hi-Fi (Audio) Equipment

Both sell the Earmax,and this is the home website.

Earmax, the reference high end single-ended valve headphone amplifier

I've been very happy with it,and I don't actually use it any more due to the Cary,but the output of the standard version is a bit low overall for the HD600/650.