Best portable amp under $100

[chino9334]

I want to buy a portable amp but I don't know which one is best for my budget ($100).
I have come down to these options:
-Super Mini Moy
-PocketAmp v2
-Z-Audio Epsilon
-Cmoy Buffered

Also if you know of any other amps that might be right for me please tell me.

Thanks

 

[Onix]

Check this out:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=103327

Also, look for the last few post on that thread, because it hasn't being updated in a while.

 

[aseltzer144]

I would include in your list the Headsave Go-Vibe. By design, it is an intentionally unbuffered Cmoy derivative. It uses a single opamp driven by a single 9V battery. For under $100 you can get the Go-Vibe and two or three interchangeable opamps.

How it compares with those already on your list is complex and opinionated, but if you search through the threads on Headfi you will find much discussion on the Go-Vibe as well as the others.

 

[cmirza]

I would suggest the Go-Vibe or Pocket Amp 2 v2. I have the Pocket Amp 2 v2 right now, it has really opened up my MS-1s and KSC35s. The Go-Vibe is another good amp. You might want to wait for the new Go-Vibe v3 that will be out before the end of the month. It will be $100 and will come with an aluminum enclosure (opposed to the current Go-Vibe's plastic case). You also get OPA2227 and AD8066 opamps for that price.

 

[fatp3nguin]

Drew's response to a question about the Super Mini Moy's similarities to a CMOY

Quote:

The name was probably a bad choice on my part – when I started out selling headphone amps, they were CMoy circuits, but it didn’t take too long to figure out that the CMoy wasn’t really what I was after. So then I modified the CMoy circuit and started calling the amp the Mini Moy. Around last September or so, I completely redesigned the amplifier, starting from scratch, so it isn’t really a CMoy anymore. I changed the name to “Super Mini Moy” to sort of pay respects to Chu Moy’s original design that I had started with, but it’s kind of caused some confusion. In retrospect, I should have picked a different name. Of course, there are only so many ways that you can put together an opamp-based amplifier, so there are some similarities. In the Super Mini Moy about the only thing in common with Chu Moy’s original design is the three resistor feedback network. Everything else is different. The amplifier has completely separate left and right channels instead of a single, multichannel chip, the output is buffered to handle a much wider range of headphone impedances, the power supply is completely reengineered to deliver much more current and to maintain rigid control over the ground potential. The PCB is a much better layout than the mass of wires of a typical CMoy because the traces on the board are only as long as necessary and the extensive use of ground planes on the board isolate those traces from sources of noise. The extruded aluminum case also shields it from noise and is tougher than nails.

 

[Help]

I wonder if anyone have compared a Super Mini Moy and a Headroom Airhead using like iPod or something like that as a source. I mean for be sure if the $50 does some kind of difference.

I have heard Super Mini Moy, very good, but the Buffered Cmoy, how does it work comparing to it?

Btw, what's the best price that you have seen for a Super Mini Moy?

 

[BPRJam]

I don't know why the MINT isn't being mentioned. In my opinion, it is better than anything mentioned in this thread, except for the Z-Audio Epsilon, which I haven't heard.

But, alas, this is probably why I mostly lurk in the DIY section.

BPRJam