[Cortlendt]

There is a lot of info on the subject on internet, however it is very fragmented. I have an inventory of planar magnetic headphones - HE-400i, modded Fostex T50RP, Audeze EL-8C (updated rev). For endgame I want to get at some point MrSpeakers Aeon or Ether Flow closed.

I want to upgrade my office rig to Topping D50 + amp, but cannot decide on the amp. Ideally I want to play with tube rolling and have some kind of "tubey sound". But I only have planars, and they don't seem to go well with tube amps.

My budget is ~$250 ideally or can go up to 400+ (not ideally ofc). I'm considering:

Darkvoice 336se
Massdrop Cavalli Hybrid
Schiit Valhalla 2
Schiit Lyr 2

Is this a good idea or should I just go for solid state amp and that's it?

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Check out the Elemental Watson V2 too

 

[Cortlendt]

Check out the Elemental Watson V2 too

It seems nice, but for office I'd like something in the enclosed casing.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I want to upgrade my office rig to Topping D50 + amp, but cannot decide on the amp. Ideally I want to play with tube rolling and have some kind of "tubey sound". But I only have planars, and they don't seem to go well with tube amps.

That's only really true for OTL amplifiers since they're biased for voltage and produce the most power at 300ohms. The current performance is low enough that the power output at 600ohms is much higehr than at 32ohms, or even at 150ohms in some of them. And then there's the high output impedance. That doesn't impact planars as much but when you're starting with a 100+ ohm output impedance you're already higher than the headphone's nominal impedance.

You can use a full tube amp but it has to be a transformer coupled design like the WooAudio WA6. Problem is, most transformer coupled amps don't sound "tubey" enough for some people since engineers tend to just aim for an objectively cleaner response, but you can always swap out the rectifier tube.

My budget is ~$250 ideally or can go up to 400+ (not ideally ofc).

You're basically restricted to using only hybrids. Apart from the WA6 the only cheaper transformer coupled amps are the Little Dot Mk9 and this no name amp on eBay that uses a Shanling chassis that looks like Meier amps from ten years ago.

Darkvoice 336se
Massdrop Cavalli Hybrid
Schiit Valhalla 2
Schiit Lyr 2

Valhalla and DV36se are OTL. The Valhalla2 just happens to have a low output impedance when on low gain mode but you still get lower power output, and even its low output impedance is still 40ohms.

Safest bet would be the Cavalli or the Schiit, but with 9watts into 16ohms, the Lyr3 will drive pretty much anything other than electrostats.

It seems nice, but for office I'd like something in the enclosed casing.

Pangea HP101. But you can forget fast tube rolling on that since you have to take the amp apart to get to the tube enclosed in the case. And you can fry an egg on it, although I imagine you'd be in a colder environment than I am.

 

[PaganDL]

Hi @Cortlendt,

I suggest considering the Loxjie P20, this tube amp works well with Planars.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[atarione]

someone please correct me if I am mistaken but I thought the advice was to avoid tubes with planar / the T50RP in general?

that said.. I have T50RPs and my DV336SE with RCA 6SN7GT and RCA 6AS7G seem fine together to me.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

someone please correct me if I am mistaken but I thought the advice was to avoid tubes with planar / the T50RP in general?

Only OTL amps for low impedance, especially dynamic driver, headphones, which, like I said, have very high output impedance and have low power output with very high distortion (on top of low damping factor) at low impedance loads.

At 98dB/1mW the T50RP doesn't really need more than 256mW, but it's still a little short, and then there's the distortion.

that said.. I have T50RPs and my DV336SE with RCA 6SN7GT and RCA 6AS7G seem fine together to me.

It's fine for you subjectively, ie, you happen to like the distortion of the DV336se at low impedance loads along with the lowered damping factor. Grados get a low end boost on most OTLs too despite their low impedance, and like the T5RP, have high sensitivity so that at least lets them get to a satisfying loudness without as much difficulty. Past that it's only a matter of whether the high distortion levels are pleasing to the listener, as well as gambling in some cases. The K701 and HE4 sound like tin cans out of some OTLs, which, if just counting the ones I tried, would be all of them.

The recommendations against them are made from an objective standpoint where the goal is to hear the headphone without the amp coloring it.

Think of it like a car. It's like if you like an old, tail-swagging 911 because it feels more agile than, say, a mid-engine NSX that feels like it understeers by comparison, even though the NSX might actually get around the track faster, and it isn't by brute engine force at the straights.

 

[Brooklyn70]

Does anyone have time in with the LittleDot LD H1 Tube Hybrid Amplifier. If so let me know what ya think