What's the best headphone amp you have heard?
- Thread starter caesar
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Currently running a Microzotl as a headphone preamp driving a Violectric as headphone amp for the Audezes. Also just love the Microzotl purely on its own as a headphone amp. It’s a pretty marvellous lil music making device.
Stax 009's (now there is an 'S') electrostats with Head Amp Blue Hawaii Special Edition amplifier, which i owned for a short time in 2012, is my all time favorite headphone---headphone amplifier combo.....of what I've heard. and I did have it in my system for 3 months.
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https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/senneheiser-reveals-50000-orpheus-headphones/#/1/1
I have not heard or seen it. I am pretty sure it is a real world product.
I have not heard or seen it. I am pretty sure it is a real world product.
I'd agree with your comments about the Stellaris. The qualities you mention are subtle, as they should be, and yes I have run mine with both AAVT and RCA Dual backplates. Both sound very, very good and compliment each other. Rectifiers also make a difference. I have several U52's and RCA VT-244's and a Brimar 5U4G that all do very well with the Stellaris. The thing is, many Head-Fi'ers want big bass and an in-your-face presentation that turns them toward the Stratus, that and the cost difference. But they really are two different sounding amps. I especially love chamber music and the Stellaris is ideal at revealing the tone and texture of different the different instruments. I also find that the Stellaris also does well on a variety of moderately priced headphones.
I guess the Stellaris with the silver wound AN OPTs is even a non trivial step up from the version I've heard, too. The one I heard had the AN copper OPTs. Still great. But now, if there's a down side to Stellaris for me at this point, it'd be that it simply can not drive the RAAL ribbon headphones.
+1, especially the 845 version which was awesome on HE1k. The 2A3 version didn’t do it for me.
You did indeed like the cheaper one though I preferred the more visceral and musically involving presentation of the 845. I found the 2A3 flatter sounding and less engaging using the same headphones.
The HE1K is generally polite sounding, so it does make sense that the "manlier" amp would be preferred.
I think it had different headphones. The purity was excellent.
Great blind test. That time I had not heard 2a3 amps and had no idea I would turn a fan of the smaller valves in the future
I moved the HE1k over to the 2a3 when I auditioned so the amps were evaluated on the same basis.
The best headphone amp I’ve heard is the one I’m listening to now- darTZeel LHC-208. I know, I know “But it’s not a headphone amp.” It is when you’re driving Hifiman Susvaras. These cans are trandendetaly good when driven properly. They need every bit of the 200wpc. the 208 puts out. Running them off the speaker taps with spade terminated wire. The 208 is a wonderful Swiss Army Knife (and Swiss made too!) and has a remarkably good DAC section- just a great piece and a breathtaking combo with the Susvaras.
The Woo Audio We33 that I’ve just been listening to at Canjam London sounded excellent with my HE1k v2. Definitely one of the more vibrant shows that I’ve visited in UK, so worth a visit.
Trafomatic Audio Primavera (the owner and designer is building the new one, a successor, with separate chassis), Aries Cerat Genus, Viva Audio Egoïsta 845, and some others.
First two are relative newcomers, Aries Cerat Genus has been said to be better sounding even than Blue Hawaii with SR009.
First two are relative newcomers, Aries Cerat Genus has been said to be better sounding even than Blue Hawaii with SR009.
A good “Stax Mafia” Kevin Gilmore DIY T2 build makes even a Blue Hawaii SE with NOS tubes, and a KGSShv Carbon, sound broken by comparison. I sold my BHSE immediately upon receiving the T2. That’s the most transformative headphone amp I’ve heard - for Stax 009, 009S, 007, and even Sennheiser he90 Orpheus headphones.
Next, for dynamic headphones, would be the Singlepower SDS-XLR $20k monstrosity. Heard two builds of that. Elevated the Sony R10. But there are a lot of great dynamic amps out there; not so much with electrostats.
Next, for dynamic headphones, would be the Singlepower SDS-XLR $20k monstrosity. Heard two builds of that. Elevated the Sony R10. But there are a lot of great dynamic amps out there; not so much with electrostats.
Well known info about Singlepower has been all over the place, as well as the members of the so called stax maffia repairing and modifying some of Singlepower amps on order to make them not to blow up (virtually) and thus safe for users. I remember reading about this at some threads.
Internal wiring has been shown to be a mess, as well as the former mentioned detail about utterly unsafe circuit as a whole.
It has been said that those amps were sounding nice indeed when modified by the competent and knowledgeable tech.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/is-singlepower-still-in-bussiness
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@ersel
That's fair - it's been so long I almost forgot what a POS Singlepower's proprietor Mikhail was leading up to his disappearance. In fact I lost $800+ myself to him on a botched amp upgrade that blew some of my headphones (original Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee, pretty rare these days). That was right near the end of Singlepower. Mikhail got noticeably more frazzled, and made more mistakes, towards the end. Many lost far more $$$$ including Tom Hankins, who's a friend of mine, used to live local - yeah he got burned really really bad. For a while before that it was a tale of "good Mikhail, bad Mikhail", and some of the amps he produced sounded exceptional - just luck of the draw what you received. Some didn't sound great, and others had serious safety issues as noted. But man, those two SDS-XLR's I heard, in the monster chassis, sounded simply sublime. Anyone who heard those amps would say the same.
And now I must be jinxed, because I think a channel went out in my T2 just now. The BHSE and Carbon, to their credit, were rock solid no-worries always going to work. Fortunately my Tannoy 2ch system is very reliable, or I'd be quite upset right now.
That's fair - it's been so long I almost forgot what a POS Singlepower's proprietor Mikhail was leading up to his disappearance. In fact I lost $800+ myself to him on a botched amp upgrade that blew some of my headphones (original Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee, pretty rare these days). That was right near the end of Singlepower. Mikhail got noticeably more frazzled, and made more mistakes, towards the end. Many lost far more $$$$ including Tom Hankins, who's a friend of mine, used to live local - yeah he got burned really really bad. For a while before that it was a tale of "good Mikhail, bad Mikhail", and some of the amps he produced sounded exceptional - just luck of the draw what you received. Some didn't sound great, and others had serious safety issues as noted. But man, those two SDS-XLR's I heard, in the monster chassis, sounded simply sublime. Anyone who heard those amps would say the same.
And now I must be jinxed, because I think a channel went out in my T2 just now. The BHSE and Carbon, to their credit, were rock solid no-worries always going to work. Fortunately my Tannoy 2ch system is very reliable, or I'd be quite upset right now.
Dunno... looking at those three, Viva Audio Egoïsta, Trafomatic Audio Primavera, and in particular this monster Aries Audio Cerat, (the latter being directly compared with SR009 and Blue Hawaii, very favourably, as well as Viva - from one other user who heard both electrostats and italian Viva amp), somehow those feel like a pinnacle of the headphone audio at the moment... Just looking at the components, weight of the amps and how the design was approached...
And then there are such thing like MalValve, Ångström Audio Stella, US made amps such as Apex Audio, Eddie Current, DNA (Stellaris), and any of the KGHSSv amps...
Admittedly, very expensive stuff as well.
No doubt that some of the Singlepower amps, in particular that monster, were great sounding, when modified (or some of them not). One wishes that more of the stuff like this was less expensive, or somehow more affordable.
Trafomatic Audio Primavera looks interesting, since those folks have great experience in winding their own transformers, as well as the electronic industry producing tubes, so a lot of heritage there. No reviews of that amp, none that I could find, apart from the endorsement of one retailer.
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