Headphone Amplification

OK, getting right to the point: My experience has primarily been solid state amps to date, but I am itching to get a tube amp into my portfolio. My headphone stable has been whittled down to: L3000 (my pinnacle...erhh Barry Bonds??!!) w5000 (sold first pair, then reacquired 2nd...yes assinine behavior but I like the w5000...) HD650 (initially unimpressed, but really impressed the longer I use them) RS-1 (my first intro to hi-end headphones, sold off all other Grados including PS-1 and HHF-1, but still attached to RS-1...) few other phones, but they're secondary Of course, there isn't a "one-shot" magic solution, but any suggestions on a complimentary tube amp…

here an interesting review : edit: no it wasn't

Does anyone know if the Headroom Portable Desktop Amp is center pin negative or positive?

Not too sure if anyone's seen this design before but it seems pretty amazing http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php?fnum=3&tid=7227 What do you think guys?

Can someone lead me to more info on the subject? I googled what I hoped would be some good keywords to get me to a thread or something... no luck

http://schiit.com/products/ragnarok http://www.head-fi.org/t/731216/oh-schiit-its-the-end-of-the-world-announcing-ragnarok Schiit is doing a public beta. Retail is $1700, public beta folks pay $1500 with a two week return period. Its an interesting amp, the big deal as I see it is it uses the same amplification section for the speakers and for the headphones, not sure if this has been done before in an integrated. Of course this also has the potential for terrible things to happen for that one dumbass who uses his IEMs on the high gain setting. I don't own, nor have I heard, a single piece of Schiit but I admit the company fascinates me. I love of course t…

Hello, looking for Info where to find a new trafo for my KGST headphone Projekt. Thanks for Info Bart

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 …

I was going to post these pics on the other site but this is probably a better site to post these pics on. At a Colorado 7/26/08 meet that I organized, Mikhail traded me a Square Wave w/ DAC for the previous non-DAC one that I had. (It had developed a few problems.) Yay for free upgrade, except when I took it home and used it in DAC mode the next day after the meet there was pretty much no bass. I mean literally. It seemed like everything from 200Hz down was just plain not there. I even compared with a HeadAmp Pico to make sure the problem wasn't with the computer or some other such setting. I asked Filburt and he said this is probably due to the coupling caps. I'll …

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?

I'm looking for a balanced SS amp for a second rig and have turned my attention to this line. I've not paid much attention to Rudi's offerings in the past but have been peeking at his website of late. Any users(past or present) of his gear care to give me some thoughts/impressions? Build quality looks good on the surface, but I've been down that road before. It's nice to have the cosmetic appeal, but I'm really concerned about the inner workings and performance. Appreciate any feedback.

I've been intrigued by this unit for some time and figure it would be a nice office source/amp and perhaps serve as a backup should something happen to part of my main rig. I know the dac is well respected, but how does it do as a headphone amp? How do the 650s sound straight out of the XLR outs on it? The other option I'm considering is Justins new mighty might but that's several months off. Guess I could wait, but patience is not my strong suit. Btw, what do the Mini DAC's go for on the used market these days? Rarely see on on 'Gon, but they do turn up occasionally. If anyone has extensive time with the apogee, I'd appreciate your thoughts and comparisons to other amps/…

Gents, So, I bought into the H2 hype and have a shiny new one lying around. The thing is, it sounds like garbage out of my garbage gear. I am guessing that it's just being honest and revealing, so I will give it a chance with something decent behind it. At the moment, though, I have NO bloody clue as to what that something decent should be. I am also disadvantaged by not having bottomless pockets. So, I figured I'd ask your penultimate wisdom since head-fi hasn't produced anything satisfactory. I need a speaker amp. It has got to put out 10wpc minimum into a 16 ohm load, which is what the transformer box is (I think? Well scratch that, I don't think). It needs to be…

Maybe Beefy knows something about these Aussie blokes? Their new Headamp popped up on HF this morning. It looks quite interesting as a potential match with HD800s. It's powered by their own discrete opamps, which they apparently also sell separately. Has anyone had any experience with rolling these?

Hi, I am interested in the best electrostatic amp for jazz (instrumentals and vocals) with the Stax 009. Any thoughts or reccs?

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

In the past few years I've gone through a few headphones but favor the HD600. I recently sold my Headroom Desktop amp and picked up the HRT microStreamer, which is fine for portable use with my Macbook/Android. Drives the HD600 adequately and is good with my Phillips X1. I am interested in trying out the the LCD-2/3/X sometime soon after the new models launch. I've read the microStreamer can drive the LCDs fine, remains to be seen. If I wanted to reinvest in an amp + USB DAC (all-in-one or separates) that happens to gel particularly well with the HD600 and LCDs, are there any decent recommendations going not much higher than $1.5K that I should look into? Seem…

Hello, EDIT: the original "solution" proved to be a coincidence. So, I was writing a big long post (saved below) and may have solved my own problem whilst doing so. I'm still posting just because, while the solution was one of those "d'oh" things, it might help someone else in the future. TL;DR, I think my cheapo Amazon Basics power cable isn't grounded/shielded properly and was creating a static sound in the left channel. So, if someone from Google pops in with a similar issue, check a different cable before pulling your hair out like I have. ------Problem------ I recently purchased a used Mjolnir Pure BiPolar (S/N 020) and have an intermittent i…

Hi All, I have had my MAD HD Super for a while now, and I am very happy with it. I am not very versed in circuit design for audio, but I am curious by nature. Upon first glance, I gather that it is a simple but effective lower powered circuit. Since I know many here are very skilled in this area, I am curious about your thoughts about the design. I have no intention of replacing it; rather, this is me asking for a layman's explanation for how it works and how it compares to other similarly priced tube amps. I have attached the User's Manual in case anyone is interested in looking at it. I have never seen it on Dr. Peppard's website, but his regular HD Manual ca…

Has anyone seen this headphone amp: http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AURAUD I couldn't find the website for the manufacturer, and Head-Fi has very little information.

Has anyone here heard Schiit's balanced amp the Mjolnir? Looks interesting and apparently puts out more than enough power to drive any headphone. I'm thinking of starting my headphone rig over from scratch - most likely with the LCD-3 phones.

Audeze King Amp. What does everyone think? Odd approach for Audeze in my opinion.

Made an impulse buy for this intriguing 300B SET, which is turning out to have great resolution and bass definition for a 300B SET, through speakers, headphone amp, AND driving electrostats via Stax transformer! https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-27-elekit-tu-8600r-amplifier-kit 1126191526a by drjlo2, on Flickr

I have a CCS modded Stax SR-006t from Mjolnir Audio that stopped working back in September. For a few weeks I would get no sound until I turned it off and on, but now I get nothing. I've tried multiple sources and cables but no dice. I tested the DC offset between + and - of both channels and between the bias and both channels' - line. After that I tested the AC voltage playing a 1khz signal and followed it from the inputs to the vol control and got nothing. Spritzer repaired it back in April of 2023. The HV- line wasn't working due to a failed resistor and a capacitor was starting to fail. At the time the left channel was much quieter and had a buzzing noise before …

Finally after months with all the problems getting the dac(Pico dac lost by shipping company and y2 builder taking ages to order the parts)I just got my refund and decided to go with the DacMagic with a discount from a dude from my home town, and the rig is "complete". Now that I plugged all down, I don't like the sound its to distorted which I describe as a kinda messy metallic sound.. I tested on the dude house to find the problem, and it seems its the minimax tube effect, I tried the rs1+dacmagic with his Lehmann Audio Black Cub and the sound was so much better, still to much bright sometimes but thats just the rs1 and I hope HF2 will be the right tone, then…