Headphone Amplification

Intro Some here may know I quit reviewing audio gear some time ago, which still holds - there were several reasons I gave that up but there are still a few components here and there that have piqued my curiosity. So when an opportunity to spend some time with the Shanling PH3000 came up recently, I jumped on it, and rather than keep my findings to myself, I thought I'd also write up an informal review since this amp isn't well-known. I want to add here that my listening with the Shanling was accelerated given the short span of time I had with it - only 4 days. Past reviews I've written were done over weeks (in some cases, even months) so this review should be consid…

I own Grado SR 225 and i'm thinking about buying a great for the price headphone amp. I'm looking at the qinpu A3 amp but would like to know if theres anything better if i would pay a little bit more? What about something vintage thats not expensive would i get better quality and warmer sound? I'm listening to Beatles, Guitr related stuff (Satriani,Andy Timmons) Blues,Rock... Thanks!!!

Hey all, sorry to add yet another HD800 amp thread but I'm really on the fence on what amp I should try next for my rig. My current setup is: Northstar M192 MK1 -> Gilmore Lite + DPS -> HD800 I'm currently interested in either getting a used Wooaudio 6 with the power supply upgrade and sophia tube or grabbing a 3 channel B22 kit from glass jar audio. Let's set a budget of around 800 for other suggestions. Any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks

I have been a long time supporter of DIY tube amps. I want to try an SET headphone amp. What I am finding is you can buy a new WA6 for less than building a proper SET amp because the air gapped headphone OPT's cost so much. Is the WA6 a well designed amp, does anyone know the topology? I'm on the fence with this one, any feedback would be appreciated.

I decided to build a SoHA II while waiting on the Stacker II project to get out of grid lock. The SohaII is a very interesting design with a few limitations. The tube current is very low, I can only get about 1.5 mA thru each section and the plate voltage is only about 40V. That said this is a terrific sounding amp. I didn't like the recommended RCA 5693 tubes, they were too congested with distortion in complex passages. I switched to 8416's which sound very nice. In comparison to my Bijou this little SOHAII actually has clearer better defined mids, I was very surprised to hear more of the ambience of the recording in voicing and guitar. The Bijou beats it in p…

Check it out, people! (click the pic) Not yet named officially but called the WES (Woo ElectroStatic) for now.

Hello everybody, I have to admit, I have asked this question in some way over at the other place. Good thing I was able to find this forum in time before falling into the hype of the Compass. I hope I am still welcomed here.. So here it goes, I started off as an IEM kinda guy. I enjoyed the sound quality it is able to deliver straight out of an Ipod and its ability to filter out people's conversations on bus rides. However, I became really curious about circum-aural headphones this past summer and bought a used Sennheiser HD555 to try out. I love the soundstage and felt that it was a big step up from my old iems (Shure SCL3 at that time). I was just going to lea…

Didn't find an existing thread for this amp, so I thought I'd start one. I spent the last week listening to one I had on loan from TTVJ and compared it to the FET-A, also on loan. The following is sort of my "mini-review" of the P200 to share my impressions. Disclaimer: these impressions are based on 6 days of listening, far from ideal. Normally I would've liked to spend at least a week per headphone which is what I've done in the past, so even I might disagree with my own impressions later. My opinions varied a few times during listening in fact and without enough time to confirm what I heard via repeated listening, take these impressions with an extremely small grain…

What commercial tube head amp would you buy?

Hi All, I have just signed up as I am getting into the world of cans for the first time (at least at an audiophile level) - much like Forbigger in his Suggestion for desktop amps......current budget overstretch thread I've been looking at a Corda Cantate (as its what a local distributor has available, note: its not a Cantate.2) but see it seems not an overly popular unit here (getting a little 'shot down' as Forbigger said). However as I am in NZ there is a limit to what's available locally from distributors to try out in the range I'm looking... Anyway I'm after a good value mid-range home use type amp (i.e. not a portable), it'll be for a secondary set up that I o…

Hi guys, I possess a wonderfull, like new, melos sha-gold and a pair of vintage grado rs-1!!! I need a pair of very good tube to use but, I've not sufficient money for experimenting different options... So between these tubes, which one is the best for my needing? Mullard E88CC-01 Telefunken E88CC Amperex 7308 Siemens E88CC A0 If you have other options in mind please let me know! Thanks in advance!

New? Notice: 100 units only. Linky go here.

