Need a hybrid tube amp, 400€ or less | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Dackzy · Apr 11, 2017 at 12:51 PM

I want to buy a hybrid tube amp for my HE 560's, K612's, HP50's and other headphones and I have a budget of 400€. It will be hooked up to the pre-out on a NFB11, so no worries about the DAC.
For the people that don't know, a hybrid tube amp is a mix of a normal solid state amp and a tube amp, to get the "best" of both worlds, meaning you get the tube sound while still having power in the lower Ohms.
Kits are okay as long as I can buy them inside EU

ProtegeManiac · Apr 12, 2017 at 12:23 AM

dackzy said:
I want to buy a hybrid tube amp for my HE 560's, K612's, HP50's and other headphones and I have a budget of 400€. It will be hooked up to the pre-out on a NFB11, so no worries about the DAC.

Schiit Lyr2

Originally Posted by Dackzy /img/forum/go_quote.gif

For the people that don't know, a hybrid tube amp is a mix of a normal solid state amp and a tube amp, to get the "best" of both worlds, meaning you get the tube sound while still having power in the lower Ohms.

That kind of problem or rather design feature is only true for OTL - or output transformerless - tube amplifiers like the Woo WA3. Transformer-coupled amps like the Schiit WA6, WA6SE, and WA22 all have power delivery similar to solid state designs, ie, a lot more at 32ohms vs 300ohms. The difference is that given the same amount of power all the transformers that have to run an all tube circuit will make them really heavy, like, just compare the size and weight of the Schiit Jotunheim vs the WooAudio WA22.

Dulalala · Apr 12, 2017 at 12:32 AM

protegemaniac said:
Schiit Lyr2

+1
Keep in mind though, that the Lyr 2 sounds more like a solid state than a tube with stock tubes in. You will have to roll tubes if you are looking for a tube-ish sound.

Dackzy · Apr 12, 2017 at 5:34 AM

protegemaniac said:
Schiit Lyr2

That kind of problem or rather design feature is only true for OTL - or output transformerless - tube amplifiers like the Woo WA3. Transformer-coupled amps like the Schiit WA6, WA6SE, and WA22 all have power delivery similar to solid state designs, ie, a lot more at 32ohms vs 300ohms. The difference is that given the same amount of power all the transformers that have to run an all tube circuit will make them really heavy, like, just compare the size and weight of the Schiit Jotunheim vs the WooAudio WA22.

A Schiit Lyr 2 is a 500€ product and that is without tubes that makes it sound a bit darker, it will easily end in 600€.
Yes the tube amp statement is only true for OTL amps.

Dulalala · Apr 12, 2017 at 6:07 AM

Try the Vali 2 then? You could also look at the Monoprice tube amps though I don't know if they're any good. There are also the Little Dot 1+. If you like DIY, maybe try the Millet Starving Student amp. Assuming you order outside your country, you should take taxes into account too.

Dackzy · Apr 12, 2017 at 8:07 AM

dulalala said:

I am actually trying to make a SSMH, but I cannot get a hold of a PCB or a gerber drawing of one. I have tried the vali 2 and I want something better

Dulalala · Apr 12, 2017 at 8:42 AM

dackzy said:
I have tried the vali 2 and I want something better

I guess it's a bit hard to do in a shop, but like the Lyr 2, you need to tube roll for the Vali 2 also.

Dackzy · Apr 12, 2017 at 8:51 AM

dulalala said:
I guess it's a bit hard to do in a shop, but like the Lyr 2, you need to tube roll for the Vali 2 also.

there must be other brands than Schiit that makes something that is good in the 400€ price range

Dulalala · Apr 12, 2017 at 8:59 AM

dackzy said:
there must be other brands than Schiit that makes something that is good in the 400€ price range

There are a lot of Chinese based brands that sell tubes amps, like little dot, though most of them are tubes only and not hybrids AFAIK. You'll have to do a bit of research if you want to know more. I'm not aware of many hybrid tube amps that aren't portable solutions anyways.

dackzy said:
I am actually trying to make a SSMH, but I cannot get a hold of a PCB or a gerber drawing of one. I have tried the vali 2 and I want something better

If you can't find a PCB for the Starving Student, maybe consider making a Millet Hybrid MiniMAX instead? The PCB board for that one is still available for sale.

