No such thing as too inexpensive! I currently have Sennheiser HD 650 in main system with headphone amp, and also Grado SR80. I want to put a CD player in bedroom for headphone only listening, and wanting to keep it simple. Thanks.
I give the nod to the SA8001 because it plays SACD and I think the build quality is better. But I suspect the headphone amps are very similar if not identical. I just don't think the design teams are given a blank sheet of paper for every model and price point. Most likely their business model dictates that a lot of the electronics and mechanicals are identical. Especially the ones that may not show up on the spec sheets.
For those Sennheiser HD 650 headphones I say pair them up with a Grant Fidelity DAC-09 or DAC-11 with a NOS Western Electric tube in place of the stock one. I know it isn't a CDP with a headphone jack but I did find a pair of Sennheiser HD-600 headphones along with a GF DAC-09 a very enjoyable combination. The footprint of the DAC-09 or DAC-11 isn't big at all and there is a lot of flexibility with it.
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