Headphone Amplification

seriously, somebody gotta take a look at this $3.5k amp, grab some pictures from the net, that dac board shouldn't be there, we can not see the whole main board now.

This week I was browsing the net and I came across this: http://bbs.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2239622 Now it is all in Chinese but these were the first pictures of the insides of the Woo Audio 3ES. This was an amp I never really paid any attention to, I'm so fedup with Woo and their sub-par crap, but finding internal pics does warrant a look. First off the pics aren't great but at least there are some schematics there and we need to try to verify they are correct. We have no further info than this as I can't find any more internal pics, so this is what know at this point. First the PSU: Now, nothing new here, same old …

Hi all I just sold my SRM-717 to a Stax 009 user. As it landed at his place, he also had a loan Woo Audio GES to try out. I remember back in 2009-2011 there was a lot of posts from users about that amp, but now it has tailed right off. How does the GES stack up today against Stat amps at that price range (Stax SRM-007t or 727). Thinking the 009 is more efficient, maybe it will be a good match? Is the GES an adaption of a KG design? I spotted this on the Woo web page: Schematic re-engineering is based on Dr. Gilmore's design.

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…

I am thinking, just maybe, of switching back to K1000, but not sure if I could do it, because of financial issue. That's why I would like to see if I can find some reasonable priced tube speaker amp for them. Budget within USD 1500. I was thinking of Cary Xciter, but he is to pricey if not say more, however the tube rolling options of it is quite nice. Let see what you all think of that guys/girls THX

I couldn't decide if this was a DIY thing or not, but I'm going to post this here since it also involves tube-configuration questions and most folks might not read a DIY thread. So my lawyer has purchased an MPX3 that includes the 5687 adapters. As a part of my yearly retainer I will be attempting to add preamp outputs to this amp. The question came up during negotiations as to what the best tube combo would be given that this device will be much more preamp than headphone amp. So what say you, masters of the SP domain? Also, can anyone come up with a plausible reason that I can't just tap the headphone output for the preamp output? I've read other SP modding thread…

I can't stop laughing... this is the silliest amp I have ever seen.

My interest in tube amps has been growing since around last October, and now that I have my own Aikido hybrid I'm only even more interested. I'm personally more interested in what I can DIY, but I'm cool to hear whatever. I fully expect that the ZD, HD2, the Luna, and the SDS (is this just a really charged up Waarde?) to be part of the list, but I like to hear about what else is out there, again especially in the DIY realm (like dsavitsk's cool looking shunt-regulated, single feed, spud amp).

In our ongoing quest to buy random shit to try out, Kevin bought a Jotunheim as he was interested in the circuitry. He thought they might have done something novel... but it is utterly mediocre as one has come to expect these days. One interesting bit is the horrible assembly quality (hello hand soldering at minimum wage) and dubious parts such as no name switches... which arrived broken. Now this is a budget piece so corners have to be cut but not cleaning off the flux is just sloppy. sj.pdf For me the biggest letdown with all of this is the major disservice Schiit and others are doing to the community. They are toting these frankly "shit" amps…

Find more info here: http://www.rudistor.com/rp1000.htm

Done by a 3rd party who happens to own both units. Someone I trust who has no hammer to pound with. I see no reason not to post this, as it should be clearly duplicatable by just about anyone. http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/picovspredator.htm

I kid you not: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=11567&seq=1&format=2 Looks like a candidate for the Inner Fidelity test bench.

Here is something that has been cooking for a while but I've been just too busy to do anything about it. So JR Audio out of China have been building our amp designs for a while now and I started to hear horror stories almost immediately. They naturally have no right to use our designs and work in their crappy products but since when has that stopped anybody... I have been looking for one of these amps for a while now as I want to rip it apart and well... one owner contacted me. I'm going to ask him to come here and tell his story which is quite the tale. Let's just say Caveat emptor... So here is the amp and it arrived dead which will soon be clear. It is the K…

