[ufospls2]

It's great hearing some other impressions of the Headtrip. I'm only on day four with my new Headtrip 2, but I'm no stranger to Jeff's headphone amps. To offer some context, my experience with headphone amps spans a few well known brands including Burson, Audio-gd, and Simaudio - always targeting their flagship products. In addition, I've participated in a handful of meets where I've gotten to experience a variety of amps and headphones.

A couple of years back, the buzz about the Milo caught my attention - tons of power to manhandle planars, natural treble, and a price tag that wouldn't break the bank.

My only hesitation at that time was the fact that it was not balanced which spurred a bunch of reading and research. I came to the conclusion that balanced and single-ended each have pros and cons and that implementation played a significant role in the outcome. I read an article where Jeff was interviewed and he explained that by going single-ended, he was able to allocate his budget to fewer, higher quality parts. Also, when I later spoke to Jeff, he explained that balanced amps strip away some some of pleasing harmonics as well. I was satisfied with his approach. I decided to take the leap.

The Milo was impressive and competed quite directly with the Audio-gd Master 11 (essentially a Master 9 and 7 combined) - different flavors. I found the Milo to be slightly more resolving with a bit larger soundstage. The Master 11 was comfortably relegated to bedroom duty. My chain feeding the Milo continued to evolve and eventually included the Yggdrasil and the Auralic Aries Femto streamer. I also upgraded from the LCD-X to the LCD-4. That setup maintained me for quite a while until... Jeff announced the Milo Reference. I wasn't prepared to spend the money for the Reference, but still inquired with Jeff to get his take on the subjective differences. It was then that I learned he would upgrade my existing Milo for the difference in price. SOLD. A few weeks went by as Jeff completed the upgrade. The difference in sound was substantial. He mentioned to me that with the Milo Reference, you start to get into a holographic soundstage. Turns out his description wasn't exaggerated, and the LCD-4s started to comfortably pull away from the LCD-X on the Milo Reference.

Despite how happy I was with my system, like many of us, I kept a pulse on what else is out there. That's when I came across two other forums that were beating up the Wells amps - essentially shaming a Headtrip owner. Were they right?? That was around the time that Tyll had claimed the Simaudio Moon 430HA as his personal favorite of his amp shootout. I've never seen any poor reviews of the 430HA - perhaps it's in another league altogether. AND for more than $1500 less. My curiosity got the better of me, and I ordered up the 430HA from Listenup with their impressive 'they cover the return shipping' return policy. I'll save you most of the adjectives, but the highlights after several hundred hours of burn in were that I found the 430HA boring and lacking detail. Back it went, and I could now comfortably dismiss the Wells naysayers. I later discovered that one of the Wells critics on the other forums is conveniently a competing amp manufacturer.

As some funds freed up, I continued upgrading my system trying to squeeze the last bits of 'digititus' out of it. The Aries Femto got upgraded to the Aries G2 and the Yggdrasil got a bump up to the Denafrips terminator. I never realized how digital the Yggy sounded until hearing the Terminator - but that's a different post. Next up was Shunyata power cables and their Sigma AES cable with Wireworld platinums for interconnects and the headphone cable. I was blown away with what I was hearing. I couldn't help but think that the Milo Reference may actually be the weakest link in the chain. After another call to Jeff, we discussed the benefits of moving to the Headtrip. He mentioned a lower noise floor so you could see deeper into the music, and dead nuts neutral where the Milo Reference has some bloom. I had always been intrigued with the Headtrip, so I decided to take the plunge. Once again, Jeff is spot on in his assessment, but I'll add one more quality I've noticed - this is the smoothest sounding headphone amp I've ever heard - we're talking zero fatigue. It's noticeably smoother than the Milo Reference as well. It checks off all the boxes - realism, accurate timbre, effortless control of the drivers, pitch black background, highly resolving, all while remaining very natural sounding. All this, and I still have plenty of burn-in time ahead of me. I'm having a hard time taking my headphones off.

Also, a side note on Jeff. You couldn't ask for a nicer, more down to earth guy. He's very honest about his products, and his customer service is excellent. Couldn't be happier with my Wells Audio experiences over the years.

