[JB197]

Just been chatting with a couple of friends about headphone amp selection. Two of us thought that all amp types are available, and we have a nice selection of amps to choose from. However the third person in our discussion, who happens to be at college learning marketing, said that there is always room for another.
 
He suggested the market might like an upmarket Schiit Asgard type with XLR connectors and less heat dissipation, and he also thought there was room for an Apex Pinnacle type with less features at a lower price.
 
That's his view, but what about your view? So what do you think... what do you think the market needs?

 

[Ypoknons]

I'm more on the operations-side so I'll saying take a few good, neutral designs (equivalent to Dynalos or M^3's), give them great power supplies, ramp up production quantities and make them for less. 

 

[Uncle Erik]

There needs to be more variety on the tube side.  A lot of the same tubes are used over and over and transformer-coupled models are few.

 

[JB197]

Thanks for the replies...
 
@Ypoknons, I think "great power supplies" and "make them for less" would be dificult to arrange, but I can see where you are coming from. You mentioned the M3... maybe there is a niche for a non-DIY amp that is specifically designed to op-amp roll? Not my ideal, but might be right for some. Not quite sure how the manufacturer would fool-proof it though. Might be a tough call.
 
@Uncle Erik, I guess you mean things like 6SN7 and 300B, etc.. Perhaps manufacturers get scared of stock running out, or potential customers not knowing what the valve types are and hence being scared to buy? So I've just looked at the sites of JJ (manufacturer), Edicron (major UK importer of current production), Billington (major world dealer in quantity NOS), and Antique Electronic Supply (US retailer of new and NOS), and there seems to be a really good variety available out there. So yes, let's see more variety in the market!
 
 
I'm surprised not to see more replies. I know low cost is always the thing we want to see, but leaving the issue of cost to one side, I thought more people would have 'wish list' amps in mind that they would like to see made available in the market... for example...
 
...more electrostatic amps?
...more combined preamplifirs / headphone amplifiers?
...more amps with remote control of volume?
 
...what is your "wish I could buy this type of amp"?
  

 

[Uncle Erik]

There are plenty of tubes suitable for headphones out there, NOS and repro, but the market is limited. I'd love to see more DHT tubes used - there isn't even a 2A3 amp in current manufacture. I think Donald North is developing one, but this is one of the great tubes for headphones and no amp is available right now.

As for the power supplies... it's hard to keep costs low when the power supply is the most expensive part. I like to see chokes and big caps, but those are not inexpensive. Still, I wish more amps with high-end power supplies were available.

 

[JB197]

I like decent power supplies too.
 
 
My ideal amp would be solid state open loop, gain switch (for x2 and x4), 2 balanced inputs, 2 unbalanced inputs, unbalanced pre-amp out connectors, jack and XLR output headphone connectors, stepped attenuator with at least 40 positions, separate power supply box sized to sit under the main amp, and all finished in silver with a subtle design (i.e. styled more like Headamp GS-X than RSA Apache).