How does a ~$50 tube amp sound?

The Bravos or Indeeds?  I like mine pretty well, but it's my first headphone amp ever.

Thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/newestpost/444400

I like my Bravo V2 very much. It's a very nice sounding amp for the price with just about all of my headphones (except the ATH-M50).

Haha I had a bravo, I sold it for $35, I thought it was weak, like a radio-shack experiment type amp, it offered very little improvement over my laptop soundcard if any so it gathered dust rather quickly in favour of a real amp which should sound transparent and high resolution and improve the audio-signal, this the bravo does not do.

The new owner says it has sweet smooth mids and rolled off highs, he seems to enjoy it, if only for the sake of finding out what a tube sounds like, which is the point in the bravo, ~$50 for a demo of a tube sound, if you want real Hi-Fi sound for cheap or just a simple device with lots of power, I'd look elsewhere, such as a second-hand receiver or a second-hand vintage amp.

I haven't heard the bravo in a long time, but I remember I was using a CD player -> bravo -> Fostex T-5 headphones listening to some rock CD's and my housemate was really getting into it, so I suppose a little Bravo and some Fostex HP's could be an ok investment, but once again I'd look elsewhere, from what I recall I just thought it sounded "radioshacky" and "dusty" and my soundcard directly to headphones was a purer signal.

The Bravo with the stock tube isnt really impressive. Roll some tubes and things change. I love mine. I go iMac>Firestone Fubar II DAC> HD580 I will say about 80% of the people that buy the Bravo/Indeed love them. At the price point you just cant beat it - go for it!

There are all kinds of review out there. But here is one.

http://www.headfonia.com/bravo-hybrid-tube-amplifier/

I haven't heard the E5 in a while but I'd say the Bravo is a very significant improvement over the E5.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame21x 

I like my Bravo V2 very much. It's a very nice sounding amp for the price with just about all of my headphones (except the ATH-M50).

And why is that? I haven't tried the M50 yet with the V2. I'm too lazy to take the M50 home from work

Thanks I've always been skeptical about those cheap Fiio amps and if they sound worse than the Bravo they must be horrible Lol.

Seems like most people happy with their Fiios are just using a 150ohm earbud or don't have a bass-boost feature on their DAP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame21x 

I like my Bravo V2 very much. It's a very nice sounding amp for the price with just about all of my headphones (except the ATH-M50).

What's the issue with the M50? I was going to buy a pair of those.

The Fiio E9 is a pretty beefy amp. Pretty solid for the price ($130)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultrainferno 

And why is that? I haven't tried the M50 yet with the V2. I'm too lazy to take the M50 home from work

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirForceTeacher 

What's the issue with the M50? I was going to buy a pair of those.

The M50s feature emphasized upper mids and treble which became harsh and grating when used with the V2, at least with the stock tube. As I said in my review, it wasn't a problem of the amp or the headphones, themselves, they just didn't mate well together. I've been using my Fiio E9 as my primary amp for a while now and haven't yet tried the M50s on the Bravo V2 with an upgraded tube (eBay seller said it was an RCA Black plates tube but I honestly have no idea) that sounds smoother to my ears but once I do, I'll report back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame21x 

As I said in my review, it wasn't a problem of the amp or the headphones, themselves, they just didn't mate well together.

Site bookmarked!

If you could use it as a preamp for solid state amp, that'll would be the best bang for buck to get a tubey sound for high impedance headphones.