[Spoon Wrangler]

I have finally narrowed down my search for a new headphone amp! Unfortunately, I am now super stuck. The Bada PH-12, Darkvoice 337 or 332, and the Woo Audio 6 are all highly acclaimed, around the same pricepoint, and recommended for the K701 (the only phones I'll be listening to).

PLEASE someone help me! If you have listened to and compared these amps, lend me a hand in my final decision. I like a balanced sound, but I want some tubey life and warmth injected into the occasionally sterile K701s. My source is the CIaudio VDA-2 with the matching power supply. Also, please do not recommend any other amps!

Thanks for your comments!

 

[jgonino]

I will tell you that both myself, pataburd, and rednamalas use the Bada with the K701. I think I speak for all of us when I say it is a really good combo.

I have heard that the WA6 cannot drive them well. One user said he needed to put the volume up really high.

 

[takezo]

the wa6 drives the 701 fine actually. my guess with others that have volume or
gain issue is that they are dealing with source output level...the vda2 with vac1
outputs 2.25 vRMS and will give full volume with the wa6 at around the 11 o'clock level.
you can go balanced with channel island vda2 and those output 4 vRmS...

ideally, you'd want to listen to all 3 amps personally and decide for yourself
cause we all hear and appreciate sonic characteristics differently...

 

[Tech2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgonino /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will tell you that both myself, pataburd, and rednamalas use the Bada with the K701. I think I speak for all of us when I say it is a really good combo. I have heard that the WA6 cannot drive them well. One user said he needed to put the volume up really high.

I'm pretty sure that the problem was that his source was outputting a signal that was too low, and "source material that's recorded at lower levels" which required the volume to be maxed out. This is the thread, and you will also find many satisfied users of this same combination in the same thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/akg...do-job-290553/

 

[jgonino]

Ah, I guess that solves that. I have noticed my PC has a lot lower volume output than my CDP. Maybe I need to get a DAC.

 

[aaron313]

PH-12 is good... until you blow a MOSFET. I used my amp for perhaps ten minutes before it inexplicably blew. I would advise you go another route so as to avoid this extreme inconvenience; it's not worth it.

 

[shellylh]

I had the DV332 and found it heavenly with the K701!!! I would highly recommend that combo. Also, get some tubes (the stock ones are not good). I suggest getting the WE 302Bs for the power tubes (they are really cheap). You can read all about the DV332 in one of the threads here. The ONLY reason I sold it was that I got a Singlepower Extreme and didn't need two tube amps. I was extremely happy with the DV332!!!

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

My vote goes to the DV332. Tube rolling options are quite good as compared with the other amps on your list.

 

[Spoon Wrangler]

Thanks everyone for the advice! As appealing as the Bada seems, I wouldn't have any idea what to do if I blew a mosfet, mostly because I don't know what a mosfet is

. Also, the DV337 is soooo much more expensive than the DV332 that I don't think it warrants the cost. I would like to listen to these myself, but I don't know how. I'm not familiar with buying or selling things on Headfi. (confession: I'm 16)

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgonino /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will tell you that both myself, pataburd, and rednamalas use the Bada with the K701. I think I speak for all of us when I say it is a really good combo.

Yup. there we go.

Only downside is that PH-12 comes with cheap ish tubes so you might want to upgrade those.

as for mosfet blowing - just dont roll tubes within 6 hrs of last operation and dont move it around when it's on.

 

[Spoon Wrangler]

Could you point me in the direction of some relatively inexpensive replacement tubes for the Bada? I've heard of people using tubes that are twice the price of the amp itself.

 

[Onkyo]

Hi everybody.
To tell some truth about Darkvoice amps...
Well first of all, they cost ~$50 to manufacture. If you look at the inside components it becomes obvious. Using one tube to drive both channels with one volume comntrol is wrong from the beginning for a tube amp. The power tube it uses... don't even start. A little hint: buy 20 of these tubes, burn them all for about 100 hours, keep the one that "changes" the less after 50 hours.
And for the grand finale the hot glue that appears everywhere.

 

[aaron313]

I suppose if you're going to buy the PH-12, get it from Pacific Valve, since you get the warranty. Also, the MOSFET problem, I believe, has been fixed on the newer models. The ones from China are still problematic.

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoon Wrangler /img/forum/go_quote.gif Could you point me in the direction of some relatively inexpensive replacement tubes for the Bada? I've heard of people using tubes that are twice the price of the amp itself.

PM patabird - he's a guru with ph-12 tubes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron313 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I suppose if you're going to buy the PH-12, get it from Pacific Valve, since you get the warranty. Also, the MOSFET problem, I believe, has been fixed on the newer models. The ones from China are still problematic.

PH-12 that jgonino selling in FS forum still has warranties included in it. and it's 430$

 

[djork]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onkyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi everybody. To tell some truth about Darkvoice amps... Well first of all, they cost ~$50 to manufacture. If you look at the inside components it becomes obvious. Using one tube to drive both channels with one volume comntrol is wrong from the beginning for a tube amp. The power tube it uses... don't even start. A little hint: buy 20 of these tubes, burn them all for about 100 hours, keep the one that "changes" the less after 50 hours. And for the grand finale the hot glue that appears everywhere.

Sure, even if it costs 50 to manufacture, think about the manpower behind the all the processes. not many people has the technical ability to do it themselves. IMO, there are more expensive stuff out there, and some people can't hear the difference, so don't gauge a product's performance and simply on the cost of manufacture.