Quote:
Originally Posted by
gus6464 
Tubes will change the sound depending on which one you go with. You can buy tubes that roll off the highs and warm up the midrange while others will do the opposite. Tube amps just give you more options when it comes to changing the sound signature. The Icon HDP headphone amp is ok but nothing awesome to write home about. At it's price of $450 there are quite a bit better options out there when it comes to amps. Hell at that price range you are in Woo 3 and Schiit Lyr territory. Granted you won't get a DAC but I don't know if you care about that.
I find all Nuforce stuff to be overhyped flavor of the month items. Don't know what your budget is but maybe you can recoup some money by selling the HDP and going with a Lyr. With that you will be able to power the big majority of headphones out there with the ability to roll your own tubes to fit your preferred sound signature.
I'm kind of curious, are you talking about in theory or have you really heard all three of the amps? From what i gather, a lot of people on this forum go towards WooAudio because of the build quality and the sound. The Schiit Lyr is something that is gaining more hype here but is relatively new to the game of amps, doesn't mean that it doesn't perform like a champ, but it's still new. Now, the LittleDot has its own dedicated thread and you can see that it's all a matter of personal preference. People like Woo, others like LittleDots which are a bang for the value. If you're running on a budget, go with a LittleDot and be sure to read up on tubes that would be recommended for you. I figure that you're not going for a permanent set of audio equipment but that you're going to upgrade later, so starting on the lower tubes should be good enough for now.