I got a quickie HF-style poll for y'all. Got me some HF2s and AD2000s, and I'm looking for a cheap, temporary amp about $200ish. I'm probably gonna have a chance to buy one of these soon. I don't care for amp coloration; I just want my source and phones to do their thing. The amp just provides the power and keeps the signal clean. Other suggestions welcome, preferably used and available right now. Edit: Oh yeah, and impressions/comparisons are very welcome. Thanks.

Also posted on H-F: Review of the SPL Phonitor Introduction: Last year I started to read about this new amplifier from SPL with its exotic crossfeed and I had to hear it. SPL America generously agreed to send me a Phonitor sample for review on Head-Fi and in short I am extremely impressed with the amplifier. On top of that the Phonitor has an amazing fully adjustable crossfeed circuitry that does an amazingly effective job at recreating a speaker setup. That

I am trying to decide between the Headroom BUDA+DPS and GS-X to use as a "backup" balanced solid state amp to use with HD800 and ECD-1 for those times that I don't want to fire up the tube amp (Woo Audio WA5 LE). There are advantages to both of them. For instance, BUDA+DPS is maybe slightly smaller, bit cheaper (can't members of the other site get some sort of 10% discount?), will convert SE to balanced from an unbalanced source like my SA8001 that I use to listen to the few SACDs that I own, has a shorter waiting period. However, the GS-X is fully discrete while the the BUDA is chip based, the GS-X has stepped attenuators, and Justin's work is absolutely amazing. Als…

I'm looking for a single ended analytical sounding amp to go with a North Star 192 MKII. Any suggestions besides a GS-1? Thanks USG

The Menace is deserving of it's own thread I think (well 2nd thread actually). Built by our very own n_maher, I couldn't believe it when he put it up for sale, just happy I was lucky enough to get it. Amazing amp, stayed up far too late just listening last night and it looks like a repeat performance is on for tonight. hi-rez versions of the attached pics

Since those two are about the same price, what's best as a DAC and as an AMP?

Which pairs better with the Denon d2000 in your guys' opinions, The Hifiman EF2? or the Audio-Gd Compass. I have no amp or dac, so these will serve as both amp and dac for me driving out of a macbook pro. Which do you guys recommend? Thanks for any help.

So, I have owned the Moth 300B for years and have never once experienced what is happening right now. I was playing speakers through it earlier just fine, and was putting records on shelves, etc., so not being too critical. Wanted to switch to K1000s out the back so switched the speaker cables for the pigtail and went out on the porch. In order to adjust volume on the lousy recording I was listening to, I went into the room again and was thinking that the K1000s were really loud through the window and 10 feet away. But even after unplugging them from the pigtail, music played on quite audibly... So for some reason, this straight up power amp with now speakers attac…

Well I just bought a NuForce Icon Mobile, for my first amp/dac. I will be using it to power my Denon Ah-D2000, which I am absolutely loving so far (Have had for about a month, maybe a bit longer). HeadphoneAddicts review suggests good synergy with them so I figure i'll give them a try. When I get them I will do the same kind of thing I did with my headphones, I will do an initial review and then an After burn in review :] Hopefully will be of use to other people. This will be my first amp/dac experience so I am intrigued on what changes this will make to the sound. The amp will be coming in 1-3 days, wish me luck hopefully I don't spill things in excitement when I…

I don't know if there is anybody that has heard both of these amps, but if you have, which one did you like better. And if you haven't but know a lot about tube amp design, which one is better designed / made? I'm looking for the best possible amp for both the K1000 and the HD800 and now that I am leaning towards a tube amp, these two seem to be the leading candidates. Unfortunately, I know nothing about tubes or tube amps. (p.s. let's put aside the fact that Eddie Current is also balanced since (a) it doesn't matter for the K1000 and ( while I may buy a balanced cable for the HD800, I likely won't be reterminating other headphones with hardwired cables.)

Can anyone suggest the dirt cheapest amp that will adequately drive the O2's? Will the SRM-252 work?

At the SF meet, I heard the WA5 with a pair of K1000s and really enjoyed it. So now I'm looking for an amp to drive the K1000s and HD800s to the top of their game. The WA5 is one choice. The Balancing Act is another, but that doesn't have speaker posts, which I would like to have for additional functionality. The ZDT is a third option, but may not be as good a choice for the HD800 and may come up just a bit short on the K1000 as well (if I understand the tubes used in that amp compared to the tubes used in the BA or the WA5). But beyond that (and I would definitely welcome any comments on choosing between those three), I am a solid-state guy. Is there a solid-sta…

website The short write-up in December's issue of Hi-Fi Choice says, "...by using CRT technology, these valves can be run at a lower power and offer significantly improved lifespans." That'd be the part that got my attention.