pcyeh
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2002
- Posts
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After one week of work, I finally finished Mr. Millett's hybrid headphone amp. Here are the prictures of the amp:
This circuit of this amp is designed by Mr. Millett, the owner of Wheatfield audio. He published his design on Audio Xpress and the main purpose is to give new DIYers some easy project to work on. The schematic can also be found on his site:
http://www.pmillett.addr.com/hybrid_head.htm. This is indeed a really nice and easy-to-follow project. Mr. Millett listed the part number, vendor of all the parts required in the project which makes it very easy to build the amp. You don't have to worry about what parts to buy and where to buy. The circuit part is really easy to build once you get the PCB from http://www.diycable.com/catalog/products/hybrid.htm . It only took me less than a day to finish the soldering. It is really a very good project for new DIYers to begin with.
However, don't belittle the amp just because it is simple to build. Actually the sound of the amp is really good. In Mr. Millett's article, he said "being a fan of tube sound myself, I think it sounds a whole lot better than one of those $350 opamp in a wooden box audiophile headphone amp". Though I don't have that "opamp in a wooden box", I believe what Mr. Millett said is true since I prefer this hybrid amp than the Corda Blue that I once owned and I don't think Grado RA-1 (oops!
) is much better than the Corda Blue. The hybrid amp is powerful. It can drive my HD600 to very loud volume at 8~9 o'clock direction. It has stronger bass than the Corda according to my memory. The sound is warm just like what tube sound should be. Since I really like tube sound, I like this amp better compared to the other solid state amp I once owned (Creek OBH-11, Corda Blue) except the MAX.
Before I put the whole circuit into the enclosure, I upgraded the original generic resistors by Riken resistors. I also replaced the RCA jacks by the Cardas Rhodium jacks, headphone jack by Neutrik jack, and potentiometer by Alps Black Beauty. The hookup wire I used was the cotton covered wire sold by Angela. The simple circuit and good parts result in a nice sound. I would suggest any tube fan who wants to get an headphone amp with a budget around $150 to try to build this amp. It is really easy to build and definitely sounds better than the Creek amps you can buy with that price. If you want to use some better parts as I did, you will need to add another $100. In my opinion, it definitely worths the money.
By the way, I want to thank Mr. Millett for his help through the project. I asked him quite a few questions , some of them are stupid, but he was always very helpful to me. He is really a great guy!
This circuit of this amp is designed by Mr. Millett, the owner of Wheatfield audio. He published his design on Audio Xpress and the main purpose is to give new DIYers some easy project to work on. The schematic can also be found on his site:
http://www.pmillett.addr.com/hybrid_head.htm. This is indeed a really nice and easy-to-follow project. Mr. Millett listed the part number, vendor of all the parts required in the project which makes it very easy to build the amp. You don't have to worry about what parts to buy and where to buy. The circuit part is really easy to build once you get the PCB from http://www.diycable.com/catalog/products/hybrid.htm . It only took me less than a day to finish the soldering. It is really a very good project for new DIYers to begin with.
However, don't belittle the amp just because it is simple to build. Actually the sound of the amp is really good. In Mr. Millett's article, he said "being a fan of tube sound myself, I think it sounds a whole lot better than one of those $350 opamp in a wooden box audiophile headphone amp". Though I don't have that "opamp in a wooden box", I believe what Mr. Millett said is true since I prefer this hybrid amp than the Corda Blue that I once owned and I don't think Grado RA-1 (oops!
Before I put the whole circuit into the enclosure, I upgraded the original generic resistors by Riken resistors. I also replaced the RCA jacks by the Cardas Rhodium jacks, headphone jack by Neutrik jack, and potentiometer by Alps Black Beauty. The hookup wire I used was the cotton covered wire sold by Angela. The simple circuit and good parts result in a nice sound. I would suggest any tube fan who wants to get an headphone amp with a budget around $150 to try to build this amp. It is really easy to build and definitely sounds better than the Creek amps you can buy with that price. If you want to use some better parts as I did, you will need to add another $100. In my opinion, it definitely worths the money.
By the way, I want to thank Mr. Millett for his help through the project. I asked him quite a few questions , some of them are stupid, but he was always very helpful to me. He is really a great guy!
