Headphone Amplification

Hi everyone, I'm about to enter the world of tubes. My Acoustic Zen's arrived, and I'm going to be powering them with one of these http://www.gini.com/index.php?id=250. I heard the combo at a local dealer and really fell in love with it. Can someone explain me the difference between 'triode' operation and 'ultralinear' operation, and also recommend some really great tubes. I'm a complete newbie in this field so go easy!

Just saw this over on that other forum: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2062510&postcount=5 Looks somewhat interesting but I'd like to hear comments from the more technically inclined members here.

I'm about to buy a pair of 6bx7gt's for my old skool toaster MPX3. First of all, will it's psu even be able to handle them? Second, what are some good ones? I'm probably gonna buy them matched from tubeworld.com, if there's a better dealer that takes paypal tell me! Would you recommend the "O" or "D" getter halo tubes? And what brands? They seem to recommend the GE branded amperex and RCA tubes, but then again they're selling them...

Yo...whadya all think of the headamp AE-1???

Well I just got confirmation from SPL USA today that they are going to send me a SPL Phonitor for me to do a review on Head-Case and the other site. Good stuff, all I need to do is give them a CC# as collateral. The only issue I see with this is the fact that the amp has a 9 ohm output impedance which it seems to me would cause some weird responses with low impedance phones (unless their impedance doesn't vary much). I probably won't get it for a couple weeks but hopefully I'll get it before Christmas.

Hey all, I was thinking of upgrading my 45 tubes for my custom made SET Headphone amp. Currently I have a simple ST shape pair (Rytheon or Sylvania, I don't recall). There are quite a few options, most of them are expensive and some are scary expensive (Like the EML stuff). The Old NOS ones: Blue arcturus 145 (probably around 300$ for a NOS pair), If you can find some. Baloon type 45s (245/345/etc...) NOS, around 250$ a pair for those rare units from 1930-1940, don't know any preferred manufacture. The New ones: EML 45- 400/500$ for a pair of Solid Plate/Mesh. EML 45 Ballon style speical Edition - 600$ a pair. Sophia Electric 45 - 250$-275$ for a new pair …

Was pretty interested in what you guys thought the woo audio 4 or 5 would sound with grados??

I have recently bought an Onkyo C-S5VL SACD player and WOO WA6 with EML 274B rectifier (about 2 weeks). My Headphone is HD-800. Today I decided to for no good reason try the headphone jack on the Onkyo which has internal amplification (with actual volume knob for headphone out). To my surprise going aback and forth I could not discern major difference between Onkyo and Woo. I tested these on several 24 bit recordings that I have. I also tried my Denon receiver headphone out but this time the sound was simply horrid. Is something wrong with my setup? Or Onkyo internal amplification that good. This post is by no mean to criticize WA6. I am just trying to ge…

Reports from Craig as follows: The Zana Duex: Yes I am making the ZanaDuex, it will be firm at $1800.00. Separate power chassis. The caps used are the paper, poly soy caps. You will not find them on line. They were made custom for Moth, in America. I have enough to make 12 Zana Duex's. The first proto will be hand wired from the input jacks to the front switch. The production amps will use relay switching at the rear panel. The tube compliment is one 6SL7 and two 6C33C-B's, and two 6DM4A damper diodes. Now onto the new EC-H:The EC-H does not sound as good as your ZanaDuex, but may offer an alternative for people not wanting to get a second mortgage to support this h…

I've read some rather interesting comments over the past year or so regarding the DarkVoice. Is it something like the Ming Da and Bada offerings (relatively not so good in my opinion but some are quite vocal about it), or is it actually pretty good? Would anyone take it over a PPX3 SLAM? What about the Dodge amp some other people (you know who) are pushing?

http://tubecad.com/2007/08/blog0117.htm Woo! I wonder how it would do with Grados.

Short version: Do the 6SN7 tubes in the Woo Audio WA5LE (300B SET topology - see pic below) need to be matched? Long version: I am getting ready to sell my Woo Audio WA5LE to make room and money for the future BHSE. However, one of the stock "matched" driver tubes that Jack sent me with the amp (a cheap Tung Sol 6SN7gtb) was very noisy and tested much much lower than the other when I got it. Since I never planned to use the stock tubes, it wasn't a problem. Now that I am selling it, I am thinking of selling the amp with an option to buy the amp stock (without "upgraded" tubes) and so I feel that I should include one pair of cheap 6SN7 tubes. I do have another Tu…

Warm? Neutral? Edgy? How does it drive cans like the Senns and 701s? Guess it's pretty clear that I'm looking for a space saving SS amp for a bedroom setup. Not an easy task IMO. Anyone got experience/thoughts on this one?

it's incredible the virtues of this amp are putting my head to rest , and ears to pacifically drool over it. this amp is easily the best amp I've come across , it's absolutely linear smooth outraugeoulsy extended at both ends , it gives the most effortless presentation , while keeping the bass solidly firm and never an inch out of the picture . It's solid state , but other then this it's difficult to tell it has transistor related character , which is a very good thing . It does a very nice job with ps-1 finally . Bass and bass to mids frq.s region are both very smooth and very well rendered ; there's a great sense of deepness , coherence and authoritative con…

My MPX3 in the toaster variety isn't turning on. Any suggestions?

