[chrisjsmith11]

Hi all.

A 10-year-lurker, and Audiophile for about 20 years here.

I'll keep it brief, looking for some input from people that have experienced multiple headphone valve amps.

Just ordered some Drop 6XX cans, should be here in a few weeks.
I feel like giving them a present - I've always loved valve amps, and why not get a head-valve amp.

My current shortlist -
Figaro 339 (someone's selling one here for about £530)
Eufonika H7 - only £300 delivered new. Bargain.
Laconic NBM. - imported, probably £800 all in. - A lot more, but is it 2.5 x the amp?

There's quite a price range there - wondered about the laws of diminishing returns, and if there's something obvious I've missed. Don't have the skills to build a bottlehead, which I know is an obvious choice.

Side note.
Some people (I think) change the 6xx to ''balanced''. Is it just to take advantage of the hotter signal from the amp (because it's a difficult load) and balanced signals tend to be hotter?...and is it a big job?

 

[chrisjsmith11]

also found a Feliks Espressivo 2 second hand for £400.

.... I'm wondering if anyone has actually heard all these back-to-back anyway (?)

 

[kvik]

Your pricing suggests you are in the UK, you might want to check intially, if the sellers/dealers/manufacturers are actually willing to ship to UK. Rules and procedures follwing Brexit have made things more complicated shippingwise.

 

[kvik]

If you decide to limit the search to UK, World Designs HD3S is worth considering. It's output-transformercoupled, so versatile in terms of matching different headphones (in case you have more).

 

[CJG888]

I think you might enjoy the WBA Tzar. Just a hunch...

 

[chrisjsmith11]

there's one of those WBA amps available locally. a virtus-01. (£500). Any good?

 

[kvik]

Yes, I think it will be very good, it is their TOTL-offer. There are a few online reviews (a polish webzine has one translated into english), and some general wba talk on a polish forum.

 

[CJG888]

Presumably it’s the KT-88 version. That looks like a very good price!

 

[chrisjsmith11]

its the kt120 one.
just realises how expensive KT120's are :O
It takes kt88s aswell.

Im a bit nervous about plugging my head into an amp with no output transformers, and valve bases directly soldered onto a PCB.
what could possibly go wrong?
unfortunately I am not uncle fester....

 

[CJG888]

its the kt120 one.
just realises how expensive KT120's are :O
It takes kt88s aswell.

Im a bit nervous about plugging my head into an amp with no output transformers, and valve bases directly soldered onto a PCB.
what could possibly go wrong?
unfortunately I am not uncle fester....

Have you checked Watford Valves? They have Tung-Sol KT-120s at about £38 a pop...

For output tubes that is NOT expensive!

 

[kvik]

Other transformercoupled designs: Maybe the Hagerman Tuba? Or one of the amps from Tor Audio? Or perhaps Shortest Way 51 (Laconic Lab inspired)? Or the HDP 600 from Dominance Amps?

Hagerman and Tor has dedicated threads on this site, SW51 elsewhere, and HDP is more or less unknown.