ProtegeManiac · Apr 12, 2017 at 11:29 AM

dackzy said:
there must be other brands than Schiit that makes something that is good in the 400€ price range

Not with tubes. Nor dark sounding.
http://headphone.guru/a-budget-blast-from-germany-meier-audio-corda-jazz-and-jazz-ff/

dulalala said:
There are a lot of Chinese based brands that sell tubes amps, like little dot, though most of them are tubes only and not hybrids AFAIK.

Little Dot 1+
Little Dot MkIII SE

Dackzy · Apr 12, 2017 at 3:11 PM

dulalala said:
There are a lot of Chinese based brands that sell tubes amps, like little dot, though most of them are tubes only and not hybrids AFAIK. You'll have to do a bit of research if you want to know more. I'm not aware of many hybrid tube amps that aren't portable solutions anyways.

If you can't find a PCB for the Starving Student, maybe consider making a Millet Hybrid MiniMAX instead? The PCB board for that one is still available for sale.

I have been looking at the MiniMAX, but I can't seem to find the PCB

Dulalala · Apr 13, 2017 at 12:36 AM

dackzy said:
I have been looking at the MiniMAX, but I can't seem to find the PCB

"There are some cases where products are being sold not only with my permission, but active involvement. The "Millett Hybrid" effort and others at HeadFi are examples (and excellent models of how the DIY community should work, in my opinion). There are other cases where I have asked vendors to sell PCB's as a service to hobbyists. And there are other cases where companies are manufacturing and selling PCB's, chassis, etc. without contacting me at all.
In ALL of these cases, I make no profit from any of the sales. Zero, zip, nada. I have a normal "day job" that pays the bills, this is strictly a hobby with me. So please do not expect me to provide the level of technical support that you might expect when buying a product. I try and help, but it sometimes takes me days - even weeks if I'm traveling for work - to respond."

I quoted this from Millett's website, so I'd assume that if the board isn't for sale anymore, there isn't really a way to get it.

Dackzy · Apr 14, 2017 at 6:29 AM

dulalala said:
"There are some cases where products are being sold not only with my permission, but active involvement. The "Millett Hybrid" effort and others at HeadFi are examples (and excellent models of how the DIY community should work, in my opinion). There are other cases where I have asked vendors to sell PCB's as a service to hobbyists. And there are other cases where companies are manufacturing and selling PCB's, chassis, etc. without contacting me at all.
In ALL of these cases, I make no profit from any of the sales. Zero, zip, nada. I have a normal "day job" that pays the bills, this is strictly a hobby with me. So please do not expect me to provide the level of technical support that you might expect when buying a product. I try and help, but it sometimes takes me days - even weeks if I'm traveling for work - to respond."

I quoted this from Millett's website, so I'd assume that if the board isn't for sale anymore, there isn't really a way to get it.

That is very sad, but I found a Musical Fidelity X-CAN V8P for 200€, not sure if it is worth that much, but it seems like it has decent power behind it even at the lower Ohms.

ProtegeManiac · Apr 14, 2017 at 9:56 AM

dackzy said:
That is very sad, but I found a Musical Fidelity X-CAN V8P for 200€, not sure if it is worth that much....

If it's in very good condition, yes. Get it.

dackzy said:
...but it seems like it has decent power behind it even at the lower Ohms.

It's a hybrid. Only Output Transformerless tube amplifiers have peak output at 300ohms.

USB DAC in blue, preamp tubes in orange, solid state output stage in maroon.

Dackzy · Apr 14, 2017 at 2:19 PM

protegemaniac said:
If it's in very good condition, yes. Get it.

It's a hybrid. Only Output Transformerless tube amplifiers have peak output at 300ohms.

USB DAC in blue, preamp tubes in orange, solid state output stage in maroon.

sweet gonna see if I can't go try it in the next week, probably going to change the tubes. I am most likely not going to use the DAC part, since I got a NFB11 and a R-N500 with a pretty good DAC

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