[scottpaul_iu]

I am looking to get a new headphone amp. I have researched quite a few amps. I have run into this AVA preamp a few times, but have never heard too much about it.

Here is a snippet from a review from audioasylum:

"The real surprise was the headphone amp, which in most units is decent, but little more than an afterthought. Not this one...this headphone amp ROCKS! It has the same liquid and grainless quality that my OTL EarMax has, but it can play a LOT louder, a lot deeper, and a lot cleaner. I tried to get it to clip or distort, and could not do so. My BRAIN was imploding with the wonderful sound of Led Zeppelin subjectively at 110db plus, and there was not a hint of strain. You could hurt yourself with this thing! My only minor quibble is, the separation is so good that with older ping pong stereo recordings, you don't get any centerfill inside your head. Flicking the mono switch rectifies this.
In conclusion, this is the most utterly satisfying full function preamp I've ever owned, and is WELL worth the price of admission, and then some. I think Mr. Van Alstine really has succeeded in combining the strengths of tubes and solid state; it's not just hype. I'm not going to say it betters anything around 2k out there, because I haven't heard everything around 2k out there. But I'd be very surprised if anything near that price could beat it. Try to get past the utilitarian looks. I think Mr. Van Alstine has his priorities straight. His components are fancy on the inside, rather than the outside, and are well worth looking into."

Does anyone have any info or thoughts on this amp?

 

[Hirsch]

I've seen the van Alstine's but haven't heard them. I'd love to hear comments from someone who has. Whenever I see their home page, I keep thinking that if they got it right, someone has made a better Melos already, but nobody knows about it

 

[rohorn]

Until fairly recently, they sold a headphone amp kit (versa-kit, or some such thing). They also sell Grado 225's at a good price, or at least they used to.

As a result, I'm guessing that headphone sound is actually important to them.

But to answer your question, sorry, I haven't listened to anything of theirs. I should have downloaded that page and kept the schematic....

 

[zimmer]

I have no personal experience with this model but here is a link where someone connected with the company talks about the product. Yeah, thats me asking about driving K1000s.


http://audiocircle.com/circles/viewt...3778a485e57772

 

[scottpaul_iu]

Quote:

Originally posted by zimmer I have no personal experience with this model but here is a link where someone connected with the company talks about the product. Yeah, thats me asking about driving K1000s. http://audiocircle.com/circles/viewt...3778a485e57772

Thanks for the link. That is helpful.

 

[dustinyo]

i might have to go check these guys out, they are located about 20 minutes from me.

i've heard of this place, but i didn't know they had a headphone amp.

i've heard many many great things about the DAC they make though.

 

[rickcr42]

the versakit headphone amp is maybe the earliest commercial amp using an opamp and buffer

it was called the "versakit" due to the many uses for the same kit according to how you configured it

headphone amp

line driver/buffer

impedance matching for tube preamp to SS amp

RIAA phono preamp

bridging amp

and the plans are available in the AVA magazine archives