Headphone Amplification

Hello, first post here! I'm having big problems finding a new amp and dac for my k701s. I was interested in the Corda Opera because it had both an amp and a dac, plus it's sold inside EU wich make it more worthwile (i.e. wont be forced to pay 25% extra at the customs). Alas I read the thread here we you brutaly murdered the corda opera, so what's the alternatives around ~$1500 for and amp/dac or amp + dac? At the moment I only use my k701 but I'm planning on getting another pair of headphones, maybe Grado or something different from AKG. My source is an iMac via optical out, so it'd be good if the DAC had a toslink connection. SS or tube doesn't matter to me. I'd …

Looking for an "endrig" in "till death do us part" or "till my ship comes in." Was leaning toward Pete's new Monster TTVJ but concerned about it's brightness and reports that it may not be as involving as some other choices and well it is $6000! Then there's the BHSE but that marries me to electrostatic when the Monster has such dynamic versatility. And now I'm hearing alot about Craig's amps: the Nautalus and the Balancing Act. However I just talked to him yesterday and they really seem to be on the back burner in terms of production and distribution. So that leaves the Zana Deux and the HD-2(which I know nothing about but have only heard about in passing) I know t…

Hey Guys: I have a chance to get a pretty good deal on a SFT built Dynamight from a person that I've known for a long time and trust. The only issue that he has disclosed to me about the amp is that on the lowest gain setting, there is some crackling when changing the volume on the stepped attenuator. But on all other gain settings, there is no crackling. Is this something of a major concern? Because I don't anticipate on using the lowest gain setting, having heard this amp before. Thanks.

So I bought the Mini3 that jinp6301 sold and the battery life's been pretty bad. I get about 3 hours per charge, so I figure it's time to replace the 9v that came with it. Any recommendations as to which 9v I should use?

So, uh yea. I really like my newly acquired m^3. Its the best amp that I had a chance to own. So uh yea, its a great amp. I like it I know this thread is :kitty: :kitty: :kitty: :kitty: :kitty:

I just received back from Cary Audio in North Carolina the Cary SLP-05 preamplifier. This is their top preamplifier and was purchased a couple of months ago to serve as my main preamp in my speaker-based system. I also wanted this to work as my home headphone amp when the wife and the neighbors want me to keep it quiet. The preamp is fully balanced and sports something unique in the high-end stereo preamp world, namely a true dedicated built-in headphone amp. The headphone amp section uses two 6SN7 tubes to power the headphones, while the preamp section runs off another six 6SN7 tubes, for a total of 8 tubes. The separate power supply uses 5AR4 tube rectification. You…

What possible causes for a good testing tube to do this? Internal short? I've had it happen with an EZ80 rectifier and a 5687 triode

I am not sure which forum to put this question, whether the headphone or amp section. Which electrostatic headphone works best with the SRM-T1S? I now have the KGSS and the SR-007 for it is coming. I also have the T1S and want to optimize it's musical presentation at a second location. I really don't what the time or money to play around with all the combination of these headphones. I am inclined toward the SR-404, any comments. This is after reviewing lots of threads and personal rankings. I prefer the sound of the SR-Gamma Pro to the SRX-001 Mk3 normal bias. thanks

What is a reasonable price for a used KGSS?

Received her Wednesday afternoon and we've been getting along just fine so far! Like a lot of my favorite gear, its sonic presentation was unexpected at first and took some getting used to. This happened with the L3000, Qualia, and my vinyl rig - often it takes several listens to really get a handle of whether something so new is truly going to be wonderful in the long run. The one exception would be my SDS, which was pretty much love at first listen. I'm still in that evaluation period with the Zana Deux, but it's already bestowed some truly magical listening sessions and several spine-chilling instances. What got me about the Zana was how it's unlike other tube amp…

My interest in tube amps has been growing since around last October, and now that I have my own Aikido hybrid I'm only even more interested. I'm personally more interested in what I can DIY, but I'm cool to hear whatever. I fully expect that the ZD, HD2, the Luna, and the SDS (is this just a really charged up Waarde?) to be part of the list, but I like to hear about what else is out there, again especially in the DIY realm (like dsavitsk's cool looking shunt-regulated, single feed, spud amp).

Long time lurker, first time poster... I've managed to assemble the following rig, however, since I haven't been able to attend any meets, my purchases have been based solely on other's opinions. My current setup is MF a3.24 -> Opera analog -> RS-1s/HD650s What would be the most cost effective way to upgrade? I'm happy with my current cans, so an amp upgrade is probably in order. Would a se b22 be a significant step up?

