[smodtactical]

As the title says, this thread is dedicated to ultra thick, lush and rich tube headphone amps at any price. Ideally its an amp you really enjoyed. Feel free to share the headphone you liked it with.

 

[whitefang]

EAR HP4.
but the sound is so colored that it could be hit or miss depending on your headphone.
It sound best with my W3000ANV.
Loved the combo so much, unfortunately both are sold when I quit the hobby years ago.

 

[Haidar]

Could you describe how the EAR HP4's coloration sounded to you?
I haven't had the chance to listen to one yet.

 

[Yesthereisgasinthecar]

Not trendy or chic. To concentrate at work I listen to mostly non-vocal jazz and classical. I picked up a new Dark Voice SE, did a quick, non-focused, search for any aftermarket tube while awaiting delivery. Tossed them in, let it burn in for 72 hours, and it has been my work-desk rig ever since. I run a Hugo 2 through the DV into a set of Focal Clears and it is an amazing experience. Hard for others to relate to, but I liken it the sound of listening to 8-tracks on my parents old hifi system as a kid; warm and woody. FWIW, I also have a few hybrid amps. No doubt they are stellar performers and great for variety. But not the same in the context of this thread topic.

 

[skhan007]

Subscribed- Looking forward to reading all the suggestions.

 

[whitefang]

Could you describe how the EAR HP4's coloration sounded to you?
I haven't had the chance to listen to one yet.

First I have to say it is pretty responsive to tube rolling, and I have the 6SU7GTY amp on them IIRC.

The whole spectrum of sound is pretty colored with the HP4. Best part is from the vocals to mid-high. The sound is very forward and sweet, yet it does not sound veiled or grainy at all, extremely smooth, it is ethereal.
I also love the piano sound from the HP4, every note is crisp and detailed with the euphonic sweetness.
The magic is that it colors the sound without sacrificing the imaging and transience.

However it comes with a major weakness which is the lows, and it doesn't seems to be fixable with tube rolling.
The lows totally lacks definition and sometimes are even emphasized, and you would get a wave for distorted, muddy low frequency from bassy recordings.
The TH900 has a bass bump which sounded pretty bad with HP4, also most planars that has very good bass response are also completely destroyed by that.

Anyway I still miss that sound, I have never heard anything alike, and it is not replicable with any EQ. And all my friends and relative(non-audiophile) are impressed by HP4 the most over my other gear.
My cousin even cried listening to a song(forgot what is that), she say it is so touching that the vocal hits her heart.

I am sure the amp would measure horribly, like really horribly.
it just shows that measured technical performance vs musical enjoyment level has little or no correlation.

Happen to find this old pic of my system.