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To tube or not...

I have been having some issues powering a set of Grado SR60e's with a Bellari VP129. I've attempted to put it in after a Jolida JD9 pre-amp (basically just using it as a headphone input), but the RIAA balancing on both the Jolida and the Bellari are cancelling each other out and making the signal unlistenable.

So I guess I am in the market for an unbalanced headphone amp to power the Grado's. I can't decide whether I should stick with all tubes with something like the Little Dot Mark II or something solid state like the Schiit Magni. I'm trying to keep it under $150-200, if at all possible.

I'm wondering how much of a difference, over solid state, tubes would make in a headphone amp. If I am running a tubve pre-amp and a solid state headphone amp would that be akin to running a hybrid system with a solid state power amp? Would I be getting the "best of both worlds", conceivably, if the two are paired correctly or are tubes the way to go? (I currently have a tube power amp powering my bookshelves and I love the warmth of tubes, but I'm open to a solid state headphone amp if that will work and sound good).


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Topic - To tube or not... - Vinylized 13:14:04 10/20/14 (6)

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