[Lil' Knight]

Well, I've just taken a glance at the first page in the Headphone amplifier forum. Wow, 90% of them are about tube amp.

I wonder if it's a new trend of people here on HF?

I've never tried a tube amp before but will get the LD VI next week, so I'm glad I'm still in that trend

 

[Caution]

thank littledot and darkvoice for the trend

 

[DouglasQuaid]

At the last meet I attended, I only remember seeing one high-end non-portable solid-state amplifier at the whole event and it was DIY. I believe it's less about sound and more about this hobby becoming far too heavily based on pretty equipment.

 

[jrosenth]

I always went solid state with home amps (Dynalo, Rega, PPA, etc.) but have been itching to try tubes and just bought a used first generation Woo, so I guess I'm part of the trend

 

[Lil' Knight]

Yeah, I've always been thinking that I'm a SS man.
But the sound of tube amp makes me curious

Can't stand against that.

 

[vagarach]

Yes, solid state stuff goes in a box. But tubes, they mostly have to stick out, they GLOW (one can't emphasize enough the importance of this), and can be swapped with an infinite number of sometimes rare examples from another era.

Ticks all the boxes!

 

[nsx_23]

I'm tossing up between Solid State and tubes at the moment for my first home amp....

 

[-=Germania=-]

I generally prefer Mid priced amps that are solid state just for shear accuracy and detail. Never found myself really enjoying a "tubey" sound either, but did love the midrange of tubes. So, a tube amp/SS hybrid could explain the trend as many fall into that category and that might be where all the SS people are.

Plus if you look at the DIY forum, the recent projects are tube related.

 

[Maxvla]

I know it sounds silly, but a tube amplifier feels like you are using a piece of history, meanwhile the alternative is a box with a knob, nothing exactly sexy or historic about it.

Sonically this makes no sense, but it was one of the factors I couldn't rid myself of when deciding on the LD MKIII. I had a Gilmore Lite back when Antness had just finished working on it, or at least he was the one I was discussing it with. The sound was good, but I just felt something missing.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think part of it is that chips cycle in and out of production relatively quickly compared to tubes. It's almost impossible to find vintage chips, but 60 year old tubes are readily available and many are being reproduced.

And tubes sound good.

Circuits tend to be simpler and there is a nostalgic connection to tubes. Non-audiophiles overlook metal boxes. Put some tubes on top and everyone wants to know what it is and asks for a listen.

Though I recently turned up a massive heatsink on the cheap. It's a foot square and about four inches tall. Maybe this is a sign that it is time to finally build a DynaMight. I've had the boards and chips tucked away for a couple of years. And now, a suitable heatsink. A few components, a couple of transformers and (yet) more raw aluminum and I might start yapping about solid state!

 

[Lil' Knight]

I think using tube amp fits the motto of headfi, "sorry about your wallet (for keep buying new tubes)"

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

I disagree with the OP. The latest trend in headphone amps is the mass production portable amps which aren't portable (well almost but just not there).

 

[stewtheking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif I disagree with the OP. The latest trend in headphone amps is the mass production portable amps which aren't portable (well almost but just not there).

Including the millett portable tube-amp.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif I disagree with the OP. The latest trend in headphone amps is the mass production portable amps which aren't portable (well almost but just not there).

Well, I'm talking about the full-size headphone amp forum, not the portable one.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

Well you did say headphone amps without specifying whether it was full-sized or portable.......