DIY Amps?

are DIYs worth it?
If they're well built - they're amazing bang-for-buck IMO.

I own DIY millet hybrid myself and it's amazing for the price I got for (140$)

At $250 the Little Dot MKIII is definitely in your budget. I like my MKII and sometimes think I should have paid an extra $40 to get the MKIII.

Well like said before the Millet Hybrid is a very good amp and If i had the skill right now thats what I would build. Theres also the Pimeta, B22, and Mini^3, all pretty popular.

This thread at Headwize is a good start:
HeadWize: DIY Workshop > Current DIY Headphone Amp Offerings
But to summarise, I did a whole heap of research into DIY amps recently, and ended up building an M^3 powered by an S11:
The M³ Stereo Headphone Amplifier
The σ11 Regulated Power Supply
I selected and bought all parts myself rather than a kit, and used this first project as an exercise in extravagance, so it ended up being quite pricey..... but definitely worth the experience.

Other good options are the Pimeta, CK^2III, PPAv2 and Millett Hybrid Max - the latter specifically good if you want tubes. I'm probably going to build a Millett Max as my next DIY project using a kit from Jeff Rossel, which includes everything but the input jacks and volume knobs, so there shouldn't be too many cost surprises:
MHMax

Check your email.. I just sent you a PM..

I haven't tried them (although I hope to), but I know Bottlehead makes pretty easy to build tube amps. They're even designed for people that have no electronics assembly experience, people like you and me :)

These are probably out of the OPs price range, but they make excellent-sounding kits.  The crack-head is a great OTL amp that works very well with mid-high-impedance headphones (anything over 100 ohms, say).

 

Crack is $220, so well within the price limit.

 

Those last three are all SS, OP said he wanted tubes. 

 

I can recommend the crack, and the kit is really well put together and extremely easy to follow. You probably need a screwdriver, a wire cutter, a soldering iron, wood glue, and maybe a wrench to complete it. You could even use scissors instead of the wire cutter in a pinch. Sounds great with my hd600s, but it's not supposed to be that great with cans that have lower than ~120 ohm impedance, so there are better options if that is the case.

 

 

Did anyone check the dates? Jebus.

 

LOL..Love the Simpsons Movie ref......In case anyone is wondering the same thing the OP was wondering back when the Wall Street CEOs were selling all their stocks and transferring the money to off shore accounts:

 

Yes DIY amps are WAY worth it.  These designs have stood the test of time and have all the "kinks" worked out of them, and if built well will compete with amps costing 10X the cost of parts (case included, unless you go overboard).

 

I remember a Dallas HF meet where I plugged my K701's into Pete Millets Starving Student hybrid.  I thought "Wow. Nice."  Then after I heard other, pricey, manufactured and custom gear I thought "Holy SH*T. that little amp sounded as good as the rest of them."

Edited by cswann1 - 3/21/11 at 7:53pm