Thanks for the quick reply. I was actually looking at the A1 + D2 combo - just got it wrong in typing it out; as I agree getting the A1 & D1 together would be a bit redundant.
 

 
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 I am curious to know how the pricing works out in China though. If the TubeDAC gets much cheaper there, then I could see it working against him like you said.
 

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All Yulong products are sold by Grant Fidelity at the same price as in China - just converted to USD funds then add a few dollars for international shipping. It is the same as if you fly to China in person and buy from a Chiense dealer there, then carry back yourself in your luggage. You only save on shipping - that's it. 
 
Chinese audio industry has much lower markup than outside of China - shop rent, labor cost and repair cost are all way cheaper there. 
 
TubeDAC-11 in China is sold for same price as everywhere else in the world except minus international shipping. The feature difference will attract different buyers so there is no direct competition with Yulong products. Yulong dealers in China sell TubeDAC-11 as well. 

I recently got myself the wonderful Sen's HD-800 and for about a month now I am surfing around trying to find the best solution of a DAC and Amp combo. 
This looks to me like the holy grail as I am on a budget of up to $450 
What I thought of doing until I saw this was to get the HRT music streamer as a DAC and combine it with the Matrix m-stage which seems like the best amp for the 800's under a budget
Would this be a better buy or should I go for the streamer and m-stage? 
And on a more techi side, is 110mW at 300 Ohm enough to power the sen's?

While the TubeDac-11 is a fine product, you'll need to step up your game to do justice to your HD-800 headphones.

I agree, unfortunately my bank account does not my question is if the tubeDAC-11 would work well with the sen's and is it a good purchase at this price range compared to the m-stage+HRT streamer combo. 
 
Thanks 

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eliben85 said:

I agree, unfortunately my bank account does not my question is if the tubeDAC-11 would work well with the sen's and is it a good purchase at this price range compared to the m-stage+HRT streamer combo. 
 
Thanks 

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Maybe look at the Yulong DAC 100 MKII from Grant Fidelity as well.

eliben85 said:

I recently got myself the wonderful Sen's HD-800 and for about a month now I am surfing around trying to find the best solution of a DAC and Amp combo. 
This looks to me like the holy grail as I am on a budget of up to $450 
What I thought of doing until I saw this was to get the HRT music streamer as a DAC and combine it with the Matrix m-stage which seems like the best amp for the 800's under a budget
Would this be a better buy or should I go for the streamer and m-stage? 
And on a more techi side, is 110mW at 300 Ohm enough to power the sen's?

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I think the TubeDAC-11 would pair very well with an HD800.  The HD800's sensitivity/impedance rating are very close to my HD580 (~100 dB / 300 ohms).. and I simply LOVE how the HD580 sounds with the TD-11.  Like the HD580, the HD800's high impedance will allow you to drive it right from the tube-out (I have an Objective 2 on hand & hook t up to the tube-out so I can use the tube buffered output with my low impedance phones/IEMs).
 
The HD800 is a pretty picky with amps, and definitely sound good from a nice tube.  I feel the TD-11 will deliver on a musical & technical level.. having the TD-11's hq "solid state" out is nice too  . 

Unfortunately I sold my HD800 prior to receiving the TubeDAC. So I never got the chance to try that combo. It did do a great job with the prototype HD700 I had on hand, though obviously wouldn't compare to a much more expensive system comprised of separates. As FlySweep mentioned, you could also use the tube outputs with the HD800 - I'm guessing that would be a nice pair.

Will it max out the Sennheiser flagship? Of course not. But it would probably give you a competent start until you could upgrade later on to a dedicated amp. Leaving the TubeDAC in the chain for DAC duties only.

thank you all for the replies, its great help. There are so many options out there it can drive one mad
Just one last question, I should not worry about the TubeDAC-11 not being powerful enough correct?
It says it has 110mW at 300 Ohm
The MAtrix amp has 200mW at 300 Ohm   is that difference critical or 110mW is all I need? 
 
