[soccer272]

Hey,
I am looking to buy some audio equipment, specifically an amp and a DAC. My price range is $1500 for each one, and I really can not budge over that limit on either one. I have ordered the HD800's and they are on the way so I am looking for an amp that will really mesh with those beautiful cans.
Any help will be much appreciated. 
 
 
Thanks,
Alex
 
p.s. I am just starting out so if there is something else that people would recommend me get, please feel free to include that.
 
Edit: I am going to be using the headphones to listen to pretty much all types of music.

 

[Nhubley]

Why not buy some Schiit? Here are some links to some suggestions of mine:
 
http://www.amazon.com/MATRIX-X-SABRE-32bit-384kHz-Audio/dp/B00CQIEVTK/ref=sr_1_81?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411967463&sr=1-81&keywords=headphone+amp
 
http://www.amazon.com/Schiit-SCH-05-Balanced-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B0097ONQZ6/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411967532&sr=1-11&keywords=schiit
 
http://www.amazon.com/Gungnir-Balanced-Digital-Analog-Convertor/dp/B00BFF92XK/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411967532&sr=1-13&keywords=schiit

 

[thecourier]

Welcome and congrats for your purchase. The HD800's are sublime. 
 
Any preference on sound? Solid state amps or tubes? Specific features? 

 

[Lorspeaker]

http://www.decware.com/newsite/CSP3.html

 

[soccer272]

I honestly would not know, I am just starting out and do not have a huge knowledge of anything as of yet. I was at a friend of a friends house and saw a pair and listened to them and they sounded absolutely amazing, so being a little bit of an audiophile, I own sony mdrV6's currently, I decided to bite the bullet and go all in. 
 
I am mostly going to be listening to things based more around acoustics like classical with the occasional EDM and jazz and what not. Nothing extremely specific, but I would like the amp to sound okay at everything and possibly be sound very good at a few things, if this is possible...

 

[Currawong]

Is there any chance you could go to Canjam or another meet (see the meets forum)? You could sample a heap of gear there with your own music (bring a microSD card and SD card adaptor and maybe a CD or SACD or portable hard drive). That would be worth the airfare and hotel costs for a night or two over losing the same amount on the gear selling it second-hand if you don't like it IMO.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Hey,
I am looking to buy some audio equipment, specifically an amp and a DAC. My price range is $1500 for each one, and I really can not budge over that limit on either one. I have ordered the HD800's and they are on the way so I am looking for an amp that will really mesh with those beautiful cans.
Any help will be much appreciated. 
 

 
No need to use up the entire budget, or use two separate pieces - here's the Burson Conductor for $1850. The thing about using separates personally is that, sure, maybe you can upgrade one or the other, but then if you buy one that isn't in the same chassis (which some brands might not retain over a long enough period of time), you might not like the look after one upgrade if you're OC enough and remember what it looked like with matched chassis. That said, some Schiit DACs like the Bifrost are modular, so you can just send it in for upgrades later on.
 
If you can order from a direct seller, you can go over to Meier Audio's website and order the DACcord and Classic.
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/daccord.htm
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/classic.htm