[perry4761]

Most of my collection is made up of very easy to drive dynamic driver headphones with high sensitivity and low impedance: Elex, Hemps, Elegia, 109 Pro can all be driven with ease and most people don’t really tube them from what I gather.

I also have 2 planars (Argons and LCD2C), which from my understanding also don’t tend to pair well with most OTL amps.

However, I would still like to try a tube amp, because it’s something I’ve never tried. From what I gather, I will probably need to spend a decent amount of money on a transformer-coupled amp, but I have no clue what would pair well with my collection.

Is there any tube amp out there, preferably under 1.5K$, that would fit the bill here? I want something that will make a significant difference in the sound, I don’t want to spend for something that will “work” without affecting the sound significantly.

 

[jonathan c]

Most of my collection is made up of very easy to drive dynamic driver headphones with high sensitivity and low impedance: Elex, Hemps, Elegia, 109 Pro can all be driven with ease and most people don’t really tube them from what I gather.

I also have 2 planars (Argons and LCD2C), which from my understanding also don’t tend to pair well with most OTL amps.

However, I would still like to try a tube amp, because it’s something I’ve never tried. From what I gather, I will probably need to spend a decent amount of money on a transformer-coupled amp, but I have no clue what would pair well with my collection.

Is there any tube amp out there, preferably under 1.5K$, that would fit the bill here? I want something that will make a significant difference in the sound, I don’t want to spend for something that will “work” without affecting the sound significantly.

• First, not every OTL tube h/p/a features high output impedance. Schiit Valhalla 2 ($399) has impedance of 5.7 ohms (low gain), 19.0 ohms (high gain). I can say from direct experience that Valhalla 2 is a great headphone amplifier for Audeze LCD-X, Focal Clear OG, Grados (GH2, GH4, Hemp, RS-1x), Kennerton Gjallarhorn JM Edition.
• If you do want an OTC alternative, there is Woo WA6 (2nd Gen) at $999. [I also use WA6 (1st Gen).]

 

[Lindholdt]

I'm taking a bit of a chance with the Tor Audio "Roger" amplifier, that is meant to be running my HiFiMAN HE1000's.
It should handle the low impedance fine, according to the maker, but I'm not sure how loud I'll be able to play them.
I don't listen at high volume, so il not super concerned, but we will see when I get it, in a few weeks time

 

[perry4761]

• First, not every OTL tube h/p/a features high output impedance. Schiit Valhalla 2 ($399) has impedance of 5.7 ohms (low gain), 19.0 ohms (high gain). I can say from direct experience that Valhalla 2 is a great headphone amplifier for Audeze LCD-X, Focal Clear OG, Grados (GH2, GH4, Hemp, RS-1x), Kennerton Gjallarhorn JM Edition.
• If you do want an OTC alternative, there is Woo WA6 (2nd Gen) at $999. [I also use WA6 (1st Gen).]

Those were two of the amps I was looking into. Would you say the higher price of the WA6 is worth it compared to the Schiit?

 

[perry4761]

I'm taking a bit of a chance with the Tor Audio "Roger" amplifier, that is meant to be running my HiFiMAN HE1000's.
It should handle the low impedance fine, according to the maker, but I'm not sure how loud I'll be able to play them.
I don't listen at high volume, so il not super concerned, but we will see when I get it, in a few weeks time

I’m also not a high-volume listener, so I am very curious about your experience with planars on the Roger!

 

[jonathan c]

Those were two of the amps I was looking into. Would you say the higher price of the WA6 is worth it compared to the Schiit?

What constitutes worth varies by individual. The higher price of WA6 was / is worth it to me. If you decide on WA6, the rectifier tube has a large effect on sound quality. [My favourite is NOS Mullard GZ34 ($175), next is Brimar CV1863 ($55-$60).]

 

[perry4761]

What constitutes worth varies by individual. The higher price of WA6 was / is worth it to me. If you decide on WA6, the rectifier tube has a large effect on sound quality. [My favourite is NOS Mullard GZ34 ($175), next is Brimar CV1863 ($55-$60).]

What qualities does it have that it worth it to you? How would you compare it to the Valhalla 2, since you have heard both?

 

[ben8ding]

If you’re interested in the WA 6 but worried about power, you could also consider the WA 6 SE. It’s on Audeze’s recommended list of amps and has a lot more power than the base WA 6. They’re going for crazy cheap used in classifieds, less than half the MSRP of $1500.

 

[jonathan c]

What qualities does it have that it worth it to you? How would you compare it to the Valhalla 2, since you have heard both?

WA6 allows for choice of rectifier tubes, and in Gen 1, 12AT7 / ECC81 tubes can be used via adapters in the “6DE7” sockets. Because WA6’s output impedance is higher than that of Valhalla 2, its sound - to me - with higher impedance headphones was more ‘fluid’.

 

[Farrellc]

I can confirm that the WA6 does a good job of driving planars; I imagine even better if you get an SE version. Also, there have been a lot of ZMF Pendants popping up for ~$1500 which drives everything I have without an issue. My use case might be a bit different though as I mainly use the high Z tap with my LCD-4 which is more voltage hungry than current hungry, but I ran my DCA Flow C 1.1 off the low Z tap and it sounded just fine.