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Living room amp, for mostly low impedance cans

post #1 of 12
1/10/11 at 7:57am
Thread Starter 

Although I've tried some cans along the way now, I'm still a relative noob in amps.

 

I have the E7+E9 combo for my desktop, doing fine as E9 is a nice little thing to power my headphones.

 

But I want something for my living room rig. I'd like to try something with a tube or tubes, get some experience with that. Source will be a Philips 963 SACD player, nothing fancy, but decent stuff I hope.

 

Budget: <200 euro, 250 if it's really really worth it (200 euro = about 260 usd)

Headphones: as in my signature, most important being the Grado's and my coming Denon D7000

 

I was planning to buy a Little Dot III or IV, but I read they don't pair well with low impedance and that the Little Dot I would be better for that.

 

But is that it? LD I best for my low imp. cans under 200 bucks?

 

Recommendations are very welcome, for my first steps in tubies.


Edited by Proglover - 1/10/11 at 8:10am
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier (Black)
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FiiO E9 Desktop Headphone Amplifier and Dock for E7 USB DAC
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post #2 of 12
1/10/11 at 1:03pm

Hey Proglover,

 

Nice collection of phones you have.  For low impedance, especially Grados under $200, the I+  for tubes (hybrid) is unbeatable.  I don't use any phone over 75ohm with it, but anything less it rocks.  You have a choice of 3 families of tubes, opamp rollable, small footprint etc.....Great deal and sound..

 

Cheers

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post #3 of 12
1/10/11 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeatFan12 View Post

Hey Proglover,

 

Nice collection of phones you have.  For low impedance, especially Grados under $200, the I+  for tubes (hybrid) is unbeatable.  I don't use any phone over 75ohm with it, but anything less it rocks.  You have a choice of 3 families of tubes, opamp rollable, small footprint etc.....Great deal and sound..

 

Cheers



thanks

I would go to 250-300 usd if it's worth, but the cheap LD seems to be the best choice. I'm concluding this also would beat a Hifiman EF2 (I don't need the DAC)

Amp will make hours mostly with D7000's and HF-2's

 

which tubes do you like best on the ld I+, i guess you don't use the stock tubes?

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post #4 of 12
1/11/11 at 6:21am

 

So many tubes you can use with this amp.  The three families are EF95, EF91/EF92 & 408A.  There are many variations of each family that you can use.  Example- For the 408A family I like the Tung Sol and Westinghouse 6028. 

 

Some of my favorites-

 

 

408A

 

Westinghouse 6028 (1 pair).jpg

 

 

 

EF91/EF92

 

Mullard EF91.jpg

 

Mullard EF92 (BVA) 2 Pairs.jpg

 

 

 

EF95 family-

 

Tung Sol 5654-6AK5W.jpg

 

Mullard M8100 (CV4010) (5 Pairs).jpg

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post #5 of 12
1/11/11 at 10:25am

Ha ha! I'm happy to see you two have found each other. Dave, you should definitely follow Jesse's recommendations. He had given me some excellent advice recently (and he has experience with a ton of great gear to back it up).

 

Best to both of you,

Adam

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post #6 of 12
1/11/11 at 10:56am
Thread Starter 

ah:)

 

I'll probably just get this LD I+ then anyway, regardless of that Neco SS amp we were talking about Adam.

I guess it's not always good to spend more money. But damn, those III and IV and frankly almost every other tube amp are so much better looking then the I+frown.gif

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post #7 of 12
1/11/11 at 10:58am
Thread Starter 


thanks for sharing this HeatFan / Jesse
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by HeatFan12 View Post

 

So many tubes you can use with this amp.  The three families are EF95, EF91/EF92 & 408A.  There are many variations of each family that you can use.  Example- For the 408A family I like the Tung Sol and Westinghouse 6028. 

 

Some of my favorites-

 

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post #8 of 12
1/11/11 at 11:14am

I know the feeling. I'm currently trying to figure out whether to upgrade my Graham Slee Novo and buy a new PSU for it, or if I should buy a Matrix M-Stage. I'm very happy with the Novo, and I like the thought of sticking with an English amp (I currently live in London, but I'm about to move back to Germany and having English gear seems like a good memento of my time here), but the M-Stage seems like a pretty killer amp, especially for the price. I may have to buy the M-Stage, compare it to the Novo, and then sell one of them...

 

I'm definitely keeping the Neco Soundlab amp. It is extremely practical for my purposes and, as stated before, it is impossible to beat in terms of value. I was listening to it last night and really loved the sound. Plus, it's from England! wink_face.gif

 

Best,

Adam

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post #9 of 12
1/11/11 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 

hehe

 

read positive things about the M-Stage, being a great value for the money

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post #10 of 12
1/11/11 at 4:25pm

Thanks very much Adam...Cheers....beerchug.gif

 

Hi Dave, my pleasure sir.  Don't let the small I+ fool ya.  It does have some power.  It has an internal switch for high gain, but never had to change it.  I keep it on low (default).

 

Cheers    beerchug.gif

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post #11 of 12
1/11/11 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 

I'll order one, with a couple of your favorite tubes

cheers!

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post #12 of 12
1/11/11 at 5:52pm

Dave,

 

Jesse has already given you plenty to think about, but you might also want to check this (very, very long) thread.

 

Best,

Adam

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier (Black)
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FiiO E9 Desktop Headphone Amplifier and Dock for E7 USB DAC
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