I currently have a number of solid state amps and recently picked up an Eddie Current Laconic EC-01, which I quite like. It piqued my interest in tube amps and ... down the rabbit hole I went.
Does anyone have experience with the below that can give advice?
Woo Audio WA6 - $620 (assembled)
Decware CSP2+ - $895 (assembled and outrageously good looking)
Mapletree Audio Design Ear + HD - $620 Kit or $700 Assembled
Mapletree Audio Design Ear + Super II - $850 (assembled)
Bottlehead Smack WOT - $549 (kit) - Balanced and unbalanced outputs.
I have heard that tube amps tend to have higher output impedances, and therefore aren't ideal for low-impedance headphones unless - like the Bottlehead Smack WOT -- they have an output transformer. My headphones tend to run the gamut:
Denon AH-D5000
Grado SR225i (woodied)
Alessandro MS2
Ultrasone Pro 2900
Sennheiser HD600
HiFiMAN HE-400
So I've got a pretty broad mixture in terms of impedance (25 Ohms - 300 Ohms) and sensitivity (92-106 dB). I am also considering picking up a pair of 600 Ohm Beyerdynamics or a pair of HE-500s with a sensitivity of 89 dB at some point.
Overall, I figure this really isn't about technical specifications, but about sound, so I'm interested in any input the collective Head-Fi experience cloud can offer...
Best,
Adam
P.S. In case it's useful:
The WA6 is rated for headphones from 8-600 Ohms.
The Decware CSP2+ is rated for headphones with 32-600 Ohm impedance, but Decware also offers the Taboo, which is recommended for headphones with 4-60 Ohms. I know there is a review of the Taboo where the OP mentions using the Taboo with the CSP2+ (i.e., at the same time), but I don't really get how that works or why it would be desirable...
The Bottlehead Smack WOT has switchable output impedance of 16, 32, 64 or 128 Ohms, but I wonder whether it is powerful enough to drive the HE-400 or HE-500s satisfactorily.
The MAD Ear + Super II is rated for headphones with 30-300 Ohms, while the HD variant has an output impedance of 7 Ohms, but doesn't specify the recommended headphone impedance.
