Headphone Amplification

Of course it is an arbitrary and ultimately an unimportant question, but it is something I was thinking about today. When do you consider an amp "high end"? I seem to have a pretty firm grasp on what makes a source or a pair of cans high end, but the amplification thing always eludes me. I know when I see the insane Singlepowers like the SDS or Maestro, or a custom job like tkam's, I think that is high end. But what else is out there, really? And then this makes me think, does the law of diminishing returns kick in faster with an amp then a source? Past the $2000 mark, where is there really to go in ampland?

Has anyone used these in any amp? Are they worth the premium price?

Hi, I'm looking for a portable headphone amp with good imaging, high detail and a very fair reproduction of the source. My budget is roundabout $400. I was considering one of the offerings from Ray Samuel until I read the opinions here. Instead do you have any particular recommendations? I've heard good things about Graham Slee's voyager, would that be a good choice? This is all baring in the that I'm limited to closed phones because I'll be monitoring input sources - perhaps oneday I'll invest in the etymotic H4s's. Cheers

Can you hear the piano on Bob Dylan's Mondern Times, "Spirit on the Water" and if you can, where is it? my mid range set up: Computer>optical Constantine>Woo3, GS1 Listening with my 880s tonight: (stock foobar 9.5, 32 bit, kernel streaming, album@320kpps mp3~EAC With the Woo3 the piano is subdued, on the right and mixed into the music With the GS1, I can hear the piano as a separate instrument, but barely..... lots of air and space to the cut, but I'm having difficulty picking out the piano with the tube amp and can only do it slightly better with the SS. What are you guys hearing? USG

Hi guys. I've owned to Xin amps (Supermini III and Supermacro LE) and I don't think very highly of them. On Headfi, Xin receives a lot of praise, especially for the Supermicro and the Reference. After my experience with the other two models, I'm not very keen on trying either. Has anyone had experience with Xin? What do you think of his work?

I've read some comments about very slow build times and delayed delivery dates, sometimes as much as several months. I realize SinglePower is a small company and customization takes time. I don't mind waiting several months. I've waited months for headphone cables, so waiting for an amp isn't a problem. I'm just wondering what to expect.

I want to connect the output on my soundcard to one of the AMP800's inputs, but I don't know the best way to do this. The output on my soundcard is 3.5mm stereo, the Behringer AMP800 has two 6.3mm inputs for the left and right channels. I've been getting conflicting information, one of my friends suggests this--- 1/8 in. Stereo to Dual 1/4 in. Mono Cable http://www.zzounds.com/item--HOSCMP15 . My other friend says this cable would not work, as it would give two mono signals, not a left channel and a right channel. Thanks for any help on this.

After doing my first recable I find that I would like to see if really running left/right separate make a difference. So now I am looking for a nice easy cheap (!) solution. Ideas anyone?

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.

Do you like stepped attenuators in your amps? I had one in my Corda HA-2 MKII SE which I've since sold, and find myself missing it. I never really had the problem of finding the "right" volume level that other listeners have. Right now, I think I will definitely have one in my next amp. So, what is it for you?

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

Are there any tube socket adapters worth getting for a PPX3 Slam with native 6sn7? I've got the itch to roll.

Would there any electrical issues with using my old-chassis SDS as a preamp in my speaker rig? As I splurged on the speakers and power amp, I'm not immediately going to have the funds for a high quality dedicated preamp. The SDS doesn't have RCA outputs, so I've been using a 1/4" -> RCA Y cable from the headphone output. My current SS monoblocks have an input impedance of 33K, the new tube monos I have on the way will be 100K. Would the output impedance of the SDS be a concern for preamp duties? I've got the 5687 output tubes in my SDS; can I assume those will be better than the 6sn7 for preamp use as well? I have briefly tried this (lesson learned - keep volume at …

I only have a rough daswing at present.

So, this is coming out in a week. As I'm busy trying to learn about such things, I'm curious as to why someone would choose to build a Class D portable amp, or if it's such a good idea, why, with the explosion of portables, hasn't it been done more (I think Headroom has a Class D desktop, but I don't know of others)? http://www.i-qube.nl/index.php?id=18 EDIT: I'm thinking mainly in terms of sound.

Hi, Can anyone give me a list of amps with some balanced input (I don't care if it has unbalanced input or not, but if it does, please note it)? I'm thinking about getting one of those....but not necessarily to use balanced headphones with it. Just want to use balanced sources with headphones. Thanks in advance!

Heh...I JUST found this place. I had a uestion about the predator, and there hasn't been an answer. I'm thinking it won't be answered because my suspicions are right. That and any negativity (even if contructive) towards RSA is frowned upon over there. Apparently not so much here, so I'll ask here, lol. Here's the post I made, and it hasn't gotten a response yet: -------------------------------- I have a question about the gain. You say the gain is set at 11 in high. An iPods line out is 1vRMS, which is 2.8vpp full scale(volts peak to peak, according to Vinnie on various threads). Wouldn't you need ATLEAST 32 volts to have a gain of 11 on an iPod so you don't…

After mucho waiting and waiting, it appears that Larry at LaRocco may...I say with hesitation...may be actually readying to ship. The latest word is that "some" amps will be shipping this week with the rest soon to follow. There were supposedly 50 in the original group buy, and according to Duncan (Larry's still not talking), there are 100 ready to go. Anyway, after all this waiting, this is all I've got to go on, so here are the lastest pics/teases swiped from a post at ipastudio: All non-alignment critical parts are assembled prior to final chassis assembly on the PCB. The final aligned control and interface components are installed in the chassis, tested,…

I finally got this guy from fed ex this morning but have only listened to a few CD's on it. So far I like it over my old amp which was an SR-71 [sic] and sick. I'm using this amp with my only piar of reference headphones that I have on me right now which are HD650s. When I get my sr325's back I'll see how this amp pairs with them. I'm using them out of a harman/kardon hd710. This is the most laid back amp I've heard, though it should be noted that I haven't heard a lot. There is a real focus on the midrange and upper midrange. Trebble is present but this amp is by no means forward. This amp produces little bass and what bass there is has little punch. That's the only …

If anyone's interested, there's a good deal on Gilmore Lite over at Audiogon. I'm not associated with the seller, and would've bought it myself if I needed another amp. http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1197940150

So, I've been impatiently waiting for the new TooleAudio balanced amp to come out, and am wondering when everyone thinks it will be done...

I find the built in headphone amp in my E-MU0404USB is really lacking compared to my M^3. So I've been thinking about getting the Mini^3. Or I'll entertain other amps in its price range.

I never thought I'd get a tube amp but it looks like I am. I know nothing on the subject but really need a crash course. Is there a good resource out there that I can read?

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've pretty much settled on the L3000 as the headphones for me (other than the K1000) and I'd like to look into comissioning a high end custom built tube amp for them. The L3000 specs from their website: Type Closed-back dynamic Driver Diameter 53 mm Magnet Neodymium Case Cherry blossoms wood, CONNOLLY leather Frequency Response 5 - 45,000Hz Maximum Input Power 2,000mW Output Sound Level 104 dB/mW Impedance 48 Ω Weight 380 g Cable 3.0 m Connector ?6.3 mm phone plug Accessories Furnished BOX So I'm probably looking for schematics that are available that I could have someone build the amp based on. Does not need to have a preamp. Headphone amp o…