[fmlfml]

Is there any other balance tube amp cheaper than MK VI?? 

 

[Currawong]

A balanced tube amp is usually a single-ended tube amp with a transformer doing the phase splitting. If you mean a fully balanced amp, if one existed, it wouldn't be worth buying, as it would be, essentially, two very cheap amps bridged with who-knows-what compromises to keep the price down.
 
A better question would be to start with what you're aiming for in getting better than what you have now, eg: Better resolution, more power (for harder to drive headphones) or whatnot.

 

[zenpunk]

The MKVI+ is an OTL amp that as been favourably compared to the WA22 and Balancing Act  by few people on here who had the opportunity to listen to them side by side. (can't find the thread again but it is somewhere)
Personaly, I couldn't  care less about being really "balanced" or "differential"  but I can confirm it just sounds superb with all the cans I tried, HE-6, HD700, T1 and JVC DX1000. But be warned about the tube rolling disease...

 

[fmlfml]

Quote:

A balanced tube amp is usually a single-ended tube amp with a transformer doing the phase splitting. If you mean a fully balanced amp, if one existed, it wouldn't be worth buying, as it would be, essentially, two very cheap amps bridged with who-knows-what compromises to keep the price down.
 
A better question would be to start with what you're aiming for in getting better than what you have now, eg: Better resolution, more power (for harder to drive headphones) or whatnot.

 Isn't balanced amp = 4 channel? So some of them are not really a balanced amp?
I am using edition 8 + NFB17 DAC, never have a balanced amp before and want to have a try..
Do you have any suggestions? Should I just go for single ended amp?

 

[fmlfml]

Quote:

The MKVI+ is an OTL amp that as been favourably compared to the WA22 and Balancing Act  by few people on here who had the opportunity to listen to them side by side. (can't find the thread again but it is somewhere)
Personaly, I couldn't  care less about being really "balanced" or "differential"  but I can confirm it just sounds superb with all the cans I tried, HE-6, HD700, T1 and JVC DX1000. But be warned about the tube rolling disease...

I was thinking NFB6 at the beginning, but tube rolling seems to have more fun.

 

[Strangelove424]

I own a Little Dot MKIV upgraded with Mullard M8100 tubes, and it sounds incredible. I also have another set of Russian tubes that brings out detail/airiness befitting an SS amp. The Little Dots can hold their own against other amps quite well in sound quality, and respond well to tube rolling, but it's the PCB construction where the money is saved. For me, the $300 MKIV vs $600 WA3 (w/ pre amp stage) price difference was a no-brainer, but at $700 vs. $1000 the difference shrinks a bit (and that $700 outlay is nothing to scoff at either). I cannot speak on SQ differences between MKVI and WA2, and in my experience a Little Dot amp does sound amazing, but at the prices you are willing to spend keep in mind that the use of point-to-point wiring in the WA2 will make the WA2 far easier to fix should anything go wrong in the future. If there's a PCB failure, you need to send it in to Little Dot to have it fixed. With the WA2, all components are wired directly to each other and thus easier to replace/mod. PCB construction does not hinder sound quality or tone, this is simply a matter of maintenance, but something that should be kept in mind.  
 
MKVI:
 

WA2:
 
 

 
Edit: I thought the WA2 was a balanced amp, but after looking it up on Woo Audio I realized it's not. Sorry about that. The fully balanced WA22 is nearly $2,000, so the price difference is big here as well, but I still think that ease of maintenance should be taken into consideration.