[Vargtass]

Wonder if any of you could help me with what seems like a hard choice.
Been away from the whole headphones-scene for a while due to not having ANY money.

Just came back now, and the first ting I noticed was that my amp was dead and my Grado RS1s were in dire need of new pads. So going to order up some pads from here and there, but my amp-issue is also imminent.

What should I go for? From what I`ve read lately, tubes are the way to go with the RS1. I never really got the RS1s sounding ok with my previous solid state blueberry amp.

Im listening to alot of different music, but for benchmarking I`ve used Radiohead / Björk for reference when listening to new hardware.

So, any thoughts? My budget is aprox 300usd, but I suppose I could go a little bit over. Any other recommendations for amp would of course be appreciated.

 

[Vargtass]

Today I also stumbled over the Vincent KHV-111 while looking for new pads for my RS1s.
The KVH-111 looks kinda nice, and Ive seen someone here really liking it.
The ability to change volume on separate elements is something I actually felt I would enjoy when I had my previous amp. Could have been that it was somewhat faulty, but still, I like the concept.

Also, I could have the vincent for 230ish USD, with norwegian voltage, guarantee and the hasslefree experience of norwegian customs which adds aprox 1 month and 30-40% price-bump on the item.

I will still consider the darkvoice 336I tho, and I guess Ill try to give some feedback as to what the vincent can do. The shopkeeper was very nice and said for me to come by at any time with loads of cds / records. All he / I needed was 30 mins to let the amp warm. Wonder if its had proper burn-in as well. Hohum. Oh well, time will tell, but the pure fact that it`ll be aprox 100 usd cheaper than littledot / darkvoice, and the fact that I dont really have a good source and wont have one for a while will be a deciding factor.

 

[apatN]

Little Dot amps work better with high impedance amps and iirc the Darkvoice does too. It is in their design (OTL I believe). I don't really like my Alessandros straight from the Little Dot.
I would look into something different. Maybe something hybrid.

 

[Vargtass]

Thats a great piece of info, apatN.
The Vincent is a hybrid, and it seems I can also change the tube for something with more detail if I need that, tho I kind of suspect that the worse the source is, the less "detail" I really want. Don`t really know yet, Ill just wait and see til I can hear the amp.

 

[Vargtass]

Quick update - Listened to the Vincent KHV-111 today. It was NOT burned in more than maybe an hour, and it really sounded like it was brand new. The highs were painful, mids distant and bass ... well .. obscure. What struck me the most was the poor quality of the volumeknobs, though. It really felt like "my first amp" from fischerprice. They were made of cheap plastic and felt horrible to the touch. Needless to say, I walked out of there after 30 minutes, "done" with the Vincent amp.
Currently pondering the darkvoice 336SE. Price seems nice. Dont know if there is anything else I should check out first?