[PTom]

A lot of the highly recommended tube amps for the HD600/HD650 seem to be more difficult and/or expensive to obtain in the UK, i.e. Bottlehead Crack, anything from Woo Audio or Schiit (electromod.co.uk have Schiit products but are way more expensive than in the US). 
 
I know the Little Dot series and Aune T1 are more easily available but I was wondering which other tube amps that are universally praised in combination with these cans are easily available (and reasonably priced) in the UK/EU below the 300 GBP/400 Euro price range?

 

[Dr4Bob]

I have a LD MkII I use wth HD600. It is relatively inexpensive even with the addition of a a decent power cord and definitely different tubes. Very nice with the Senns.

 

[PTom]

Thanks for the reply. I've discover the Icon Audio HP8 is supposed to be a really good tube amp and it's British made so we don't need to pay a premium to get it:
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/icon-audio-hp8-mk2-tube-headphone-amplifier

 

[JamieMcC]

  Thanks for the reply. I've discover the Icon Audio HP8 is supposed to be a really good tube amp and it's British made so we don't need to pay a premium to get it:
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/icon-audio-hp8-mk2-tube-headphone-amplifier

 
I was very interested in the HP8 with the Jenson cap upgrade if I remember correctly the price for the amp with the Jenson upgrade was around £800 which was to pricy for me so I importing a Crack to the UK £270 delivered and spent another £70 on putting in some JB JFX premium film caps and a valab 23 step attenuator. For under £350 the performance is stunning. I would really be really interested to see how it compared to the HP8.

 

[PTom]

I've heard the Icon HP8 out performs the Woo WA6 as well as the Bottlehead Crack + speedball upgrade. But it is more expensive than both. JamieMcC, did you assemble the crack yourself?

 

[JamieMcC]

Yes, it was very straight forward the instructions are really excellent it was my first diy audio project and first time soldering! The bottlehead forum is a great if you get stuck or need some advice with anything they are very helpful and trouble shooting is normally done by the designers of the amps themselves.
 
This is my build
 
http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,5284.msg50963.html#msg50963

 

[turo91]

I suggest you the italian Megahertz OTL (http://www.megahertzaudio.it/otl_con_una_6080.htm)
It works great with high impedance headphone (less great with low impedance like all the otl).
It cost 490 euro and the building it's great, you can chosse also the wood and the color.
 
Ps here http://www.stereo-head.it/2013/06/ampli-otl-con-6080-di-megahertz-recensione/   you can find my review 

 

[PTom]

  I suggest you the italian Megahertz OTL (http://www.megahertzaudio.it/otl_con_una_6080.htm)
It works great with high impedance headphone (less great with low impedance like all the otl).
It cost 490 euro and the building it's great, you can chosse also the wood and the color.
 
Ps here http://www.stereo-head.it/2013/06/ampli-otl-con-6080-di-megahertz-recensione/   you can find my review 

Interesting read, you mention the Woo amps a few times. I'm guessing this is the WA6? Do you like the Megahertz better than the WA6? The wooden casing makes it look a bit like the bottlehead crack, do you know how the Megahertz compares to the BHC?

 

[turo91]

  Interesting read, you mention the Woo amps a few times. I'm guessing this is the WA6? Do you like the Megahertz better than the WA6? The wooden casing makes it look a bit like the bottlehead crack, do you know how the Megahertz compares to the BHC?

 
I haven't heard the Wa6, I have a Wa6 SE. The Wa6 it's very different, it's not a real valve amplifier (otl) but it's a trasformer coupled amplifier.
Usually a trasformer coupled amplifier it' more universal, it sounds good also with low impedance headphone, but an OTL sound betterl with high impedance headphone.
The only OTL that I heard from Woo Audio it's the Wa2 ( http://www.stereo-head.it/2013/12/woo-audio-wa2-otl-recensione/ ), its' better than Megahertz but it cost 3 times more.

 

[PTom]

I'm thinking of using these with the Sennheiser HD600/650/800 so these should be suitable. So for high impedance headphones you preferred the Megahertz OTL to the WA6 SE? 
 
I notice that you also own a Violectric V200 and Schiit Asgard. How do these compare to the Megahertz? I'm really interested in this amp.

 

[turo91]

  I'm thinking of using these with the Sennheiser HD600/650/800 so these should be suitable. So for high impedance headphones you preferred the Megahertz OTL to the WA6 SE? 
 
I notice that you also own a Violectric V200 and Schiit Asgard. How do these compare to the Megahertz? I'm really interested in this amp.

 
The first thing to know it's that I like an energetic sound, aggressive and detailed.
The Wa6Se and MH sound very different, more musical the OTL, more detailed and aggressive the Wa6 Se, it's difficult to say which it' better, it depends by your taste,
The V200 it's a very fantastic amp, I'm going to sell it only because i have received a Questyle Cma800R which is awesome and I need money to upgreda my speaker system for dac's review. It can drive easily almost all the headphone, from orto like the HE500 to the high impedance headphone like Beyerdynamic T1. I have use it for all my review until now. I preferred it to megahertz,it's less musical, but more aggressive with a great velocity and detail.
Also the Schiit it's a good amp, but the Megahertz it's much better with high impedance headphone,
The Megahertz sound very well also with HD800.
I was a little sad when i shipped back to the producer after the review.

 

[PTom]

I'm surprised there isn't much discussion on this amp here at head-fi.

 

[turo91]

  I'm surprised there isn't much discussion on this amp here at head-fi.

 
It's a small production entirely handmade in Italy, it doesnt' make big production and I think he doesn't ship outside Europe.
In Italy Megahertz it's very appreciated.
It's also produce great hybryd amplifier like the Peyote (http://www.megahertzaudio.it/peyote.htm) and two Stax amplifier (Guerra and Pace)

 

[PTom]

I noticed! How's their customer service/warranty policy? Didn't find any information on their website about this.

 

[PTom]

I just contacted Megahertz and it's 2 years warranty on the amp and 6 months on the tubes. Not bad at all. Also 50 Euro shipping to UK.