When you say you have the Headtrip 2, is that the original Headtrip, but in the new chassis? I know there is the Headtrip 2 Level 2 (which is what was originally the Headtrip reference as far as I know.) Could you share a photo of your new amp? Would love to see the new chassis if you have it

 

[The Piper]

When you say you have the Headtrip 2, is that the original Headtrip, but in the new chassis? I know there is the Headtrip 2 Level 2 (which is what was originally the Headtrip reference as far as I know.) Could you share a photo of your new amp? Would love to see the new chassis if you have it

If it is true it is despicable that a manufacturer would slam another's product under a false account just to hope it makes their product look more appealing. Maybe this person should be exposed for his actions to let the public know what kind of company they are dealing with. You have to be pretty insecure or desperate to take such actions. I have attached a picture of the new Headtrip II. The Headtrip II is the designation for the old Headtrip and Headtrip II Level II is the new designation for the old Headtrip Reference. Pictures will be coming for the Headtrip II Level II as well as the Headtrip II Level II monoblocks. Keep checking the website. Thanks to John for his knowledge on comparing the Headtrip II to some other top headphone amps and for his revelation that not all negative reviews are honest.

 

[Hifi59]

It's great hearing some other impressions of the Headtrip. I'm only on day four with my new Headtrip 2, but I'm no stranger to Jeff's headphone amps. To offer some context, my experience with headphone amps spans a few well known brands including Burson, Audio-gd, and Simaudio - always targeting their flagship products. In addition, I've participated in a handful of meets where I've gotten to experience a variety of amps and headphones.

A couple of years back, the buzz about the Milo caught my attention - tons of power to manhandle planars, natural treble, and a price tag that wouldn't break the bank.

My only hesitation at that time was the fact that it was not balanced which spurred a bunch of reading and research. I came to the conclusion that balanced and single-ended each have pros and cons and that implementation played a significant role in the outcome. I read an article where Jeff was interviewed and he explained that by going single-ended, he was able to allocate his budget to fewer, higher quality parts. Also, when I later spoke to Jeff, he explained that balanced amps strip away some some of pleasing harmonics as well. I was satisfied with his approach. I decided to take the leap.

The Milo was impressive and competed quite directly with the Audio-gd Master 11 (essentially a Master 9 and 7 combined) - different flavors. I found the Milo to be slightly more resolving with a bit larger soundstage. The Master 11 was comfortably relegated to bedroom duty. My chain feeding the Milo continued to evolve and eventually included the Yggdrasil and the Auralic Aries Femto streamer. I also upgraded from the LCD-X to the LCD-4. That setup maintained me for quite a while until... Jeff announced the Milo Reference. I wasn't prepared to spend the money for the Reference, but still inquired with Jeff to get his take on the subjective differences. It was then that I learned he would upgrade my existing Milo for the difference in price. SOLD. A few weeks went by as Jeff completed the upgrade. The difference in sound was substantial. He mentioned to me that with the Milo Reference, you start to get into a holographic soundstage. Turns out his description wasn't exaggerated, and the LCD-4s started to comfortably pull away from the LCD-X on the Milo Reference.

Despite how happy I was with my system, like many of us, I kept a pulse on what else is out there. That's when I came across two other forums that were beating up the Wells amps - essentially shaming a Headtrip owner. Were they right?? That was around the time that Tyll had claimed the Simaudio Moon 430HA as his personal favorite of his amp shootout. I've never seen any poor reviews of the 430HA - perhaps it's in another league altogether. AND for more than $1500 less. My curiosity got the better of me, and I ordered up the 430HA from Listenup with their impressive 'they cover the return shipping' return policy. I'll save you most of the adjectives, but the highlights after several hundred hours of burn in were that I found the 430HA boring and lacking detail. Back it went, and I could now comfortably dismiss the Wells naysayers. I later discovered that one of the Wells critics on the other forums is conveniently a competing amp manufacturer.

As some funds freed up, I continued upgrading my system trying to squeeze the last bits of 'digititus' out of it. The Aries Femto got upgraded to the Aries G2 and the Yggdrasil got a bump up to the Denafrips terminator. I never realized how digital the Yggy sounded until hearing the Terminator - but that's a different post. Next up was Shunyata power cables and their Sigma AES cable with Wireworld platinums for interconnects and the headphone cable. I was blown away with what I was hearing. I couldn't help but think that the Milo Reference may actually be the weakest link in the chain. After another call to Jeff, we discussed the benefits of moving to the Headtrip. He mentioned a lower noise floor so you could see deeper into the music, and dead nuts neutral where the Milo Reference has some bloom. I had always been intrigued with the Headtrip, so I decided to take the plunge. Once again, Jeff is spot on in his assessment, but I'll add one more quality I've noticed - this is the smoothest sounding headphone amp I've ever heard - we're talking zero fatigue. It's noticeably smoother than the Milo Reference as well. It checks off all the boxes - realism, accurate timbre, effortless control of the drivers, pitch black background, highly resolving, all while remaining very natural sounding. All this, and I still have plenty of burn-in time ahead of me. I'm having a hard time taking my headphones off.