Thanks again everyone for your help!

eliben85 said:

thank you all for the replies, its great help. There are so many options out there it can drive one mad
Just one last question, I should not worry about the TubeDAC-11 not being powerful enough correct?
It says it has 110mW at 300 Ohm
The MAtrix amp has 200mW at 300 Ohm   is that difference critical or 110mW is all I need? 
 
Thanks again everyone for your help!

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I've found the 110mW @ 300 ohms to offer plenty of volume to drive 300 ohms.  I like to rock out with my HD580 at times & the TD-11 pot rarely hits 3pm.  One thing I've mentioned before is how buttery smooth the volume control is & even at full tilt, it's very clean & controlled (though I don't even approach that output level.. even with the voracious HE-500).  Equally, at much lower output levels, the dac/amp is very dynamic and balanced.
 
If you're using the tube and/or line out with a power amp, you've got very precise control of the TD-11 voltage output via the pot, as well.  The DAC out is obviously a line level output.  With the plethora of amps I've used with the tube & line outs, I've found the optimal position is slightly shy of 3pm.. whether I'm using the tube/line out to drive another amp (Objective2) or I'm using the tube out directly to drive the Senns.
 
The really nice thing about the TD-11 is that it can always serve a useful purpose in your rig.  It's a versatile pre-amp, an astonishingly high quality clean, dynamic dac.. it has a precise line & tube out to literally change the nature of your rig's sound on the fly.. and it gives you an opportunity to add a hq tube to your chain of components.  It scales well & all the features I mentioned aren't implemented hastily to where better equipment up the chain is going to be grossly limited.  For these reasons, it's got a lot of staying power for me since I can always hook up a really nice amp down the line, if I wish.

The tube output is rated at up to 6 Volts.  Does anybody have the electronic formula needed to determine how many mW's that would be into a 300 Ohm load?  Or is that not enough information to determine that?  I am curious also since I have the HD650s and read somewhere that they ideally should have 500mW available power.
 

project86 said:

No idea on the Mini-I, that's the one Matrix product I have yet to hear. Should be pretty good from what I read though.
TubeDAC is definitely great for smoothing things out though, without removing too much detail. I'm really amazed at the different sound you can get from it, all of which are good in their own ways.
The tube output used with headphones is recommended for 300 ohm or higher. At that range you are more concerned with voltage than anything else. 6v is fairly powerful - drives Sennheiser and 600 ohm Beyes very nicely. It's no Schiit Lyr, but still potent enough.

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do you think it would be able to properly drive the akg k601 at 120 ohm impedance from the tube output? i have them and im tempted to try but im afraid of what might happen since they're not the recommended 300 or better, would they damage them? does anyone know?

For higher impedance headphones, you are more concerned with voltage rather than current delivery. Low impedance models are the other way around. Gross simplification but there it is. The Sennheisers work well from the Tube Out with adapter - no shortage of juice that I can discern. Some may find the resulting sound too smooth on top though, others will love it.

The K601 is not an ideal candidate to run from the tube out. It won't do any harm to try it, but it may sound funky due to impedance mismatching. Depending on the impedance curve for the 601, you may get wooly bass, or boosted bass, or thin bass, or sharpness in the mids.... It really depending on the impedance curve. Ultimately it is more of a safe bet to stick with 300ohm and above models, in terms of having a better chance of success.

im thinking about buying the matrix m stage and running that out of the tube output (rolled in a vintage mullard made in britain rca tube) to give me a some of that lushness i miss and power my k601's, do you see any complications in this chain project 86?
 
 
right now i have them running straight from the headphone out at maxed out volume, and even then my headphones while sounding nice still feel like they're only being driven to half of their potential, im looking for the cheapest solution right now, its either between the m stage and the e9 (e9 is cheaper but i'm reading on other forums that the m stage and k601's match really well)

btw i just tried plugging them into the tube out....they sound horrible