Well, my problems with the Val E10 continue. After 5 days with it I'm done. At this point I'm really tired of messing with this. It has taken up way to much of my time. I got the replacement tube yesterday, and of course I still have the same problem of a buzz and no music after about an hour or so. I think instead of wasting anymore time I'm just going to order the WOOAudio 3plus. I don't think it will have any trouble with my K701's, and I should easily be able to get tubes, and repairs for it. Do you know anything about these amps? The 3 plus was beefed up to handle the K701's better. If you have any info on this amp let me know. I'll be ready to pull the trigger in a…

Each time I hear sacd lover's MPX, or Edipus's PPX Slam, I reall like them. But I pretty committed to not getting a tube amp because I pretty much don't want the tweakability a tube amp provides -- switching tubes, spending lots of money on NOS tubes, not being able to find tubes that sound exactly like what you had before, etc. I just know it would drive me a bit nuts. So.... Does Singlepower have plans or has it ever considered making a solid state amp?

I'm interested in building the Stax Transformer project here: the STAX Transformer as it seems relatively easy to build but I've searched everywhere I can think of but can't find any reviews on this beast. Has anyone built this project or know of any reviews detailing performance, SQ etc? Tim

I suspect everyone it tired of Singlepower issues, but quick question if you don't mind. Any suggestions for eliminating hum from an Extreme Platinums preamp out? Have moved outlets, swapped variety of tubes, tested other preamps, used with headphone and speakers, to no avail. For a decent chuck of music I like the Singlepowers punch with the Emotiva RPA-2 and K1000s over other pres around the house (GS1 or Parasound P/SP 1500), but of course the slight hum is killing it. Headphone out has always been good, though the three inputs have never been able to be used simultaneously (all work, just not cables plugged into to any two at one time - goes very quiet even if only on…

This amp just showed up on "the other web site" Does anyone have an opinion on this amp? What are the other tubes worth? http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/fs-singlepower-mpx3-slam-269408/ For the same money i could have this.. http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-desktop-line/2007-headroom-portable-desktop-amp.php thanks for putting up with the stuuupid newb. Lee Ross

Hello everyone, it's been years... (for anyone that remembers me anyway) I am researching what amp best suits my somewhat bespoke needs, and thought there might be some useful opinions here, especially since I've been rather out of it for ages. To cut a long story short, about one year ago I suffered an accident that damaged my ears, the result being that I have severely reduced dynamic range in my hearing. Though my sensitivity is normal and frequency response is good (i.e. little to no hearing loss), my pain and distortion threshold has been lowered to around 80dB. This means that for real music listening (classical in my case), I can manage with a level that …

May I present to you the New Zana Duex. Get you wallets out. http://mail.google.com/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.1&th=10cd67a0fc56d1d9

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superioraudio/ Not a bad review but I wish the reviewer did a better job at reviewing the B-52 as a headphone amp rather than pre-amp. I'm wondering how well does the B-52 handle the R10, Qualia, and L3000.

I use a HeadRoom Micro Stack to power my full-sized cans at my desktop. I use a RSA Hornet to power full-sized cans when I am not by my Micro Stack. I also use the Hornet with my Shure E4c, but not often, since they are easy to drive by my iPhone 3G or 2nd Gen Nano (there is some improvement, but nothing to jump up and down for). What I'd like to get is something smaller than the Hornet. I would like for it to be from a vendor that is not known for long delays, poor communication, not keeping promises, etc. It can be from anywhere, as long as shipping to the U.S. is OK, but I'd prefer something shipped FROM the USA (does not need to be MADE in USA). Vendor should…

I'm beginning to compose my "short list" for a head amp. One of the amps I've been looking at is the Cary SLI-80 and the F1 version only sold by Upscale Audio Cary Audio SLI-80 Signature F1. I'm somewhat concerned about the scorching heat these amps are reputed to produce and not convinced the F1 upgrades are worth it for headphone amp use. I have not had an opportunity to hear one, but understand the sound is not for everyone, but I don't know exactly what that means. The overall design seems to be good and it has been around since 1997. It has stood the test of time. Is anyone willing to comment about this amp and/or the F1 upgrade?