Also, a side note on Jeff. You couldn't ask for a nicer, more down to earth guy. He's very honest about his products, and his customer service is excellent. Couldn't be happier with my Wells Audio experiences over the years.

I’ve read those negative comments from a few years ago on some of those other sites. One respectable builder of amps makes a negative comment (that’s totally opposite what actual owners and reviewers hear) and some of his fans pile on. Most have never even taken the proper time to actually listen to Jeff’s amps. They often base their opinions on Jeff’s chosen use of components or overall topology of his amps. Whatever. That particular amp builders amp is well known and respected but you will hear some complaints of it being bright or to sterile for certain headphones. I don’t recall any owners or reviewers of Jeff’s amps making any complaints like that on his amps. Bottom line is in the listening and perhaps those guys should at least do that before they attempt to discredit Jeff’s amps. I stay away from those sites now for these reasons amongst others along the same lines.
Your journey to ending up happily settling on Wells Audio Amps is very similar to mine, not to mention that I’ve either owned or heard much of the gear you mentioned and came to the same conclusions as you overall. My journey however started in the late 70’s and I’m convinced that these amps are truly end game. I’ve learned that many amps can and do sound great at first, but go down hill with prolonged listening whether it be from grain, distortions , noise floor, etc. It all adds up to eventual listening fatigue. With Jeff’s amps, it only gets better with extended listening as you realize just how musical an amp can sound with the absence of those shortcomings due to Jeff’s commitment to putting his heart and soul into the sound and quality of his amps. Reproduction of massed instruments is a weak spot of many amps and a big strength of Wells Audio amps, for example. Anyway, I’m glad you ignored the nay sayers and listened to what your ears told you. Hopefully others will do the same so they too can find their end game Wells Audio amp of choice.

 

[ufospls2]

If it is true it is despicable that a manufacturer would slam another's product under a false account just to hope it makes their product look more appealing. Maybe this person should be exposed for his actions to let the public know what kind of company they are dealing with. You have to be pretty insecure or desperate to take such actions. I have attached a picture of the new Headtrip II. The Headtrip II is the designation for the old Headtrip and Headtrip II Level II is the new designation for the old Headtrip Reference. Pictures will be coming for the Headtrip II Level II as well as the Headtrip II Level II monoblocks. Keep checking the website. Thanks to John for his knowledge on comparing the Headtrip II to some other top headphone amps and for his revelation that not all negative reviews are honest.

That looks fantastic IMO. A neat evolution of the original chassis. Also interesting to see the move from dual 3pin XLR/1/4" TRS outputs, to the 4pin XLR and 1/4" TRS. Is the Enigma 2 in the same chassis as the Headtrip 2?

 

[Hifi59]

So I now have about 200 hours or so logged on to my HT Reference (aka..Level2). It continues to amaze but even more so than last post. It’s just so musical,sweet and totally immersive. It has gotten to the point that I can no longer listen to lesser amps that I have. I’m not kidding. The Pathos Aurium is known to be a fantastic amp and is even on Innerfidelity Wall Of Fame. By any other measure, it’s a great little amp and it drives all of my headphones well to include my HE-6 but it is no match for the HT. It’s like notes are missing. Music can sound dry and grainy in comparison, and it’s not a grainy amp! It’s just not nearly as involving as the HT. Same goes for my Burson amps, and I really like Burson products. With this in mind, the HT isnt even fully broken in yet (500hrs per Jeff). I can’t imagine it getting better than this but it will. It sounded great right out of the gate but has now taken on even more transparency and timbre. Truly the best of both worlds..ss and tubes and the very best that I have ever heard in my 59 years. So happy with it.

 

[ufospls2]

So I now have about 200 hours or so logged on to my HT Reference (aka..Level2). It continues to amaze but even more so than last post. It’s just so musical,sweet and totally immersive. It has gotten to the point that I can no longer listen to lesser amps that I have. I’m not kidding. The Pathos Aurium is known to be a fantastic amp and is even on Innerfidelity Wall Of Fame. By any other measure, it’s a great little amp and it drives all of my headphones well to include my HE-6 but it is no match for the HT. It’s like notes are missing. Music can sound dry and grainy in comparison, and it’s not a grainy amp! It’s just not nearly as involving as the HT. Same goes for my Burson amps, and I really like Burson products. With this in mind, the HT isnt even fully broken in yet (500hrs per Jeff). I can’t imagine it getting better than this but it will. It sounded great right out of the gate but has now taken on even more transparency and timbre. Truly the best of both worlds..ss and tubes and the very best that I have ever heard in my 59 years. So happy with it.

