[Jasper9395]

Hi I am looking for a new headphone amp. I will be pairing it with a HD650 and my Yulong D18 DAC I also require a preamp as I would like to use it in my speaker system. I have already looked at the following options but feel free to add more if you like. I am also very interested in DIY so I am open to DIY suggestions. I would also prefer tubes over solid state. I am currently leaning toward the Little Dot MK IV because of its price and because I would be able to do a bit of tweaking to it. I have also been looking at the bottle head crack but unfortunately it lacks a pre-amp option. From what I understand you can use it as one but it would not be optimal in this role. 
 
Woo Audio WA3 $620
Little Dot MK IV $309 and the SE version $409
Nu Force HAP-100 $595
Schiit LYR (has an output but its not strictly a preamp right?) $449
Audiio gd SA-31 $499

 

[HeroicPenguin]

I'm definitely curious about this question too actually.
 
I thought that the Woo WA6 with the pre-amp option (additional $130) might be a good option, which is what I'm leaning towards.

 

[PleasantSounds]

You may be interested in the Project Sunrise II - it's a DIY tube amp/preamp which should go very well with the HD650. Sells on ebay for just over $200.

 

[Jasper9395]

The Project Sunrise II looks very interesting, any idea about how it sounds?
 

 

[PleasantSounds]

At this stage I'm considering getting one, so no direct experience yet.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

the bottlehead crack is another great DIY that is very popular with HD 650s, comparable to the WA3.

 

[Jasper9395]

Yup, I but how would you use it as a pre amp? Of course you can just use the headphone out but I am not sure what changes have would have to be made to it to preform the task properly.