[wuwhere]

My TTVJ Hybrid. I changed the volume knob.
 

 

[sperandeo]

I just got the last brand new TTVJ  (According to Todd). When I first plugged my RS1i's into it I was impressed instantly. Then as I listened more I thought the amp was a little thin on the bass side, with the mids and highs being amazing, but then I realized that I was only hearing "thin" bass with certain songs, then I realized that it was because the amp is uncolored and the bass really depended on the song. I've only been listening to it for about 3 days now and I must say there is a sweetness about this tiny amp that I've never heard in a portable before. 
 
I'm happy I got the last one. Thanks Todd.
 

 

[LevA]

another happy owner..had one for a while now and still enjoy it everyday..
 

 

[Golden Ears]

I own two of them...

 

[estreeter]

If only Skylab hadnt had such mixed feelings about this amp, it might have been a contender.

 

[sonictransducer]

I just got this amp--I bought it yesterday from Golden Ears (he had two and sold me his spare).  I love it.  I also own a RSA Predator, but the TTVJ is orders of magnitude better. It's much more full bodied, and has a much wider soundstage with better instrument separation.  To me the mids seem a little receded, and the highs seem a little too smoothed over.  But I'm hoping to take care of those problems once I get a decent DAC, and maybe some new cables as well.

 

[Golden Ears]

I now own one of them. . But at least it is making Jake happy. I find that the units are a bit bass rich from 35-75 cycles, and that gives the idea of a recessed mids. I think the highs are not rolled off, so that is probably something that can be addressed with cabling. I don't feel is FR shape is that of a cookie bite just a it of bass lift, which most headphones do need. I think in part when music is mastered for speakers each ear hears the same bass info from each channel low bas is omnidirectional - but the mids and highs suffer from teh head transfer function comb filtering.. So when you separate the bass from each channel such that you are only hearing one channel in each ear, the bass gets rolled off a bit. Just my thought on this...my opinion, nothing imperial to back it up...it is just what I think I hear when I listen to headphones vs speakers.. YMMV but I bet it doesn't.

 

[sonictransducer]

Thanks, John, that's good to know.  I expect to be pairing them with a bass-light headphone, so having an amp that's a little base rich will be an advantage.  And thanks for the mod you did on them--it almost totally eliminates the microphonic quality!
 

 

[Golden Ears]

I'm glad you like that little mod. LEV A does not have the mod in his photo. I had modded a few of these for people that were having microphonic issues..a "ping ringing" that fades if the amp is knocked at all. Probably microphonic tubes were not an issue for the tubes intended use which was for hearing aids, I always wanted to see how Nuvistors would do in there since those tubes were designed with military and aerospace aspirations by RCA.

Still my go to amp for portable. It is a bit on the large size, but now the iPhone 5 has grown to match it.

The key with the microhonic thing is to pack enough material in ther that the tubes absolutely can not move. Peter Millet started adding some black tack inside the amps, but because this black tack was not enough to press against teh flask casing, it only worked somewhat. You really have to pack the tubes in blue tac and then put some plastic or wax paper on the blob and smooth it down as you side the circuit board back into the Flask case taking care not to over smooth the blu-tac as you put it inside...so it always maintains some elastomeric expanding pressure on the tubes to stabilize them.

It's a pretty dramatic reduction of microphonics tthe pinging does not last nearly as long and is like 10db-15db down from where it once was. Unless you really to knock the case you won't hear pinging when walking or skiing. Or snowboarding,

 

[PowderLegend]

I really love mine. I'm the second owner and I've had the thing more than five years! Still running crazy strong. Battery life is still the best out of every gadget I've ever purchased- it lasts for weeks in normal usage. Since getting my Fidelio X2 I've been using it again. Can't wait to pair it with my Fiio X5! I'm sure the combination of X2, X5, and PMHA will beat many desktop or full-size rigs. 

 

[Phil Townsend]

Its some years later 2016 and mine is still a good play...
Its paired up with The Ether C by Mr Speaker and a Chord Mojo and and iPhone 6 Plus.
Sweet!
Thanks Pete and Todd!!!
 
Phil
Santa Fe, NM

 

[jelt2359]

Got into tubes big time on my desktop setup with EC Studio, Apex Teton and so on.

This little fella gets the closest for my portable setup for iems. I'm stunned, good thing I kept it so long!

@Golden Ears do you have pictures of the mu metal foil mod?