Question about N-Serve

First of all I would recommend the HD-800 over any other headphones I've owned.  Second, the SN2 can easily drive the HD-800's.  It's ability to do so convinced me to move from Bryston to Naim partly because I'd been looking for a headphone amp that could be controlled with a remote control.  It does better than either the Bryston BP26 or BP17 preamps that I'd owned.

I don't feel that the bare SN2 is the equal of the Bryston BHA-1 headphone amp but there isn't much that is.  It's just that the BHA-1 couldn't be controlled by a remote control.

I've since moved all my Naim equipment to a Fraim rack which allows me to sit close enough to it to control volume.  I talked to my Naim dealer about going to the Headline headphone amp and he recommended combining it with a HighCap DR.  Since headphone listening is very important to me, I bought the combination.  I feel it's the equal of the Bryston Headphone amp and better than any other headphone amp I've heard.

Now that's not to say there is anything wrong with the SN2.  It's excellent and offers remote control.

So I would highly recommend that you buy the HD-800 headphones.  The first upgrade I'd recommend is to replace the stock Sennheiser cable with one of the Cardas HD-800 cables, even the least expensive of the three will improve the sound.

Bud

Thanks Bud, very helpful.  When I started looking for my first pair of serious headphones I didn't know how difficult a process it would become.  

I've auditioned a variety of HP's but haven't been able to do a direct comparison of HPs out of the SN2. From all my auditions I kept on going back to the hd800's as the most dynamic, detailed.  I have auditioned via the Hugo, an oppo headphone amp and the Senn  amp and have had a home audition to listen to the hd800 through my SN2.  

While I know I love the sound of the hd800's I know that the oppo and Senn amps sound significantly better than the hugo ( which in comparison was a bit of a disappointment as it didn't seem to have out and out guts  of the other two).......I'm kind a concerned the sn2 is closer in sound signature of the hugo and therefore pressure will mount to keep on adding boxes and not build the pension fund !

the big question is do I buy the HP's I know I love accepting the source components may be a little compromised or do I buy a more cost effective set of HP's knowing I'll be wringing the best out of them and therefore not falling into the upgrade trap.  Cheaper phones being considered are the Oppo Pm2, Shure 1540's and maybe some AKG's ?

interestingly I spend last night I spent the evening listening through my Grado sr80's and after about half an hour I forgot about the inadequacies of these little headphones I got completely lost in the music, I suppose you don't need the best to enjoy good and we'll recorded music....but it helps.

Thanks again for responding, I'm closer to a decision, thank you for that

m

You have some good points.  If you got the HD-800's, you would be soon looking to upgrade everything.  The key is to have a balanced system.

I went to Naim so I could downgrade my system from an 8 piece Bryston kit.  Well, I'm about back to where I was.  Maybe it's the HD-800's that are the reason for it.

I tried some other headphones after getting the Senns.  I bought a pair of Grado RS-1's but soon sold them.  I didn't like the U shaped frequency response.  I once owned Sennheiser HD-650's and I may go back and try them or the HD-600's again.

In any case, you have got the right idea. If you bought the HD-800's you would probably get caught up in the upgrade business.  Right now I'm upgrading cables and like with the Bryston gear, it gets really expensive.  The HD-800's can clearly reveal the difference even with Ethernet cables.

A couple of things to remember... Source First and Details Matter.  I sold my first NDX and replaced it with an NDS because I wasn't pleased with the NDX.  The NDS didn't please me either.  Then I bought a Fraim rack and my dealer told me to go back to the NDX.  This time everything was great.  I think it was because the first time around I had the streamers in an equipment cabinet w/o room to properly dress the cables.  With the Fraim rack, that's not a problem. 

Good luck with your decision.  Maybe you should stick with your Grados and focus on the music.  I've never been able to do that in the decades I've been into audio

Bud

Wow you've spent a fair bit on that system.  I'm struggling to believe Ethernet cables can make a real difference....but then again I haven't experienced owning anything quite as grand as NDS nor any bryston kit.

Current system is nd5xs into Sn2  and may grow to include a DAC at some point , perhaps a Hiline if I'm still chasing upgrades but unlikely ever to include fraim or particularly exotic cables. 

Dac wise..there's so much talk about the Hugo, admittedly it does sound good but I'm yet to be convinced, there will be something along soon that will trump it as I suspect we're going to see a marked jump in Dac performance in the next couple of years.

back to HP's....I'm going to take my time and reflect for a couple of weeks. I'm fortunate that I have an extremely good headphone retailer close by, the only problem is you get sucked in and demo the best. When you put on lower grade hp's having auditioned the best it's a bit deflating.  I should say it's not always the case I did try one pair of expensive audio technicas (5000's) and they were some of the worst id ever heard.

Bub, thanks agin for your time and comments 

m