Moon Audio version, Dragon Inspire IHA-1

[johncarm]

Can someone point me to reviews of this amp? I found a thread here for the non-dragon version but I'm interested in reviews of the latest model available from Moon Audio. If there is an existing thread somewhere please merge this.

 

[vo_obgyn]

Scroll down at this link (see "Press and Reviews"):

https://www.moon-audio.com/products/dragon-inspire-iha-1-tube-headphone-amp?fastr=true

 

[Deleeh]

It's actually not a bad amplifier.
6SN7 have unfortunately become a bit expensive in the Nos range, if you can live with it.
I'm not 100% sure but the previous models were susceptible to noise, including wifi, smartphones.
Which is normal up to a certain point.
That put me off the actual purchase a bit when I live in Europe I'm all there.
That's why I left it, but what else I read was mostly very good.
There have always been revisions, so it's quite possible that it's working perfectly today.

 

[johncarm]

Scroll down at this link (see "Press and Reviews"):

https://www.moon-audio.com/products/dragon-inspire-iha-1-tube-headphone-amp?fastr=true

Thanks, I read the reviews for the links that still worked. I also read some reviews for the previous, non-dragon version. Although it could be that due to revisions some of these reviews don't apply, I think I might skip buying it, because the reviews mention things like purity of tone, but not a single mention of PRaT or dynamics, two of my most important qualities in an amp. One review said it lacked bass impact, which is also a deal breaker.

What's your experience with the amp Deleeh, besides the noise?

I have very good power conditioning here, which helps a lot, but my roommates run so many devices including a wifi mesh, that the noise might become a problem. At last count there are 70 switching power supplies plugged into this apartment. I can keep SMPS's off my system circuit, and I have very good distributed parallel capacitance power conditioning, optimized for sound, and my system noise floor is low with most equipment.

 

[Deleeh]

I can't say much about the dragon.
But it was interesting for me.
But the reviews from back then put me off buying it.
Today I pay more attention to the tube design.
That's more important to me because I don't want to buy an amplifier where the tube prices are so unaffordable.
If the design is good and the tube availability is good, it's an option.
The rest like performance ect is rather behind.
It depends on what headphones you want to drive and what is necessary.
An alternative is the Cayin 3A or the smaller model.
Various custom builds and of course everything depends on the budget.

 

[johncarm]

I can't say much about the dragon.
But it was interesting for me.
But the reviews from back then put me off buying it.
Today I pay more attention to the tube design.
That's more important to me because I don't want to buy an amplifier where the tube prices are so unaffordable.
If the design is good and the tube availability is good, it's an option.
The rest like performance ect is rather behind.
It depends on what headphones you want to drive and what is necessary.
An alternative is the Cayin 3A or the smaller model.
Various custom builds and of course everything depends on the budget.

My budget is approximately $2000 but I would like to pay less if I can. Any suggestions welcome.

I may end up paying much less than that. A friend gave me (for free!) a WA6-SE I'm just waiting for tubes for it to see how it sounds. It's a very early model and needs a modification to enable it to use a greater variety of tubes (available cheap on EBay) so I will probably purchase that modification if I end up going with this amp.

Mike

 

[Deleeh]

My budget is approximately $2000 but I would like to pay less if I can. Any suggestions welcome.

I may end up paying much less than that. A friend gave me (for free!) a WA6-SE I'm just waiting for tubes for it to see how it sounds. It's a very early model and needs a modification to enable it to use a greater variety of tubes (available cheap on EBay) so I will probably purchase that modification if I end up going with this amp.

Mike

Hello,
I see, which headphones are you using?
To help you better.
Because planar headphones work better with set based amplifiers than with an OTL amplifier, as the more set amplifiers have more power for planar headphones.
By the way, the Wa6 is an Otl but also very popular, especially on the US side.
And also not necessarily wrong if the price is right for a used one.
There are some other amplifiers like Cayin ha 3A,ha 2a,Icon Audio Hp8 works very well with high output headphones.
Some of them can be used with planar headphones.
Eufonika H5 would be an OTL amplifier that is good for beginners and not too expensive.
Feliks Echo is also a small OTL amplifier that is very solid and not expensive.
Alternatively, there are Chinese amplifiers from Xudoo which are ideal for a taster and keep the budget low.

 

[johncarm]

Hello,
I see, which headphones are you using?
To help you better.
Because planar headphones work better with set based amplifiers than with an OTL amplifier, as the more set amplifiers have more power for planar headphones.
By the way, the Wa6 is an Otl but also very popular, especially on the US side.
And also not necessarily wrong if the price is right for a used one.
There are some other amplifiers like Cayin ha 3A,ha 2a,Icon Audio Hp8 works very well with high output headphones.
Some of them can be used with planar headphones.
Eufonika H5 would be an OTL amplifier that is good for beginners and not too expensive.
Feliks Echo is also a small OTL amplifier that is very solid and not expensive.
Alternatively, there are Chinese amplifiers from Xudoo which are ideal for a taster and keep the budget low.

I'm using the AKG K712, LCD-2 classic, and LCD-X 2021 revision.

Are you sure the WA6 is OTL? It's got two transformers on it in addition to the power transformer.

 

[Deleeh]

I'm using the AKG K712, LCD-2 classic, and LCD-X 2021 revision.

Are you sure the WA6 is OTL? It's got two transformers on it in addition to the power transformer.

If it is this then it is a set amplifier, sorry my mistake.
Got that. I've mixed up the Ldell.
https://wooaudio.com/amplifiers/wa6
The headphones you have should be able to be driven with it, even high impedance dynamic headphones.
If the price is good from your friend then it's a good amp to get.
You won't find anything better without breaking the budget or getting something that is budget limited but not what you are looking for.
I would give the Wa 6 a chance and then judge.