[AlexRoma]

Some guys had asked previously :
 
Does Little Dot MKIII drive well HD600 ?  Yes. There is more then enougth power here for HD600. I've never used above 50% of available power resource
 
Does Little Dot MKIII drive well DT990 / DT880 (600ohm). Adequate but not Great. The amp is pushed to the limits (stock power tubes). For audio-nirvana I need at least 70% of available power on max gain (AudioGD DAC) 

 

[putente]

I'm about to buy one of these Little Dot MKIII amps, and I also want to upgrade to a new DAC. Right now, I'm a bit divided between buying a Yulong D100 or a Matrix Mini-I (with remote). Which one of these DAC's would be a better option to pair with the LD MKIII?
 
From what I could gather so far, between the two, the D100 is supposed to be a better DAC (it's also more expensive), with a more analytical and detailed sound, and the Mini-I is supposed to be more musical and mellow sounding. I'm just not shure which would be a better option to use with the MKIII... 

 
 
BTW, are there other better DAC options I should consider? My max price budget is the Yulong D100, and I want a DAC with built-in amp, mainly to use USB in (from my computer), and sometimes optical in (from my Hifi CD player). Having both RCA and XLR outputs is also a plus for me...
 
 
 
Thanks.

 

[headhog]

How does MKIII sound with ah-d2000
 
Thanks

 

[phandrew]

Would this be a good setup?
 
Source - Foobar Flac
DAC - Audio GD NFB 2.1
Amp - Little dot III with custom tubes
Headphones - DT880 600ohm + DT150.

 

[AlexRoma]

Good ? I think so... Great, well, no... You'll need a more high-end tube amp to make it Great.

 

[Spardasieg]

How will this sound with the Sennheiser HD-25? I heard tube amps were the way to go for a warmer more vinyl type sound but did not know they made one that was this cheap and good.

 

[MIKELAP]

Got a pair of 25 ohms markled denons d- 5000 and the denon d1001 32ohms would  any of those 2 phones sound good with the mk3 and would be paired with my pc dac (essence stx soudcard) would like a tube amp without spending a fortune already have a Burson 160 ds ss amp which sound great. what would be the best sounding headphone for the mk3 . Thanks.

 

[thainxce]

 Ohh , I hope that great review will help me find  the solution of driving myHD650 . I ve tried it on solid headamp C2.2 , beta 22 , Burson HA160 but they do not impress me much . The sound 're all   lack of musical melody . Seem to be wrong direction at solid amp

 

[AppleDappleman]

How would the little dot mkiii pair with the E17?

A also is this overkill for beyerdynmaic dt770 80ohms? I will most likely upgrade in the future

 

[Magik32]

Thank you Penchum for writing up this review for our community and all those who contributed to this thread. Although a bit old (almost 3 years old), I came across this thread in seeking an inexpensive tube amp. I believe the Little Dot MK III will be my first tube amp, unless anyone can direct me to something else that came out in the past couple of years that offers more bang for the buck.
 
I find the thought of tube rolling fairly intriguing and am looking forward to playing around with different tubes to find differences in sound/tone/airiness, etc.  Just one more toy to spend money on in this already expensive hobby.  I do plan to go slow and enjoy everything in great measure before moving on to another though.

 

[GutterSmurf]

Penchum, I just wanted to say thank you for the review. I've been umming and ahhhing between the Little Dot MK II and MK III for a couple of weeks now, and your review - and it's beautiful photos - has sold me. I've just ordered mine and cannot wait. I cannot mirror Magik32's sentiment enough!

 

[Faithless]

Hello...
What can i say about LD MKIII.
For me is THE BEST TUBE AMP FOR THE PRICE.
Its a BIG, HUGE SWEET SPOT !!!
Amazing sound with Shure SRH840, ATH M50 and my DENONs D2000 - D5000.
Buy it and be happy...

 

[ninjames]

So I'm getting some static hiss/tube noise with my new amp. I'm using it with relatively low impedance headphones right now, though. When I use my Sennheiser HD595 (50ohm), the hiss is there, but very, very quiet and unobtrusive. I was thinking it was maybe dirty pins, or the fact that I have it on a full power strip on an ungrounded outlet with a cheater plug, or even the fact that it's on the same desk as a high powered wireless router.
 
But when I plug in something like the V-Moda M-80, which is even more efficient at like 28ohm or whatever, the hiss is very, very loud. Incredibly loud. I hear it when music is on. Now, my question is ... if it was one of the problems I listed above, would the hiss get louder with headphones with less impedance? I'm wondering if the HD595 simply are too efficient to be driven out of this, and if so, I'm kinda bummed out because I'd heard this is a good amp for some low impedance AND high impedance headphones.
 
Or, again, do you think it could be one of the issues listed above? I would think that there shouldn't be any hiss with the 50 ohm Sennheiser HD595, right? Thanks, guys.

 

[GutterSmurf]

Quote:

So I'm getting some static hiss/tube noise with my new amp. <snip> Or, again, do you think it could be one of the issues listed above? I would think that there shouldn't be any hiss with the 50 ohm Sennheiser HD595, right? Thanks, guys.

Have you played with the gain switches underneath? Have you cleaned the pins? Or have you taken the tubes out and switched them? Try all three I use my mk3 with a pair of HD555's (HD595 modded) regularly and get very little hiss - only on full volume - with either those or more efficient headphones. 

 

[ninjames]

Quote:

Have you played with the gain switches underneath? Have you cleaned the pins? Or have you taken the tubes out and switched them? Try all three I use my mk3 with a pair of HD555's (HD595 modded) regularly and get very little hiss - only on full volume - with either those or more efficient headphones. 

The gain switches underneath are set for high sensitivity headphones (not high impedance) Should they be at medium impedance/sensitivity? And when you say switch, do you mean move them around, or use different tubes? I haven't bought any new ones yet, I just have the stock.