Headphone Amplification

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.

I figured I would start a thread on the above amp I just picked up. A real beauty and sounds gorgeous. I believe this is the exact model that Kurt owned, Saint1 owns (from James3toe who got it from a user "Bob"), and Nightfall. One of only 5 that Craig built that was supposed to develop into an actual EC 2a3 line with the top of the line black rose being at the top of the lineage. By far the si2a3/45H is the best sounding of the different moth 2a3 iterations and may be slightly better than the ec2a3 version due to the external power transformer and inductor chassis. Power supply is all film caps as well, same output transformers. Now I …

Taking a hard look at the Qinpu Q2 from Head Direct. Exposing my noobness but WFC's so... Will this power Absolute Zero Speakers satisfactorily? Anyone have experience with this? Anything else I should consider in that price range $79 ($99 Shipped)?

Hi, I want to find a headphone amp which have pre-amp funtion with balance input, any suggestion? What is the model name? thx

OK, be gentle- potentially idiotic question ahead. Please don't be offended- I have the people skills of a medium-sized shoebox. Hey, @spritzer - I understand that the lighting was really difficult and unflattering, but is the case on this intriguing little amp actually as wonky as it looks? It looks like the top plate is a bit short, and the bottom one overhangs a bit: While I'm sure it wouldn't harm the performance of the unit at all, it is tweaking my slightly obsessive nature. (Also, on a more useful note, I assume it'd be fine with L500 and L700? Are there any pro-bias Stax, esp current production, that you wouldn't use with it?)

My amp only has one set of inputs, and I'm getting really tired of pulling RCA's everytime I want to go from TT to CDP. Is there some kind of switch box I can buy I can put between my amp and my sources that will add convenience without sacrificing sound quality? It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional.

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.

Todd the Vinyl Junkie just announced a loaner program for this over at HF and I'm happy to be the first on the list. I'm very much looking forward to listening to the first Pass Labs product dedicated to headphones. I've got the Dynalo mk2 and Crack 2 in house to compare with and I'll be bringing the amp with me to the January 30 HF meet in San Jose if anyone else in the Bay Area cares for a listen. Some pics from Tyll:

With my SP K1000 power amp nowhere to be seen, and with a potential need for a budget power amp for my Epos ELS-3 that I have setup for TV/Cable/DVD purpose, I've been reading about some gainclone amps. Most posts/threads about them are favorable and they seem to be great bang-for-buck. With that, anyone here has any idea how well (or not) gainclone amps will work with K1000's? My thinking is if it works well enough, I'll get one and use it to tide me over until SP power amp shows up, after which I'll use it with Epos.

With my feel HP 200SE tube mosfet hybrid amp, whenever I have my headphones pugged into the low gain jack, every now and again the left channel fades out to a whisper. If I turn the amp off and then turn it back on it corrects itself and won't fade out again that listening session. I know that amps are complex but is there an obvious reason why this would be happening?

Until now, I've been using the included GE 8CG7s in my 007t. Today, however, I received a set of Japanese-made B&K 6CG7s and swapped those in place of the GEs. I then went through the re-biasing procedures (akin to trying to enter a revolving door in the middle of a tornado). Now for the problem... With the pot turned all the way up, I'm barely getting any volume. This is compared to the ear splitting volumes the 86G7s put out at about 9 o'clock. Are the tubes bad, or did I not bias them properly?

I bought a Pioneer A-27 Integrated Amp a few months ago and sent it to Hamad at Amplifier Surgeries to have it rebuilt. I and others here have had Hamad do wonderful work on Pioneer M-22 amps. Since I will be using this amp sometimes with headphones (but mainly driving my Sound Lab speakers) I asked Hamad to check the headphone circuit to make sure it is optimized as much as possible. He indicated he would and asked what headphones I was using so he could "check to see if the resistor network can be matched for my headphones". The hard part is I don't know which headphone to have this amp optimized for. The dynamic headphones I use are the LCD-2, HE6 and HD800. I l…

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?

Since Tyll and company are now out-of-biz, I'm hoping some of that company's schematics are floating around. Anyone know of a source? Thanks!

So much for a cheap amp upgrade... As the topic says, I'm now trying to decide between the Singlepower PPX3 SLAM and the Mapletree Ear+Purist HD. I would have to find the Singlepower amp second hand to be able to afford it, probably in Canada (a long shot but I can wait). The Ear+HD is not worth buying used since I can get it tax-free here, and I seriously doubt I would be able to buy it second hand from a Canadian. They would likely end up being about the same price. As I said in the previous thread, I currently own RS-1s and UM2s, and I will probably be picking up some Senns or Beyers in the not-too-distant future to see how I like them. However, RS-1s are my prim…

Hi guys, I'm looking to buy a new portable amp. I am owner of an iBasso P2, but it's a bit too big and I'd rather having more battery life. The P2 is very spacious and detailed, but has a slight midbass hump: some people seem to love this added "warmth", but I'd rather having a more neutral amp. I am interested in a Pico, but I wonder if there are any other good alternatives for the same price/size. I'm not thrilled by Xin amps, since an used Supermicro (only one I might be interested to) sells for more than a Pico, and for the same price I would get a latter. Are there any other portables (at a reasonable size) that can compete against the Pico? I know Skylab love…

One of these just came and went on Agon for $845. Looks like a whole lot of happiness for the money. Anyone know anything about the builder? 807 Tube Stereo Amplifier

A friend of mine has asked me to look at his vintage SRM-T1. The caps are all vintage so I will be replacing them. I count 10 electrolytic caps in there. 4x 400V 100uF 2x 10V 220uF 2x 35V 47uF 2x 50V 10uF The left channel has very weak sound. You can barely hear it when the volume knob is turned up all the way. The right channel is perfectly fine however. I'm not sure where to start troubleshooting this one. Unfortunately, I do not have another pair of electrostatic headphones to try. The left channel has worked before but it seems to work intermittently. I adjusted the offset and balance when he first purchased the amp a few months ago. Am…

Has anyone ever tried to measure whether tube-rolling the blue-hawaii or GG for that matter, actually makes an objective difference?.

What commercial tube head amp would you buy?

Someone in my country is selling one of these for 1000 euros + shipping in a quite good condition. It has separate power supply (as every Gilmore Reference I guess) with oversized trannie, Blackgates internal Vampire wire and is fully balanced with separate RCA and XLR inputs and also SE and balanced outs with a switch in the back to chose either RCA or XLR, and separated stepped attenuators for each channel. I'd be thankful if anyone could tell me what was the original price for this amp, whether in your opinion it's worth trying it at that used price, and some technical specs, which I haven't found at the Headamp page. Considering I already own a RPX-100 and a H…

Another electrostatic driver. Anyone seen/heard it? https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/pro-iesl/

What a bizarre juxtaposition of branding? Fender and Hello Kitty...

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…