Has anyone an ideal as to when this unit will come out and an estimate for it's price? Thanks

Has anyone heard or experience reliability issues with any of these amps. I saw a reference on StereoWOW about the 717 having issues. StereoWOW

So I need to send in my Balanced Desktop for a minor repair. I am very tempted to have them install a stepper while it's in the shop. Yea or Nay?

Please do tell what tubes your using and how they affected the sound and what headphones you are using with those particular tubes.

OK I swore that I would I would not buy any more equipment, especially amps in 2008, pretty much settled on the stuff in my signature. But this new balanced Chinese tube amp has caught my eye. I doubt there's any of these in the wild, and certainly no one in the western world would have one. The question is, would it even be possible to manufacture a credible balanced, all-tube amplifier at the supposed price point of ~US$800. Let's leave out labor cost, obviously cheap in China. Just on parts/component, is it even feasible? Because all my core phones are terminated in 4-pin XLR (K1000, HD650, DT880-600ohm), I am very tempted to take a punt on this.

First A Little Background Trafomatic is a ten employee privately held audio, industrial, medical equipment and transformer manufacturer located in Mladenovac, in the Republic of Serbia. As noted in another thread, the transformers in the Trafomatic line are manufactured in house by Trafomatic but Trafomatic also provides transformers for Korato tube amplifiers, another audio manufacturer whom they declined to disclose, DIYers as well as power conditioners. Head One is their transformer coupled headphone amplifier employing two Russian 6S45P-E triode tubes and one EZ80 as the rectifier tube. A brief internet search found the three tubes costing from $45 to $90 dollars to…

Gents, So, I bought into the H2 hype and have a shiny new one lying around. The thing is, it sounds like garbage out of my garbage gear. I am guessing that it's just being honest and revealing, so I will give it a chance with something decent behind it. At the moment, though, I have NO bloody clue as to what that something decent should be. I am also disadvantaged by not having bottomless pockets. So, I figured I'd ask your penultimate wisdom since head-fi hasn't produced anything satisfactory. I need a speaker amp. It has got to put out 10wpc minimum into a 16 ohm load, which is what the transformer box is (I think? Well scratch that, I don't think). It needs to be…

Courtesy of tkam, I managed to get my hands on the special PPX3 that the Toddler himself dreamed up. The amp is now mine. I loved this amp the last time we were down in Cinci. I thought about getting one for weeks back then but I already had a high voltage MPX3 and eventually sort of forgot about the amp. I dont know what prompted me to ask Mikhail about the amp. When I did, I found out that this amp is more like a mini-Maestro than a PPX3 SLAM. The power supply is fully regulated unlike the PPX3, the power supply used a number of Maestro techniques and the Maestro plitron .... and added the high voltage operation with 6BL7GTA's. In short, this amp kick…

Hi guys. I just bought a Stax SRS-005 system which consists in a SRM-Xh amp and SR-003 earphones. After some time spent on thinking, I've decided to experiment some configurations. Basically, I'm looking for a better amp. I know the SRM-Xh is a vintage amp, and there should be better alternatives to use with the babystax. I'd like something that's an upgrade over the stock SRM-252 amp. I have been advised towards the SRM-313 as a good match, but I'd like to know if there are any others. I really want to exploit the best potential of the sr-003, especially since they tend to be dark, while higher models, like the Lambdas, tend to be very forward in the upper midrange, w…

Arrived on Thursday, I got it on Friday: I've had a couple of days to listen to it, and it really is a superb HD650 amp. Reminds me of the first time I fell for the HD650 with the PPX3 Slam. Impossible to say which is better since I haven't owned the PPX3 for over a year. The bass is in total control and reaches lower then I recall it ever reaching (I have actually turned around a couple times to make sure my 22Ls weren't on). The amp makes the HD650 do all those lovely audiophile things, like create a nice space around guitar plucks and the like. Also does a damn fine job of recreating electric guitar crunch. This amp has certainly made rediscovering my HD650s…

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/4233707-post19.html I've seen this for nth time, how true is this statement?

Well a couple of evenings careful experimentation has resulted in no explosions, I'm still reluctant to leave the H2 connected continuously to the SRM-717 until longer term verification that nothing bad is happening to the headphone or the amp. There's not a huge amount of difference between direct drive from the 717 and the Pass Labs/TR-2 drive. I'd give the nod to the 717 overall though. A big nod once you look at the difference in price between an adapter cable and the TR-2 of course. I also plugged the H2 into the SRM-212, and at anything other than the total bottom of volume control there's a mass of distortion and scratching sound as the H2 tries to suck every…