Headphone Amplification

Just up on InnerFidelity - Katz's Corner has a review of the KGSS Carbon and Dynalo Mk II built by Mjolnir Audio - well done, kevin and spritzer! He used an SR-007 Mk II with port mod and LCD-4 for the reviews.

Needless to say, I invested in one of these works of art and well... it didn't disappoint. External build quality is way beyond the Cavalli Mk1 unit I had but inside...yeah.... So if anybody thinks this is good for 300$ they need their head checked. Every expense was spared here, just look at the high quality sockets used. I mean, who hasn't heard of the legendary "Hooya" sockets let alone "ZWEE". I mean quality stuff... Circuit looks to be identical to the LC minus the internal switcher. All the same issue as well plus the super cheap volume control...

So as a counter point to the Massdrop amps, I also bought one of these Audio-GD units used. The R2R15 seems to have been replaced by the R2R11 which is more SMD based but it looks very similar. So this cost 350$ new, is not balanced but has a discrete R2R dac, discrete headphone amp and can also be used as a single source preamp. The Chinese version of the product page is still active: http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R2R15/R2R15CH.htm I must say it does look really fugly in real life (as so many of the Audio-GD product do) but it's amazing that they can do this for 350$.

I recently built this Bottlehead kit (actually, I had it at Chicago), and I have to admit, it's crossed my mind a few times to sell my beloved Zana Deux since I started listening to it. The kit is about as easy as they come (more cutting/stripping wires than anything else) and I did it in about 4 hours. Here's the killer part. The cost of the basic kit is just $220 and an upgrade kit with CCS boards for both the 12au7 and 6080 cathode follower is another $100. The stock Crack has a strong tubey character but with killer bass and liquid mids and highs. With the upgrade (called the Speedball), the sound becomes more transparent and fast. The frequency extension sounds …

Remanufacture of the Western Electric 300B to start........... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-return-of-the-legend.870227/

I misplaced my charger, and I don't remember what I can change and what I can't. The DAC/Amp says 12V DC and shows the polarity. That means 12V, right? I can't use a 15V charger on it? I can use higher amperage, but the voltage has to be correct, right? 'cause the charger I thought I had for it says 15V, but the connector is correct and the polarity is correct. But it could well be for something else, like an external hard drive.

I figured I'd start a topic on this where people can actually find info about the amp. I'll quote Kevin's post from the DIY thread in below. As with so many other of these projects, curiosity got the better of me so I actually bought one of these amps. It had gone back to Cavalli to be fixed so no claims possible that it was an early unit and the new ones aren't like this at all. That is the usual Cavalli defense plus that we are doctoring the pics to show his crap in an unflattering light. Well for some pics I'll link in Kevin's post now: So let's discuss what is wrong with this thing. First of all, it's not actually balanced, more a quad of single end…

is this worthy of consideration as an all-in-one dac/head-amp option for low-impedance single-ended headphones? https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/conductor-v2-plus/

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?)

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

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Enterprise-E-Lite-electrostatic-amp/1924356_32828582951.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.646370aboSblkp Anyone know anything about this amp? ?

Hello everyone, it's been years... (for anyone that remembers me anyway) I am researching what amp best suits my somewhat bespoke needs, and thought there might be some useful opinions here, especially since I've been rather out of it for ages. To cut a long story short, about one year ago I suffered an accident that damaged my ears, the result being that I have severely reduced dynamic range in my hearing. Though my sensitivity is normal and frequency response is good (i.e. little to no hearing loss), my pain and distortion threshold has been lowered to around 80dB. This means that for real music listening (classical in my case), I can manage with a level that …

Dear fellows, Maybe you can help me with an advice. A friend of mine gave me a Koss head amp E/9B but without the suited headphone. I want to know whether it is possible to play a Stax headphone (normal or Pro Version) through this head amp. If it does not work - it is possible to convert the Koss working with a Stax headphone, maybe by building an adapter? Many thanks in advance. I wish you a great happy new year 2018. Best, Andreas

in the past few days;I made some T2 PCB and start DIY. The transformer I made using the pure silver line.But the delay starts is a trouble；I don't want to use it.

I still haven't seen my Absolute Sound for July/August but I am looking forward to the Pinnacle review. Has anyone read it?

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:

Looks like a very potent candidate, but, alas, the only source of info is a sole thread on SBAF. Hopefully through this fora, more insights and opinions will be gathered from this product. I've mostly heard positive feedback from the EC products, save for some quality/longevity issues with the original Zana Deux.

Was doing some research on the available dac/amp combos to use on a desk. Noticed the Sony TA-ZH1ES. Anyone know anything about this? https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1295894-REG/sony_tazh1es_premium_headphone_amplifier_with.html https://www.sony.com/electronics/audio-components/ta-zh1es

3 years ago I gave some equipment to a friend to store for me and I just picked it back up. 99% of everything looks great, but it appears my RKV was left out on a shelf (unplugged) and has accumulated quite a bit of dust. Before I fire it back up any suggestions on how to get it relatively clean? Would not look forward to scraping out a ton of dust with a Q-tip.

OMG this has got to be amazing right... it has a tube and it's a Cavalli and it's a Massdrop. What more could anyone ask for https://head-fi.org/threads/massdrop-x-alex-cavalli-tube-hybrid-amp-cth-dropping-monday.857673/#post-13654584 edited: ah man i was so excited till i saw this... ''Please be aware that this is not made by Cavalli. It's made by Massdrop by a China manufacturer with the Cavalli name being licensed, etc.''

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…

Back in the '70s the amp wars were on, and Japan (Sansui, Pioneer, and others) challenged the burgeoning U.S. HiFi (yes, that's what it was called back then) stalwarts Marantz, Fisher, Scott, McIntosh, and Harmon Kardon with high quality, low cost premium gear. Heck, even Sony had a presence in high end, high quality iron in those days. Much of that gear is revered today, including the relatively exclusive Pioneer Series 20 line. I was recently fortunate to land a Series 20 M-22 Amplifier - 30 watts, Class A, and as sweet as any amp I have ever heard - right up there with any Pass Labs, Krell, McIntosh, or Levinson. When I got it, it was in very good (7.5/8 of 10) c…

Different http://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/review-metaxas-sins-marquis-headphone-amplifier

Hello to all forum users! My name is Martin and this is my first ever post, so please bear with me if I would make any kind of mistake. I would really appreciate if I could get some help please. I need to convert 100v Japanese amp to be working with UK power supply. I believe it could be re-wired; i am just not sure what wires and what pins on PCB needs to be changed. Also, I am looking to install XLR balanced inputs, is there any simple schematic how to do it? My DAC has an pre amp so the volume control on the 323A is not necessary. thank you for your time and help best regards Martin