Headphone Amplification

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

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

All my little boxes of little tubes are starting to drive me crazy. They are all over my desk, all around the house. I've read not to store them in drawers, because the constant opening/closing could shake things up, so I've been keeping them on the top shelf of a dark closet, but they must creep out at night and spread all over my desk. So what do you do with your unused tubes, and do you have any nice, tidy, tube storage solutions?

OK folks, I just bought a dozen spares, but this guy has plenty: http://cgi.ebay.com/88x-Tube-6FQ7-6CG7-RAYTHEON-JAPAN-NIB-5-8-Each-Tube_W0QQitemZ5873841025QQcategoryZ50598QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I believe the actual manufacturer of these tubes is Toshiba. In my 007t, these outperform anything else I've tried. At a whopping $5.80 per tube, knock yourselves out. There are actually cheaper ones on eBay, but this guy has enough to make quads, and is a reputable seller (I've bought from him several times in the past, but have no other affiliation with him or this auction). If you know how to bias the amp, you should try these. If you don't, bias instruct…

OK, so I have had for a long time now issues with some sort of interference in my system which manifests as a background high-pitch noise that is fatiguing after awhile. I have tried many things to assuage the problem because its source has been unknown. Thought it might just be digital harshness, the headphones, etc. Anyway, I got some bendix 2C51 from luvdunhill recently and popped them in to my SDS-XLR (gotta live with what I got ) and when music started there was an intermittent static noise in both tubes. No music, no static. I thought it might be bad tubes. Anyway, this morning, for whatever reason, I decided to cup my hand around the tube (between driver &a…

The SRM-1 MK2 pp (rev. C, spritzer modded to balanced input) was having bad resistors when I just got it. The bad resistors are those 2.2Mohm (R303 & R304) resistors. After fixing that, I like this SMR-1's sound even better than my new SRM-323S for some music. The bass is tight and impactful and the soundstage is more open. Recently, I changed the two diodes (D301 & D302) in the bias circuit with 1n4007. I also replace other two diodes (D101 & D201) in the L&R channels. I found the SQ actually went down (to my ear). The bass impact was weaker and the soundstage shrank. And the DC output from PSU seems to drop a few volts. Then I put the old …

.. has competitors around ( sound wise ) as an all in one portable / laptop nice sound solution ? My concerns are mainly about SQ.. what Dac hide inside ? I just read Jude preliminary review on head-fi and it seems it's nice improvement(sq) over the previous bithead.

AudiogoN ForSale: Doshi Audio Alaap Anyone?

So there are some nice looking Japanese amps that catch my eye. It looks as though the U.S. markup is outrageous ($3.5k higher than the imported amp example below), with the only difference (afaik) being a USA-compensated voltage. In the Luxman example below, Audiocubes2 offers a voltage transformer with the original japan version of the amp, at a much cheaper price than buying it from the U.S. dealers. I wont mention names, but it seems to fetch about $9,500 from U.S.A. based merchants that I've seen. I'm wondering how much (if any) of a hit I'd take in the sound quality department if I went with the Audiocubes version, that comes with the voltage transformer. I've…

I am thinking of selling the Stello stack in my office (HP100 and DA100) and just using the Pico Dac/amp there with the AD2000. The Stello stack is probably better but most of the time I am working (or at least pretending to work) so I don't think I will really notice much of a difference. The thing I don't want to deal with is plugging and unplugging the amp when it needs to be charged. I think the Pico stops charging the battery when it is full and runs off the PS so I don't think there will be a problem keeping it plugged in, right? The only thing I thought of is that a rechargeable battery seems to discharge over time so it may often be discharging a bit and then …

link Comments?