Thats awesome man! Not an inexpensive amp by any means, but if you are enjoying it that much, that is all that matters IMO. I hope I can hear the reference, or Level 2 as it is now called, someday.

I'm hoping I can maybe stretch to buy an Enigma 2 someday. Or maybe an original model will pop up on the classifieds, who knows. It will take a while though sadly Have to start saving my pennies.

I've got the Hugo TT2 currently which I am loving driving my headphone direct, but I could use it as a DAC with the Enigma 2 on occasion and sort of have the best of both worlds. Transparency and detail with the TT2 direct, or a more melodic powerful "Wells Audio" sound with the Enigma 2. I still miss my Headtrip, but selling it allowed me to afford the headphones I have at the moment (Susvara and Diana Phi) so it was a good decision at the end of the day.

Ah well, who knows what the future holds ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[JonathanKlein]

Just purchased a Headtrip II Level II from Jeff Wells. He just finished building it and it's in testing now. I'll report back once received.

 

[johnzz4]

Just purchased a Headtrip II Level II from Jeff Wells. He just finished building it and it's in testing now. I'll report back once received.

Congrats, I’m sure you’ll love it. Logic tells you to plug it into the PS Audio P12 and feed it some regenerated power, but Jeff will suggest experimenting with plugging directly into the wall. In my experience, I’ve found I prefer it going to the wall. Also, not sure what you have for power cables, but the JPS Labs PAC black is the best I’ve tried - including a comparison with the latest Shunyata Alpha V2. Enjoy!

 

[JonathanKlein]

Congrats, I’m sure you’ll love it. Logic tells you to plug it into the PS Audio P12 and feed it some regenerated power, but Jeff will suggest experimenting with plugging directly into the wall. In my experience, I’ve found I prefer it going to the wall. Enjoy!

Thanks! That has actually been top of mind on whether or not to run the amps through the Regen or just keep it for the digital front end. I'll try it both ways. Regardless, I still plan to run dedicated circuits.

 

[johnzz4]

Thanks! That has actually been top of mind on whether or not to run the amps through the Regen or just keep it for the digital front end. I'll try it both ways. Regardless, I still plan to run dedicated circuits.

Even my DAC sounds better to me direct to the wall... I also run a dedicated circuit. I put my digital-only components on regenerated power (streamer and DDC). Half the fun is the experimentation. I’m curious what you settle on once you’ve got some listening in.

 

[bfin3]

Even my DAC sounds better to me direct to the wall... I also run a dedicated circuit. I put my digital-only components on regenerated power (streamer and DDC). Half the fun is the experimentation. I’m curious what you settle on once you’ve got some listening in.

I've asked 3 extremely popular amp manufacturers recently about regenerators/conditioners and all of them have said the same thing. Unless you live in a large apartment building or near massive machinery then regenerators provide no value while restricting dynamics.

 

[johnzz4]

I've asked 3 extremely popular amp manufacturers recently about regenerators/conditioners and all of them have said the same thing. Unless you live in a large apartment building or near massive machinery then regenerators provide no value while restricting dynamics.

I’ve found that AC filters/conditioners restrain dynamics, but that wasn’t the issue with the regenerator. If anything, there was a bit more impact. Where the regenerator seemed to fall down was in resolving the individual tones. While it’s an extreme example, it’s kind of like looking at a gradient on a monitor with 8 bit color and banding vs smooth 32 bit color - if that analogy makes sense to you. This masks some of the spatial cues. Without the regerator, it sounds smoother and spatial cues in the music are clearer - resulting in a more detailed sound and a larger soundstage.

 

[Bonddam]

Just received my HeadTrip 2 and I have hum when using low impedance high sensitivity headphones. The worst is LCD X XC which is 20 ohm. No hum on my 1266 TC or HE-6.
I contacted Jeff but it's holiday so figure ask here if it's normal?

 

[ufospls2]

Headtrip has 30db gain, high and quite unusual for a headphone amp. Normal, and actually in the middle for speaker amps. So yes, sadly, for your low imp. high sensitivity it is totally normal. If you find it troublesome, Jeff can install a 12db reduction in gain. If it were me, I'd enjoy the amp as is as you have the TC's, and HE6's. Thats the Headtrip at its best, IMO.

 

[bluecar]

Thanks for the report and info - really interesting. The stats on that thing make my HPA-4 look like a 60lb weakling - must see if I can find a demo unit on the English side of the Atlantic......