Headphone Amplification

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…

Anyone tried this amp? So far only positive opinions appeared on the other site and that it has great synergy with ATH-ESW10JPN. At the moment it is 299$ (excluding shipping) and comes with 12AU7 RCA Cleartop NOS tube. Should I give it a try? Thanks.

Anyone have an amp they can send me to "evaluate" while I wait for colin to finish my M3? I just sold my supermacro, and am ampless...

Damn! I want to go home early to play with my new toy. I just received my Headroom Desktop Portable with the home module and the DAC. It?s going to serve as my Bedroom amp. It?ll be driven with USB or SPDIF from my computer (All MP3?s at 256K) or my Pioneer DV-563a for all silver discs both analog and possibly SPDIF. I?ll have to listen to determine the exact setup that I?ll end up with. I could go USB from the computer and SPDIF (Custom Siltech RCA to 1/8? digital cable) from the Pioneer for Redbook, and analog (Via Siltech Forbes Lake G6) for SACD and DVD-A. It?ll also see portable use with my Ety ER4S and my Archos AV420 with MP3 (all at 256K) I LOVE getting n…

Hello all, First a little background: I recently switched to cranking my GS-X up to high gain and then a buddy came over with Edt. 9s I heard hiss (even when the volume is set to zero). I checked and I can't hear the hiss with my HD650, D5000s or SA5000s. I tried my Shure SE530s and the hiss was there with them too. I did all these checks after disconnecting it from my DAC3 at the back of the amp. On medium gain the hiss is inaudible with the Edt. 9s and slightly audible with the SE530s. On low gain the hiss is barely audible with the Shures when the amp is cranked. This all makes sense since the gain switch is in the feedback loop on the amp so it should drop gain …

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?

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

Well, I got a summer internship in DC, so I am in need of a simple DAC+amp unit that does the job decently. The only one that I could think of was the GCHA, but I haven't actually heard the unit, but I read some good comments here from Reks in older threads. I will be running off its USB connection, driving RS-1s and HD650s. Any impressions would be fine.

Hi stax experts, I measured my t1w bias voltage, the pro bias port is 420v and normal bias is about 150v, is this normal or something needs to be replaced? Thank you.

Heh. Since this place is ALL about the controversy right now and it's open season on craziness, GIVE IT TO ME STRAIGHT DOC! I loves my MPX3.

Interesting -- a minimalist headphone amp design from Grace...good, compact choice for work? https://www.massdrop.com/buy/grace-design-x-massdrop-m9xx-dac-amp?utm_placement=0&referer=JKRU5U

Recently i acquired a SRM1/MK2 (B series) Stax amp and a pair of sr404 which is bought for a sigma/404 conversion It comes with an imbalance issue. I first thought it is the headphone , but after several switches of equipment(amps,headphones etc） im certain that its the AMP. By observation there is no burnt resistors,measured some of them ,the VR seems to be functional........I tuned the offset and balance But the + to - voltage of the lower-volume channel doesn't change when i rotate the balance pot which is abnormal, it stays on 8v dc While all other balance and offset pots is fine. Have anyone once had the same issue ？Any thoughts?I need help…

Couldn't find based on a couple searches, but admittedly didn't exhaustively search. So if some kind soul can put away a shovel and answer me this, it'd be much appreciated. I sold off a brielfy-used Stax SRM-007t II when I got JP#'s exStatA. I had no issues with the volume controls, and L/R trackign was fine. Buyer doesn't have phones yet, nor someone near him with phones to borrow. But he noticed that the L/R volume controls behave differently. One rotates nearly 360 degrees ("normal"), but the other goes around and around. No mention of catches or clicks.....I also need to get clarification on which does what.... But wanted to throw this out here. Can s…

Dear All Due to sudden voltage spike last night - my stax vaccume tube amp srm007TA diode burnt out. Can you guide through the process to fix this issue? I have attached the images below for reference. Hopefully the PCB seems to be intact. But i am not a expert and any advise is highly appreciated Thank you

Just showed up today: stepped attenuator, four inputs, high/low gain switch First impressions: this thing is HUGE, and pretty heavy (18 lbs maybe). Usually when I see something online, it ends up being smaller in person. I honestly expected the Dynahi to be about the size of a PPX3 chassis, and its actually as wide as the Melos and a bit taller! I had a brief scare when I was trying to hook it up. The labels on the source selection knob on the front don't match up to the plugs on the back, so for a while I wasn't getting any sound. Now I have the ICs running into the DAC inputs, but my source selection knob is on tuner. Actually, the inputs on the back are l…

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…

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My gear is in my sig. I am very happy with it, and should probably just leave it at that. But that's no fun. So I could use some help focusing on what my next amp will be. This purchase likely is well in the future, but I'd like to start the search now. My first thoughts are either a balanced b22 or something real tubey since I don't have much experience with tube amps. I guess the sound sig I am after would be on the warmer side. Budget needs to be south of 2K. Any thoughts?

Audio Technica AT-HA35i melds headphone amp and iPod dock -- Engadget [url=http://www.audio-technica.co.jp/products/dj-plus/at-ha35i.html]Š”Ž

I only have a rough daswing at present.

I'm just wondering how big the worldwide market for portable headphone amps is. In october I bought my first - a Tomahawk, and it's serial # 697. With reading the various hifi websites, I'd guess that the Tomahawk has at least 30-40% of the market, or it did until the Pico / Predator came out. I live in London and have never seen anyone else with a portable amp, despite the fact that millions of commuters use portable audio. I've actually seen more Ultimate Ears 10-pros (1) than headphone amps! Of course this is hardly empirical; I've never met anyone else with Etymotic phones and I know they are relatively popular. By that very rough estimate, there would be 2000 - 30…

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.

AudiogoN ForSale: Doshi Audio Alaap Anyone?

It's an amplifier based on the stax t8000. I couldn't find the picture because the inside was not disclosed. It's an amplifier made by a famous Korean hi-fi amplifier maker and it weighs 60kg

https://estatron.com/collections/all Somebody who studied Head Case is now building and selling a 'stat energizer. Kind of interesting because it's only $160. Worth it?