Headphone Amplification

Ok guys after plenty of surfing...i've decided "bang for buck" DIY is the way to go. Im looking for synergy with my T50RP. I got to hear Millet minimax that TomB brought at the 2010 meet and was very impressed. More research i find the Bottlehead Crack receiving accolades as well. Cut to the chase. Which and how intense would either build be for someone that walked by a soldering gun once? Trav

I was dumbfounded to see this photo from RMAF, showing off the $15K combo of Woo 234 monoblocks, which is able to use 2A3, 45, or 300B with both speaker and headphone outputs. The Abyss planar 'phones at $5500 costs a little more than Stax SR009 even. Anybody tried either product? woo234 by drjlo2, on Flickr

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 found a post by "morphsci" listing his ES-1 options in his thread titled "Custom ES-1 about to find its new home" on that other site. 1). Power Transformers Plitron Custom Toroidal 2). Cardas Silver Solder surcharge 3). Cardas Audio Wiring 4). Audio Note Silver Foil in oil coupling capacitors 5). 4 Channel GoldPoint Attenuator 6). Solen Plate Voltage Input Capacitor 7). Black Gate Power Capacitors Stage I . Black Gate Cathode bypass capacitors ES 9). Dual Umbilical cord upgrade for maximum separation 10). Quad Regulators for maximum separation Other than these options, plus maybe some extra inputs and preamp outputs, what other options would be nice to ha…

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

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I was reading a lively thread on HF (something about rudi and a new amp) and realized that my knowledge of measurements and most things to do with engineering is sorely lacking. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about learning about the engineering aspects of amps,etc (ie good design). I am mainly looking for a basic understanding to become a better consumer (or be less of an idiot). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I know you guys usually don't like this sort of post, but I can't make up my mind and to me this is the best place to get some help. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience! To make a long story short: I might have the opportunity to upgrade from my MKI GS-X to a beautiful red MKII for about 900 bucks. However, I have a buyer now for my MKI (which is extremely lucky as selling it should be a pain in Brazil) and the MKII guy is about 90% sure of his sale. If I make the buyer wait, he might give up and I'll have a hard time selling the GS-X later and will probably miss the opportunity to grab that MKII. If I sell it now though, there's a risk that the guy won't…

I have read a lot of good things about the Es-1, aristaeus and of course the hev90. All 3 are obtainable and in the case of the hev90 if you know where to ask. But I wonder what are the differences between the three? I currently use a 007t to drive my electrostat headphone and am looking for something which improves on it. I am looking for something which tightens up the bass over the 007t and if possible goes lower. Also I find the 007t and phone has a kind of even tonal balance. I prefer things a little on the warmer side. Also I hear this metallic ringing or sheen to notes. This is distracting to say the least. So any amp which does not have any of these fl…

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.

This morning, I received the GS-1 that I bought from veloaudio and since it's a rainy/cloudy day and I had nothing very important to do this afternoon, I decided to do something that I rarely do (because frankly it's a pain in the ass), an amp comparison. I thought it was an interesting comparison to make because the two amps are different implementations of the classic Dynalo design by Kevin Gilmore, but at very different price points. On one side, HeadAmp 899$ GS-1 that's been a respected amp for a few years and on the other side, the Chinese-made HA-006+ that's a newcomer to the market at a very attractive price of 280$. Features The HA-006+ has an headphone out…

Hi, Does anybody have SRM-006t schematic? Thanks!

I am not sure which forum to put this question, whether the headphone or amp section. Which electrostatic headphone works best with the SRM-T1S? I now have the KGSS and the SR-007 for it is coming. I also have the T1S and want to optimize it's musical presentation at a second location. I really don't what the time or money to play around with all the combination of these headphones. I am inclined toward the SR-404, any comments. This is after reviewing lots of threads and personal rankings. I prefer the sound of the SR-Gamma Pro to the SRX-001 Mk3 normal bias. thanks

Since those two are about the same price, what's best as a DAC and as an AMP?

Written in Sam Tellig's column in September 2008 issue of Stereophile. (The October issue just hit my mailbox so I'd say this is open to post now.) Musical Fidelity X-CAN V8 tube headphone amplifier...and line stage? If a local dealer has Musical Fidelity's new X-CAN V8 headphone amplifier ($550), by all means audition it. This is easy to do. All you need are your ears, the space between them (plenty in my case, according to David Janszen), and your headphones. There was never an X-CAN V4, V5, V6, or V7. The previous model was the V3. The implied improvement is as if the X-CAN has leapt five generations, from V3 to V8. It's easily the best X-CAN yet from Musical …

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

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Some of you may remember me gabbing on about getting an office rig. Well, we're moving into the new building next week and I'll have the space for one finally. I was planning on waiting awhile, but as Mr. Nate Maher, Nugget Audio's kingpin, had this little beauty sitting around with nowhere to go, it's mine now! I think it was originally meant for Mike, but since he's slow to answer those pms, he just plain loses out and now he'll have to wait for the next one Purdy, huh?

Well, the Curse of the CanJam has claimed another victim. After being banned from the meet, Mikhail seems to have jinxed the SinglePower amps in attendance. First Neil's, now my SDS-XLR is dead. I really hope that Andy's amps are not next. Have you checked the amps? I set it up yesterday for the first time since CanJam and had a very strange incident where the left channel did not seem to be working on the K1K and then I switched in my K701 with Black Dragon and the left channel was still out. I swapped the driver tubes and still no left channel. Even though the left channel had been out on two cans, I decided to double check and swapped left and right and th…

why all the agro? stax didn't make two seperate designed boxes i know this can be done to eliminate the stepup blue cube and run a us ul power cord the rca plugs can be changed to new ones. other mods are also possible

I'm mulling over the options. The source will be a laptop, possibly a docking station with a Lynx Two in it. I'll probably order a headphone out of the Headroom options to go along with it. Any opinions? I'll probably be going with Home modules either way, and speccing the DAC as a flexibility option. What does the ~$1200 difference boil down to?

Hi y'all, Got my entry ticket into the Stax world in the beginning of 2018 with a Lambda Signature SR-407 earspeakers / SRM-T1S energizer combo. Got them from a Japanese seller and therefore I'm having to use a 100V step-down transformer for Japanese electronics here in Brazil (power outlets at home are 127V, 60 Hz). Only recently got the nerve to open the energizer to remove some dust and check the components (a bit scared of touching those big-ass 100 uF caps, but an anti-static brush and a lens cleaning blower sort of did the job). As far as I could see, all components seem original: The tubes are Gold Aero 6CG7's, Stax Signature selection. I understa…

Hi stax experts, I measured my t1w bias voltage, the pro bias port is 420v and normal bias is about 150v, is this normal or something needs to be replaced? Thank you.

I bought a CEC HD53R for exactly 40 000 Yen in Japan (which is around $370 USD), to pair with my Edition 9s. While it does sound nice, I have some lingering after thoughts... Unfortunately I only found one reference to this amp in this forum. I'm hoping somebody with experience with the HD53R can help me. For it's price, did I make the right choice? Are there any other headphones that magically synergizes with this amp?

Hi all. I stumbled across this headphone amp. I found it on this site: Trafomatic Audio - Experience HEAD ONE Here is what it says: Experience HEAD ONE Continuing with our line of fine amplifiers in Experience series, Experience Head One tube stereo headphone amplifier has been released on audio scene recently. Following basic design principle in accordance with philosophy of whole Experience series, this product offering an extended functionality unusual with amplifiers of the same type. beside it's general purpose to drive different types of dynamic headphones, this device is designed with some additional and very useful features. Owners of transistored audio sys…