"Shortest Way" SW51 Amp Impressions (Simple SET Amp)

Regarding dac warmup, pre-covid, at our regular Seattle area meets, some of us hot transported our digital. Atomicbob always had his stuff warm and toasty, and my Yggdrasil and Atterotech interface were never shut down.

After going to all the trouble of tearing down and hauling everything to and from meets, it wasn’t that big of a deal to have an inverter and UPS set up in the car.

 

Hello everyone - we wanted to notify everyone on SBAF that we will not be able to ship any orders placed between Feb 3 and Feb 21 until Feb 22-24. A notice has also been placed on the website.

This is for two reasons - the warehouse suffered water damage due to the recent heavy rains in Southern California. Although the products were not damaged in any way and were function checked out of an abundance of caution, the mold caused by the rain has forced the building owner to limit access to the building for a the next several days while the issue is addressed. [To clarify - the products were not exposed to the mold in a different part of the building - but access is limited while repairs are being made] We will also be traveling for several days after the expected repairs have been completed.

We will still be available via email and on this forum during this time if anyone needs to contact us.

 

I found the Shortest Way 51 to work pretty well for games and movies with HD800S. However I need something closed for whenever my gf is making noises. Thinking about some Beyerdynamic variant. Anyone tried Beyers with the SW51+? Primarily for gaming but also movies and some background listening. Any other HP I should consider that works well with SW51+?

 

Haven't tried any closed backs on this amp, but TYGRs were fine and DT880s 600 ohms didn't sound good at all. I suggest aiming for 64 to 300 ohms dynamics for the best result. My HD Zeus sounded better on this amp, especially for gaming and movies, and it's also semi-open, but you have to apply heavy EQ IMO

 

I recently was in a similar situation with my roommate where I needed a closed back. I tried a Beyer DT770 250ohm which sounded ass on a Liquid Gold X, but in a bit of holiday splurging I picked up a HD600 and a SW51+ based on synergistic reviews and prior experience with HD800S on ZDT Jr. While the DT770 did sound better on SW51+ than the Monoprice, I ultimately found the limitations of the headphone to be a damper on my musical enjoyment in the late night hours and I found myself wishing I could listen to my Stax instead. I would suspect if you're accustomed to the precision and detail of an HD800-level headphone, that you would likewise be underwhelmed.

I ultimately decided to return the Beyers and the Senns to Amazon and instead purchased a set of ZMF Vérité Closed in the stock Sapele wood. They are gorgeous, block more noise than the Beyers, and sound fantastic with the SW51+. I couldn't be happier, enjoying them as much as my Stax or OG HE-6. Your closed back listening won't be a compromise. Obviously, there are a few orders of magnitude difference in the price of the DT770 and the VC, but ZMF also has the Atticus as a (mostly) closed-back and more in-line pricewise with the HD800S.

As far as I'm aware, all ZMFs are also pretty much universally agreed upon to synergize well with tube amplifiers, with the Caldera perhaps being an exception. I haven't personally heard a pair, but Atticus is still well-liked in these parts and ZMF is one of the most consumer-friendly companies I've ever dealt with. They won't quite be able to compete with the HD800S or the VC technically, but I can pretty much guarantee an Atticus will be more synergistic and enjoyable than one of the closed Beyers. And if the Atticus is still too much, if you can wait for a little while longer, ZMF should be releasing another less-expensive (and I believe fully closed like the VC and new Atrium Closed) closed-back later this year.

 

@TazerMonkey can confirm the excellent synergy between the sw51+ and VC/ Atrium… this is not a thick sounding amp, so the combo produces a very good balance to me.