[MusicallySilent]

150USD is the MAX and I would prefer not to reach it.

I am hoping this might be my final thread about this...

Musical Tastes
Classical, Country, Light rock (no metal), Opera (Andrea Bocelli), Rock Classical (Rock music played on classical instruments Bond Apocalyptica (its kinda like metal i just dont like the screaming and whatnot) and the like), Instrumental Music, Soundtracks, No: Rap or metal

Ok I am looking for a desktop amp that isnt portable that has everything needed to run (power supply circuit etc. the adapter doesnt need to be included though ) for around 100 dollars

I am looking for a long durable amp that will be able to play for a couple hours a day for over a year or 2 without breaking two serverly (aka explosion not a resistor or something dying (that might be really hard to trouble shoot though))

Ok I am buying IEMS now but if i get an amp i will probably pick up a mid range sennhesier headphone [like 555 or something else that fits my musical tastes if you think im heading in the wrong direction (i wear glasses so it must be comfortable)]

I would like this amp to have good synergy with senns and possibly with a future pair of headphones [most likely future brands for me, AKG, Grado, Beyer and when i get my next set of headphones it will be around 200 dollar mark instead]

A few amps i was thinking of as according to that headwize thread
http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php...d=6339&fpage=1

The amps are as according to the headwise thread
http://headwize.com/ubb/showpage.php...d=6339&fpage=1

1. Millet Hybrid Max (At 150 it is pushing it)
2. Highly modified and "souped" up CMOY hitting around 75-100 dollar range would probably try to build in portable case
3. Pimeta with a few upgrades hitting around 100-125 dollar range
4. Maybe a DAC of some sort if they are cheap enough

 

[threEchelon]

Why don't you increase your home amp budget to include the Millet Max and decrease your portable budget?

 

[MusicallySilent]

I am trying to build a home amp... its just in the case of the CMOY that if i can make it portable i will...

 

[threEchelon]

Oh. My bad.

In that case, save up for the Millet.

 

[heatmizer]

CK²III

http://www.amb.org/audio/ck2/

soha

http://headwize.com/projects/cavalli2_prj.php

 

[MusicallySilent]

The Soha looks ok because i have heard lots of good things about the tube amps in general.. it is also only 50 bucks in parts so i could also build a cmoy if i wanted to

 

[MusicallySilent]

Any other thoughts on amps?

I might think about building two amps if i can fit them in the price range because then i have to different sound qualities

 

[dBel84]

Here is a populated SOHA to consider - would be hard to beat the price considering shipping from various vendors etc, but actually casing it up etc will require the rest of your budget. It will be a very good starting point for you and introduce you to tubes

, an addiction in itself..dB

 

[daveip]

SOHA sounds great and parts aren't too expensive. killer bit is, as dBel said, in all the other bits like casing it up and the power sockets, toroid and slowly costs add up. doable for under $100 but just have to choose components carefully i guess.

last option, blow both budgets on building a pimeta, choose the case carefully to allow it to fit 2x9V batteries in there and add a charging circuit. kablammo! portable and desktop? but then i guess you'd have to look at how "portable" it is. it won't be "pocket" sized.

p.s. have you considered a MisterX XP amp for portable use? i think they're around $100?

 

[pddjsteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveip /img/forum/go_quote.gif SOHA sounds great and parts aren't too expensive. killer bit is, as dBel said, in all the other bits like casing it up and the power sockets, toroid and slowly costs add up. doable for under $100 but just have to choose components carefully i guess.

JRossel has a kit for ~$90ish that includes pretty much everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveip /img/forum/go_quote.gif last option, blow both budgets on building a pimeta, choose the case carefully to allow it to fit 2x9V batteries in there and add a charging circuit. kablammo! portable and desktop? but then i guess you'd have to look at how "portable" it is. it won't be "pocket" sized.

A pimeta with 2x9v and a charging circuit fits nicely in a Hammond 1455J120x case, there was a thread on trickle chargers and Tomb had a couple of nice pictures. I'm pretty sure you could make one for less than $100 (depending on selection of parts).

 

[tomb]

Yes - thanks for the mention - I really love the PIMETA in a portable/charger configuration.

That said, the best thing at the moment - if you can stand a little SOIC-8 soldering, would be Amb's V2 of the Mini3. It looks within a few weeks of protoype/production. Mini³ v2: A portable headphone amplifier

 

[MusicallySilent]

The mini3 looks ok what do you mean by SOIC-8 soldering im not really sure what you are talking about

How much is a Mini3 amp? because if it is cheap enough i can build a budget soha and a budget mini3 for portable use and then upgrade parts here and there

 

[balou]

Costs are most likely on par with a basic pimeta. So I'd say about 75$. Most expensive thing is probably the very nice alu case

SOIC-8 are a chip packages, a bit smaller than the 'standard' DIP-8 packages. They are a bit harder to solder than DIP8, every of the eight leads is just 0.5mm wide. But except the two chips, everything is in easy to solder through hole technology

 

[MusicallySilent]

What would sound better trying to stuff in a somewhat portable and also be smaller a mini3 or a pimeta.... the problem is stuffing it in a case as i will probably build a soha for at home if they sound good

 

[daveip]

you're not really going to get an amp much smaller than a Mini^3 or the XP amp or something like the XM4.

only thing that i can think of that might be possible to make smaller is a MINT/PINT. but you can't get them anymore. the hammond case for the Mini^3 is pretty much the smallest and sleekest case for a portable.