Madhouse tungsten Amping thread.

[orbilius]

I want some suggestions, thoughts, opinion and general sentiment of what amps might be good for Modhouse tungsten. I'm currently using the Cayin IHA6, which for the most part feels like it's doing the job. I'm not specifically after buying advice, but if a recommendation is cheap and the item of said price is quality enough, I might give it a shot. So if you think you could make an impression give it a shot!

It looks like the amp you have is well suited to the task for all but ear splitting listening levels.

 

[Nayyte]

I saw this thread title and I thought it was funny so I'll throw my hat in as well. I'm not a tungsten owner, but I have had the chance to hear a friend's at a meet with my own gear chain. Everything said previously here is true but to an extent.

For tungsten speaker amps are not necessarily a perfect idea. Why? Because these amps were designed to drive 2-16ohm loads on average. Adding converter boxes will work to get the ohms right but it's also adding clutter to the chain which hurts the clarity somewhat. Not to mention your shoving a giant amp on your desk! So if you must do this than be prepared to make these sacrifices.

I'm no amp designer, but I have the privilege of owning a one of a kind tube amp that can drive tungstens with ease. The amp I have is a transformer coupled parafeed amp that has high voltage dissipation and a very clean output. The amp is based off the Papa Rusa amp design and it sounds excellent. Anyways this amp can push around 870mW in to the 155ohm tungsten without audibly distorting. Add a good clean DAC to the chain and you can have an excellent sound. When I tested it I was comfortable listening around the 1oclock zone on the dial. Usually with other headphones I float below 9oclock so you know the tungsten is power hungry.

Overall my advice would be to 1. Make sure you have a well designed DAC without a loud noise floor when cranking the volume to max with nothing playing. 2. Look for headamps that have high quality parts as this will all effect noise floor overall. 3. I wouldn't mess with any amp that can't get as high as 500mW at 155ohm.