Want to try out a tube amp

well.  you will certainly have headphones that will benefit from more high-end tube amplification.

if i were you, i wouldn't limit myself just for the sake of "dipping your toes in the water".

if you don't like the sound of a particular component, you can always sell it on the forum here at little loss...

heck.  there are tons of fine tube amps here for sale all the time.

your best bet might be to browse the hd800 threads to see what tube amps others recommend.

and then, scour the used stuff here to see what's available...

that's what i would do....

cheers!  and best of luck on your tube journey!

Lots of listings for cheap single tube headphone amplifiers on eBay.

Just search for "tube headphone amplifier"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manyak 

Thanks, but I'd really prefer going with a cheap amp first. I know not to expect anything fantastic, but still, I'd much prefer losing $20 and not $200 when reselling it. And if I end up liking it enough I'd be able to keep it and maybe use it in my office :).

 

Are those even worth the $50 though?

I have two 6922EH headphone tube amplifiers (Muse $78, Indeed $88) and they are the only amps I've ever had, they both work fine powering my Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 250-ohm headphones.

The 6922EH tube is the more expensive then other tubes, so there are others with less popular tubes going for $50. Top of the line is $120.

When I buy these amps, I really do not expect to deal with any warranty, not worth it shipping it back to China.

It's $15 dollars to replace the AC/DC adapter, I had to order one from L.A. (and was shipped the wrong one).

I can run these little amps off my Xonar DX sound card or Comcast DVR.

Can't really run Dolby Digital 5.1 Headphone, so it Stereo 2.0  with amp.

Cables are extra, the web site monoprice has a great assortment of cables.

Solid state amplifiers are usually cheaper and more reliable over tubes.

But I really do not think any solid state amp.will offer as good a quality sound at this price range.
 

Depending on your budget, I have a Darkvoice 337 for sale which is said to be a wonderful amp, and I got it based on Skylab's review, and it actually is the exact one he reviewed! I am not just saying this to try to get it sold.

These are others opinions though, as I have not gotten to enjoy it myself because the separate volume knobs for left and right channels/ears bothers me so much, that I am left fiddling with it, and never get to listen to music, hence I am selling it. Some people are fine with the knobs, and don't find them very annoying, some people even find them handy in balancing the soundstage, such as Skylab, and it drives some people crazy, like me, because I can hear such subtle differences in volume. I can literally touch one knob with my finger and I hear the difference. I don't know if you would like it, but if you don't, resell it or talk to me and maybe we could arrange something.

Classified Listing: http://www.head-fi.org/t/565701/darkvoice-337-with-many-extra-tubes-575-obo#post_7684414

Make sure to look at the link I put in there for a better description, pics, list of tubes included, etc.

I would guess that this would drive the HD800s fine. You will want a fairly powerful amp for HD800s though since they are a flagship headphone. I wouldn't recommend a budget little <$300 amp (price does not always equal power or quality though, I am saying just generally). I had the E7 and it sounded like crap with my 650s. No imaging, everything sounded it was directly on my right or left side, and far away at that. Not very powerful. It also broke, and it took me a few weeks to get an email response from FiiO, and it was in frickin' Engrish!

Oh well. A protractor could work lol but it seems right always needs to be a bit louder than the left. It could be me, maybe all the headphones I have share that common imbalance problem (doubtful), or there is a small misconnection inside, maybe during shipping to the owner before me as that already knocked out the right LED to the inside (I can still hear it roll around). If mine were stepped that'd be awesome, just start at 0 and increase one step on each side and make sure to go up a notch on the other side when I do one side. If only I knew how to install them :(
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manyak 

Alright, I guess I'll try one of them out then :)

lol, I think the E7 sounds like crap no matter what you put on it. But you know what? it's better than the iPhone's output, better than my laptop's output, it has batteries, and it's cheap. So for the twice a year I actually use it (when I travel), it serves it's purpose :). Don't worry though, I'd be out of my mind if I expected to power $1500 cans with a $50 amp and take it seriously...that would be such a waste of $1500. Even if it's not powerful enough for the HD800's I can use the Triple-Fi's - I'm just looking for a little taste of tube sound at this point, not going for the whole cake.

 

I just read a review for that amp you're selling, and it sounds like it would be good except those volume controls would drive me nuts as well :/. I've got a vintage Pioneer SPEC-4 amp that's also a dual-mono design with separate knobs for each channel, and I swear every time I go to adjust them it takes me a few minutes. They're stepped, which helps, but I still sit there and count the steps on each side just to always be sure that they're the same. With knobs that aren't stepped I'd be sitting there with a protractor trying to align them!

You might want to try 1 of the little dot's line up. many regard them have high price/performance value.

Also take a look at the Bottlehead Crack if you don't mind a kit. For a little over $200 you can get your feet wet and if you like the tube sound you start upgrading it with the speedball, caps... It's pretty endless.

I'm with Erik. Don't buy cheap tube amps.

If you want cheap, you're better off DIYing it. Something like the Crack from bottlehead is easy enough