[MikoLayer]

Yeah my headphone lot is mixture of high and low impedances. I already have a setup that I like for high impedance, but would like to improve on it. On the other hand, my low impedance cans definitely could use some better amplification.
 
The problem is I am a bit partial to my high impedance phone (HD650) so I have a bit of reservation going for a compromise solution (transformer coupled) that will make everything sound quite good at the expense of high impedance phone sounding its best (OTL, I am guessing)

 

[Solude]

How to put this, OTL is something like SET that is audiophilia.  Being OTL is not always, scratch that, rarely a good thing.  Some OTL amps are very good, but there are a ton that are terrible at prices with lots of 0s in them  OTL is the SS equivalent of driving the headphone straight from the opamp which you won't find many people gaga over.

 

[Skylab]

On this flipside, a good transformer-coupled tube amp requires a good output transformer, which is quite costly.  So for high-impedance headphones, OTL can actually be a very good choice, and can sound excellent while costing less.  For low impedance headphones, or speakers, there are some serious challenges there.

 

[Solude]

Nods.

 

[Zombie_X]

Quote:

Low impedance and OTL is just not a good match regardless of price.  Doesn't mean it won't sound good though

I can agree they can sound good for sure. Grado's and my Sennheiser HD555 sounds great on my WA3+ tube amp. They become ultra smooth like a HD650, but never sound muddy or loose detail. Plus they get some more bass .
 
I just won't use the OTL amp for them since they aren't designed for it. I use my WA3+ for my high impedance headphones only.

 

[Solude]

Nevermind, memory fail.

 

[baka1969]

I just want to say that I'm hardly an expert with tube amps. What I can say is that the HE-5LE, to me, sounds nice with the Little Dot MKIII. I didn't even have to strain the amp as I barely went past 10:30-11:00 on the dial.