Audio-gd Compass Impressions, not a review! Gear: Laptop, Foobar and MonkeyMedia, ASIO4all, AD900, HD650, Audio-gd Powe Cable. Hey all Head-Case. First off, nice to see so many of the excellent posters I respected at the other headphone forum here. I wondered where you all had gone, I mean once in a while I'll see a blue moon post, but not enough! I had a wonderful opportunity to be among the first 18 testers to own the newest headphone solution from Audio-gd. For, I feel this is by far the best option for me as a beginner into headphone amps and dedicated DACs. Audio-gd is a small company out of Beijing China, lead by their lead designer, Mr. He Qinghua,…

via: Schiit Audio reveals gorgeous six-watt Lyr headphone amplifier, dares you to touch 11 -- Engadget Product details: [url=http://schiit.com/products/lyr/]Lyr

Here's Step 4 of my 12-Step Plan: How To Stop People From Laughing At Your Amplification. Step 1 was simple: Join the head-case forum. Be polite and humble. Try not to cry too much when people laugh at you and post mean things. :'( Step 2 was to refrain from posting too much at head-case, in case someone points out your inadequate amplification. Sure, it's good, clean entertainment for everyone but you don't want to be the butt of the jokes all the time. You can continue posting at Head-Fi as much as you want, your posts will blend in nicely with all the other idiot posts there. Step 3 was to divert attention from your amps by posting exclusively about headphone…

I have the Senn 800 on route, the Audeze LCD-2 on pre-order, the HE-5LE in house and my only amp is the Meier Concerto to use when I compare contrast them to my KGSS/O2. Thinking it might be a slaughter. So what single, hopefully quickly sourced amp can both amp the trio above well and provide at least some chance of pulling me away from the O2 for around $1K. Go For anyone curious as to why I'm even entertaining the tourny... My O2 cable got torn inside the jacket so I sent it off to the UK for repair which in turn made me realise I had been out of the hobby aspect of audiophilia for 4 years So I'm running around grabbing cans to try that I missed along the …

Hi, After scaring the shit out of me (as someone coming from headfi, many of the topics here are very "enlightning"....), you gotta tell me "the truth" about my amps ;-) I have a RSA Hornet, and although i`ve never quite got all the fuzz about it over at headfi, i thought it was ok (i have to add, that i did buy it used for a very good price. The retail price always seemed crazy to me...), some of the comments here about RSA products in general caught my eye: "Safety hazard, errors in the layout, a.s.o". So what?s the truth about the Hornet? What are his faults? Where does it stand performancewise for real? My home amp is the Corda Aria. I always liked it a lot …

Thoughts on Eddie Current Black Widow?

Finally I was able to acquire an SRA-14S and it has arrived now! No phono equalizer modules however. A previous owner had been cutting copper tracks on the input/switching pcb and added a lot of wires (in different places than the cut traces). Neatly done, but still.... Maybe he had some problem with the switches? So restauration will be a major undertaking without documentation. Can anyone help me with the service manual and/or schematic diagrams? That would be highly appreciated. Paper copy or electronic, everything is welcome. The headphone amp looks at first glance like the circuitry of the SRM-1 (of which I also have no service manual), but the power…

Now that this amp has been released and we finally have an internal pic, it is time for a dedicated thread. Here is some info about the launch event: http://hifilounge.tumblr.com/post/162193518708/trilogy-h1-energiser-for-stax-earspeakers-launch So 5000UKP... and nothing else which is relevant at all. The usual HF retards claiming this was the second coming and all that BS but here are the internals...enjoy: Not the best quality but good enough to know what is going on. In before Jim and yup...this looks a lot like an SRX. Some Russian dual triodes for the input and those look a lot like 6N6pi's to me. Two plate resistors as well. So over a…

So, I understand Doug is working on some new stuff. Anyone heard anything?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreymorrison/2014/05/11/oppo-ha-1-preview If the typical Oppo penchant for high quality bang for the buck holds, this could be a contender.

I just received the TTVJ FET-A from Todd for a loaner session. It looks and sounds great so far, and he has resolved the minor issues with the prototype faceplate. I will try to post pics tonight or tomorrow, but I am already listening to it as a preamp and the initial impression is very favorable. The sound is detailed, rich and full in my desktop setup, and the background / idle state is completely quiet. I am taking the output from my HeadRoom Desktop Amp into the TTVJ FET-A, and then into my HeadRoom Desktop Power Amps, out the Harbeths and into my ears. Because the amp has about 1 hour of burn-in, this will be a good way to log some hours while I am at work. I …