I have been reading up on these and wonder if they are any good. If anyone can shed light on these, or you have these items yourself then please could you let me know what you think. Shall look forward to hearing from others at some stage. Sincere Thanks

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,…

Hello! Please let me know which you would prefer and why: 1) The CIAudio VDA-2 DAC and VHP-2 headphone amp, both with VAC1 power supplies. OR 2) The HeadRoom Balanced Desktop. This model is now only available with the Home Modules and Home DAC. I will be feeding the DAC's optical inputs via a SqueezeBox Classic. Headphone suggestions welcome. Is going balanced worth the hassle of recabling headphones? Music preferences: Primarily Rock and Acoustical. E.g. Rush, Pink Floyd, Jose Gonzalez, Dire Straits. Channel Islands Audio HeadRoom Balanced Desktop Amp @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears Thanks for your feedback!

Well I have an AT W10LTD, W10VTG (soon), and AKG K280 on the way, and I'm gonna need a more versatile amp to drive them. I was thinking of something like a PPX3, but I'd like to see what all you old AT (and AKG) fans have to say.

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http://vivaaudio.com/en/products/egoista-stx/ Came across this amp, anyone know of it or heard it?

I don't know if there is anybody that has heard both of these amps, but if you have, which one did you like better. And if you haven't but know a lot about tube amp design, which one is better designed / made? I'm looking for the best possible amp for both the K1000 and the HD800 and now that I am leaning towards a tube amp, these two seem to be the leading candidates. Unfortunately, I know nothing about tubes or tube amps. (p.s. let's put aside the fact that Eddie Current is also balanced since (a) it doesn't matter for the K1000 and ( while I may buy a balanced cable for the HD800, I likely won't be reterminating other headphones with hardwired cables.)

http://www.tubedepot.com/nos-4212e.html Holy Shit! $2000 for a pair.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures... I really need to get a tripod. A few points: - Yes, the 1/4" jacks are different. Yes, it will be fixed. - The Power keystart switch failed and Peter had to bypass it... I'm glad this happened before he handed the amp over. - The faceplate didnt really turn out as Peter and I wanted it. Neither of us payed anything for it though so no harm. Steve [swt61] should be able to remedy this for us in any case. - The XLR jacks are way too close to the volume knobs... this is one of the things that we will try to remedy with the new faceplate. - I believe Peter mentioned that there is some more exterior finishing th…

Anyone run into one of the Wells Audio Headtrip or Enigma amps at a meet or happen to own one? They are California based. A quote from their site about the Headtrip: "heavily biased into Class A..."... They better be damn good for the money. Reviews are strong but hard to trust when so many prove to be drivel. http://www.wellsaudio.com/products/headphone-amplifiers Specifications (from manufacturer): Phone impedance: 4 to 2000 Ohms Power output: 50w/channel at 8 ohms, 25W/channel at 32 Ohms 1.8W/channel at 600ohms Distortion: <0.006% at 1Khz at .1W to 100W at 4 Ohms Frequency Response: +/-0.25db…

Hi, Folks! Aren't there a time to try something new? What a headamp would you like to try? Of course, A-Class, of course "No Miller capacitance", of course "Balanced". Do we need new beasts? Aren't there a time to brainstorm or public dispute for the new designs?

Hello guys. I'm new here, and want to thank you for welcoming me. After some months of tube trials, I'm thinking of SS to power my orthos. I would like to go balanced all the way, and I want your advices on which KG's amp to go. I've read brilliant things on the B22, but it seems surpassed by the Dynahi family (balanced Dynahi, Dynamite,...) -correct me if I'm wrong-. So what's your experience with those orthos ? Which amp must I build ? I've read the Balanced Dynahi build thread, there are some useful tips and help there. As I'm not deep into electronics, and a lightweight DIYer, is it an utopia to build one ? My very best regards from old Europe.

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…

Several of us own them, and there seem to be many differing opinions on amplification. So I thought it might be fun to see what people are using. Post about current or previously owned K1K systems you like. ATM I'm driving mine with an Opera Audio a120 integrated. That's really the only amp I've used thus far, but the plan has always been to use the Beta22 once it's finished with repair and recase. Even though I've little to compare it to, the Opera is a quality unit. I've heard that a good 300B amp is a fantastic mate for the K1K, but I doubt I'd ever spend that kind of cash. So what are your favorites?