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Had a hybrid headphone amp for a while and liked the sound, but I would like to try an all tube headphone amp. I've been looking at the Little Dot 2 or 3, but many are complaining about quality issues as they are made overseas. Is the Little Dot line the only thing going on in the sub $500 arena or are there others to consider?
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PROVIDED you've got headphones in the 300 ohm impedance range,like my ancient Sennheiser HD 580's. I've got the original Valhalla; the reworked Valhalla II is supposed to be a lot better with lower impedance cans, but my guess is they're still gonna be at their best into 300 ohms, as evidenced by their published specs.
Well under $500. There's a reason they're backordered!
AnalogDog
Mozart and Beethoven are giants...who are standing on Haydns shoulders.
I bought it when it first came out and it's worked very well without any issues. I love how there are lots of tube rolling options with it. If you would prefer to go with an American company, you should also check out the Schiit Valhalla2- http://schiit.com/products/valhalla-2 ..
Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub
Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160
Edits: 08/26/14 08/26/14 08/26/14 08/26/14
Here is another option, but more than your budget new. Maybe you can find one used. You can also use it as an integrated amp. Power is 1.8 wpc triode and 6/0 wpc pentode
See Tre's post below. Suspect that is correct and a SE KT88 in Triode mode might be up to 4 Watts after all?
Granted, it's an integrated SE amp with headphone out jack, but...
It drove the $2000 Audeze LCD3 with ease!
For less that a grand, in kit form, I might just spring for it and have it both a headphone amp as backup for the 300B monoblocks in my main system.
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That's nice but how do they get 4 watts from a triode wired single ended 6l6GC?
The data sheets say 1.4 watts at 5% THD
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
8 watts in SE Pentode and about 5 watts in SE Triode, or so I seem to recall.
I've heard some claim more like 12 watts in SE ultra linear, but who knows.
Heck, you can get 1.5 watts from a SE EL-83 in triode.
I haven't heard one, but their CSP series gets rave reviews.
Those who know about and/or use the Decware amp show plenty of love for it. Decware is a small domestic manufacturer that produces esoteric items for niche markets, and that sort of company tends to fly under the radar most of the time. I've owned Deware products in the past and I think they offer excellent value.
Which headphones are you using? My Grados are 32 ohm, and they work very well directly from my DIY amplifier. The amp was designed primarily to drive speakers, with only four amplifier tubes (2X EF86/6V6) and about 4.5 output each channel. The headphone jack is driven from the 8 Ohm transformer output, padded down with four resistors. The headphone output was pretty much an afterthought when I was designing the amplifier, just to have additional functionality until I could put together a dedicated amp. However, there appears to be a very high level of synergy with the Grados. Sound quality is extremely detailed and transparent, so much so that I've nearly abandoned my earlier thoughts about having a dedicated headphone amplifier. My point is that if you are using lower Z phones, say 150 ohms or less, you might consider buying a small SET amplifier and putting together an interface for the phones. That really opens up a lot of possibilities when you're looking for a high-quality, all-tube amplifier.
--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
If you decided to up your budget consider the Sound Quest SQ84-V2.
I've had one for years. There's a pretty long list of things I've compared (owned) it to and it's always come out on top (like Woo WA7, Blue Circle, Violectric V200).
Ask Stephen if he can get you a deal.
It has two inputs, remote control, 15wpc. Sounds VERY good as a speaker amp, I've run it on all sorts of things including my Quad 57's.
Love that 6V6 tube.
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that many of them are just made up."
-Abraham Lincoln
You will have to expand your budget for new WOO amps. Used, probably.
Some OTL tube amps don't play well with low impedance phones so that would be a consideration.
I love my WA6 with my Grado and BeyerDynamic phones, going on four years.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
Nt
Love it on HD800s.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
I'm pretty good with a soldering iron. But I'm certainly no electrical engineer. How hard was it to put together?
Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub
Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160
It's very easy, and the instructions are outstanding - see pic. If you do the Speedball upgrade, there is some precision soldering, but having done the Crack will give you the practice you need.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
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