Headphone Amplification

Just found this article on the web: http://inearspace.com/2015/05/22/questyles-cma800p-breathes-magic-into-stax-a-munich-high-end-show-2015-report/ Stax themselves comissioned Questyle to design the preamp. Info and internal pics of the preamp: spam deleted What do you think? Price is rumoured to be around 3k usd. PS: They also did a "golden edition": spam deleted

So I've been able to recently acquire a used KGSS. Using it with my 404LE, but I got it in anticipation of trying a 4070 and/or O2 at some point. It supposedly has a stepped DACT attenuator added (as original attenuator failed). It has some very noticeable static when I turn the volume knob, especially between each notch, but goes away completely when I set it at any specific volume level. The seller specifically disclosed this before the purchase, so all is good. I can live with it, as it sounds so good with the 404LE. My question is - in the future, if I wanted to eliminate this minor flaw, is it as simple as replacing with a new quality attenuator? (I'd have …

Is this true? Has anyone opened up the HPA-1? And are there schematics for the HPA-1? Danke

This is something I've been thinking about for quite some time now, why is it that some headphones are automatically assumed to require super-expensive over the top amps while others aren't? The examples I'm specifically thinking of are the Senn 580/6x0 and AKG K701 along with Grados like the RS-1. As most of you have likely heard by now, everyone "knows" that the Senns & AKG "need" the best amp money can buy, and if the sound isn't quite right it's always the fault of the amp because it's not good enough. I've also noticed that scores if not hundreds of people own $1000+ amps for the above headphones. On the other side of the coin we have (John) Grados, everyon…

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

In the ongoing battle against the flying squirrel infestation in my house (that is not a joke) I have been emptying out the attic spaces upstairs. My house has a Gambrel roof, that lends itself to an awful lot of storage space. That means after 33 years in the same family, there is an ungodly amount of crap up there. Mixed in with the other detritus, I found this: Sorry about the lousy shot, I didn't have time to futz around and get a better one. My father dealt in antiques, including radios, and sometimes he'd get a collection of tubes. I am recalling some much bigger boxes full of tubes, but I don't know if he still had them when he died. This box might be …

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…

Hey look, our products are so great we encase our 'special sauce' in a red enclosure so you can't really see what's in our amp. The mystery is what makes it sound so divine! I reckon if you open it up you'll find something like this inside:

The title says it all. My SRM-252S seems to be failing, indicated by hum. (It’s the 120V version.) I’ve been discussing it on the Stax thread in Headphones. While I lack the expertise & all of the tools to troubleshoot the amp, I do possess the tools & enough skill to refurb a working SRM-1/Mk-2, a unit I’d get from eBay. I understand the primary work is to replace the caps. Any experience?

I am in the market for a headphone amp in the $300 price range. I own a pair of shure e4c's. I believe they are 29ohm earbuds. I do not plan on buying an upgrade headphone anytime soon. Anyone have any advice? Will these earbuds be a good fit with this amp?

This is my fist posting for this forum. I hope it’s to your liking ! Apart from the audio qualities, I am also interested in the technical qualities of equipment. So my posts sometimes will be a bit technical. Just skip the uninteresting bits. If that is almost all: so much the better. That way you have more time left for enjoying the music ;-) Quite recently I finally managed to obtain a Stax SRA-12S pre-amplifier with built-in ES headphone amplifier. According to the previous (first) owner the amp got very hot. Well, since it is supposed to run quite hot, I was not alarmed and bought the SRA-12S unseen (well…. just a photo). Unfortunately one channel of the …

No bugger excepting that vile, evil, murderous Belgian bastard wanted it when I tried to sell it last year but that worked out fine because a K1000 came into my life and the two of them got on just lovely. With my passion reinvigorated for the AMT though, it can't cut the mustard both ways. Theres the most irritating hum on the right channel. Only with the AMT and I'm buggered if I know why. It's also being pre-amped by the NAD which leads to one sort of complication or another for muting the speakers. The NAD doesn't hum but is too powerful, if I'm not careful with the volume dial I blow my ears off, thus it is that I don't really have an amp that is fit for the purpo…

Thanks to HC, I've pieced together a bedroom system consisting of: - McCormack Micro Headphone Drive (MHD) - Rotel RCD971 - Etymotic ER-4s I've tired of IEMs (ie sticking things in my ear) and these old ER-4s have been sitting in my desk drawer for years - sometimes I tried to sell it, but out of laziness it just sat there tucked away. Then I acquired the RCD971 (because I was in a weird GD phase and HDCD seemed pertinent). Then I acquired the MHD, which is the key here. I remember not too long ago when I was a piss-poor student and I lusted after McCormack gear, and the MHD popped up here on HC, and I couldn't resist. It was not planned this way, but this o…

This is a long time coming, but with the corona virus, I've finally got time to do this. This is my review of the KGSSHV Carbon I had commissioned from @joehpj (thanks!). I've purchased a pair of Stax L300 Limited to replace the Stax Lambda Pros I had been using for some 25 years before Hurricane Harvey flooded my house and destroyed my old headphones. I've upgraded the pads on the L300 with L700 pads--these make a noticeable difference for me, as the thicker pads allow me to get a decent seal even when I wear headphones. I've been driving them with a Stax SRM-252s, and it has become apparent to me that the amp was the weak link in the chain. After seeing photos …

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…

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

Intro As mentioned in my previous review of the Shanling PH3000, I'm really no longer writing reviews, but I recently had an opportunity to check out the Woo Audio 6. Thought I might as well write a review of this amp too while I was at it. Like the Shanling PH3000 review, this too was accelerated - all listening here was also done in 4 days, so this can be considered more of a mini-review than a full-length one. Associated Equipment Power cord: Black Sand Silver Reference MKV Digital source: Plinius CD-101 RCA interconnects: Analysis Plus Silver Oval Comparison amplifier: HeadAmp Gilmore Lite (used only as a reference point of contrast) Headphones: AKG K7…

http://robbreport.com/electronics/slideshow/six-best-dedicated-headphone-amplifiers/moon-by-simaudio-neo-430ha

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3213610#post3213610 Congrats Stephen!!

My Rockhopper Audio β22 has arrived! I have to re-arrange and adjust my rack shelves since I didn't leave quite enough vertical space when I last adjusted the shelves. Well, I'm going to go set it up now!

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 think it may be a weird question. But I am thinking about going for either a high end dynamic setup with RSA B52(with grado PS1) or a high end electrostatic setup with single power ES1 (with stax Omega). Having no experience about them. I wonder whether it is worth at investing on the single power ES1 or RSA B52. if you agree with ES1, how much do you think i should invest on it? My only taste is that super big soundstage and real sound thanks

Don't get excited, this is not an in-depth comparison but I'm on my second day with my new SMv6 with the AD8620 and switches and thought I'd post some thoughts. Well my thoughts are pretty flat lined right now... I'm asking myself what I paid for The amp is a vast improvement over the previous SM3v3 and once again sounds great and drives my DT770-250 without a problem. It's slightly dry but still airy and detailed. I've yet to roll any of the included opamps and this is only about 25 hours of burn-in. One of my main reasons for replacing it was the Hornet seemed rather poor at driving my DT770-250 (songs with heavy bass had low end distortion at high volumes). I…

From RSA's site: Another amp/dac combo for your portable applications. So many of these are available now. I rather save my hearing for my home/work rig.