[Floodge]

Looking for recommendations for a tube amp that pairs well with grados (I have an sr80 and sr325i) I've heard the melos sha1 is very nice, but Im not quite up to date on my head-fi.

Price under 250-300 USD, but any reasonable recommendation is appreciated.

(Using computer as source if that helps)

thanks

 

[Planar_head]

Just a couple of suggestions:

Little Dot I+

I would suggest putting the rest of the money into buying a good DAC.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Indeed, I've tried a few tube amps during my time here, and the Little Dot I+ is simply the best bang-for-buck (tube) amp when it comes to driving Grados.

 

[kugino]

the melos gets many plaudits around here...you might also want to check out the MAD ear+ purist HD.

 

[olblueyez]

Mule has a point, a Hybrid is your best bet unless your willing to spend a fortune.

 

[Uncle Erik]

The Melos is excellent with Grados. There's usually one or two in the For Sale Forum at any time. A little over your budget and it needs work, but there's a Singlepower PPX3-6SN7 going for $450 the last time I checked. I really liked the PPX3 with Grados when I had one. The one listed had its volume pot disconnected, but that's just a matter of resoldering about six wires. Not difficult and the price is a steal. I also though the Eddie Current Lunchbox did a good job of driving Grados.

 

[tke398]

I owned a Melos Sha1 back in the day with Grado sr225's. From what I remember, it was a great sounding combo and I swore that I would never sell the Melos, but I did. The Melos used Grado cable for it's internal wiring, so it made sense to purchase the Grados. At the time I was using a Pioneer Elite PD-65 with Tara Labs RSC interconnects.

After several years, I decided to look for another Melos Sha1, but came across the Little Dot mkIII. I wish I had both to compare side by side, but the mkIII seems a bit brighter to me. When playing my normal favorites, my ears want to close. I do want to point out that I now have Grado sr325i and the mkIII only has about 125 hours of burn in. Now I use a laptop running Foobar 2000 to an iBasso D3 with the Tara Labs cable and the mkIII, so a lot has changed and I can't say for sure what is causing the brightness since I bought everything within a short period of time.

I'm going to order new tubes for the mkIII to see if I can get the sound a little more laid back.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

I think the Little Dot I+ was designed specifically to maximize performance with low imepdence headphones like Grados. With the amazingly wide variety of tube rolling options on the LD I+ you really can't go wrong with the amp, if you're not completely satisfied with the sound you can always tube roll to tune the amp to your exact preference.

- DoA

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tke398 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Melos used Grado cable for it's internal wiring

No it does, it uses 20awg silver plated copper.

It's also not a "tube amp", it's a tube hybrid.

 

[Tapiozona]

Not to hijack this thread but figured I'd post my question here as it's somewhat related. I'm looking to get a tube amp for my D2000's which are also low impedance and at this point pretty much have it narrowed down to a Little Dot amp. My question is.
What's the difference between the Little Dot I+ and II++? Seems like the I+ is specifically made for low impedance headphones but according to the specs it also seems like the II++ thrives with them as well?

Would one be better than the other for my purposes? The II++ seems like it can drive a nice range of impedance headphones incase I change my cans in the future but I'm more worried about which of the two would work best with my current ones, and why.
Thanks

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif No it does, it uses 20awg silver plated copper.

That is dependent on when it was made. None of the melos's I have poked around in have used Grado wire although it was touted as a feature for quite some time.
Quote:

It's also not a "tube amp", it's a tube hybrid.

aah, but the output stage is a simple jfet/mosfet in emitter follower configuration which is a first cousin (maybe child) of a cathode follower. Mosfets are FAR closer to triodes than other SS parts.

The melos has a nice tubey sound, and mates well with grados.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tapiozona /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to hijack this thread but figured I'd post my question here as it's somewhat related. I'm looking to get a tube amp for my D2000's which are also low impedance and at this point pretty much have it narrowed down to a Little Dot amp. My question is. What's the difference between the Little Dot I+ and II++? Seems like the I+ is specifically made for low impedance headphones but according to the specs it also seems like the II++ thrives with them as well? Would one be better than the other for my purposes? The II++ seems like it can drive a nice range of impedance headphones incase I change my cans in the future but I'm more worried about which of the two would work best with my current ones, and why. Thanks

This thread might help http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/lis...t-amps-355789/

- DoA

 

[mrarroyo]

For Grado an used Mapletree Ear + would be my choice. Sometimes you can pick an used one for under $400. Make sure it is the one using the 12B4A as the power tube.

 

[Floodge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Planar_head /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just a couple of suggestions: Little Dot I+ I would suggest putting the rest of the money into buying a good DAC.

Perfect!

Which DAC would be good to pair with it?

Also what cables will I need to run all of these? (Coming from an audio out on a soundcard)

 

[Planar_head]

What soundcard do you have?