[Frienes]

I think about purchasing a tube amp and I'm looking for what everyone calls a tubey sound. Would not like to spent to much money so I narrowed it down to Darkvoice 336i / 332, Little Dot MK III / IV or MF X-Can V-3. How does Yaqin-amps compare to the aforementioned?

I will mainly use it with some Grado SR-325i's, sometimes with some Beyer DT-880 (2003) and will mayby buy some other headphones in the future.

Important for me is that the work together well with the Grados and that electric guitars will sound as good as possible.

I'm happy for every suggestion

 

[dgbiker1]

I currently own a LD MKIII and I am very happy with it's performance with my Grados and AKGs. If you can afford it, I would recommend the Mk IV/IVse. One advantage of the LD amps is that they are very well documented here on head-fi and on the LD forums. A lot of people have a lot of experience with tube rolling and various mods to these amps, so the knowledge base is nice. I recommend visiting the MKIII tube rolling thread on this site, there's a lot of great information there.

I can't comment on the others, but I am very happy with the LD amp and the seller's service.

 

[Frienes]

That's a good point, thank you for your input. Do you experience a tubey sound with the Grado's or is it more subtle compared to a solid state amp?

 

[RogerB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgbiker1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently own a LD MKIII and I am very happy with it's performance with my Grados and AKGs. If you can afford it, I would recommend the Mk IV/IVse. One advantage of the LD amps is that they are very well documented here on head-fi and on the LD forums. A lot of people have a lot of experience with tube rolling and various mods to these amps, so the knowledge base is nice. I recommend visiting the MKIII tube rolling thread on this site, there's a lot of great information there. I can't comment on the others, but I am very happy with the LD amp and the seller's service.

Ditto to everything dgbiker said. I have the MKIII and use Grado sr80's and Senn hd580's with it. They both sound fabulous with the amp!

Tube rolling will get in your blood and drain your wallet! Once you own a tube amp...you will never go back!

 

[dgbiker1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frienes /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's a good point, thank you for your input. Do you experience a tubey sound with the Grado's or is it more subtle compared to a solid state amp?

With my tube-rolling to date I've gone for more detailed tubes (EF91, EF95) instead of the "tubey" types. My next set of tubes will probably be something more tubey though just to complete my collection

If you want tubey I think you would want something like a Mullard M8161 EF92 (Mullard M8161 / CV4015 Mil. Spec. Little Dot Amp EF92 - eBay (item 280211113414 end time Mar-28-08 15:25:15 PDT)). From what I've heard the Mullard EF92 tubes are warm tubes.

In my experience with the EF95s (EF91s don't work very well), the sound difference is subtle but noticeable. I would describe it as slightly less detailed and analytical that my CMoy amp, but warmer, more realistic, and more "solid". It's as if the CMoy just presents everything in the recording, while the LD makes it sound more natural.

So if I'm using the Grados (K701s don't work with the CMoy) and I just want to hear something in a recording I'll use the CMoy, but if I want to listen to music, I always use the LD. I think SS and tube have their respective purposes, and I'm definitely planning on buying a nice SS amp later, but I think the tube amps are just a bit more involving and interesting to listen to.

 

[Mike_TNT]

I'm in a similar situation as Frienes and I'll probably go with a Little Dot amp myself to use with Grado 325i and HD580. Now this has probably been answered a thousand times and I apologize but whats the best way of ordering the amp in North America?

 

[Kpt_Krunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike_TNT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm in a similar situation as Frienes and I'll probably go with a Little Dot amp myself to use with Grado 325i and HD580. Now this has probably been answered a thousand times and I apologize but whats the best way of ordering the amp in North America?

Mike - I'm in Canada and just ordered my MKIV SE little dot. Contact David directly on email - you can visit his site here:

Viewing a forum - Little Dot Headphone Amplifier

He's very fast on email and I asked him specific questions about how he sends them..... you'll like the answers very much!!! It takes 3 to 5 days for him to QC the amp before he sends it out - and 7 to 10 business days to reach it's destination. Shipping charges are very reasonable. If you want - I can let you know once it arrive how much (if any) duties/brokerage charges I incur.

 

[Mike_TNT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kpt_Krunch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mike - I'm in Canada and just ordered my MKIV SE little dot. Contact David directly on email - you can visit his site here: Viewing a forum - Little Dot Headphone Amplifier He's very fast on email and I asked him specific questions about how he sends them..... you'll like the answers very much!!! It takes 3 to 5 days for him to QC the amp before he sends it out - and 7 to 10 business days to reach it's destination. Shipping charges are very reasonable. If you want - I can let you know once it arrive how much (if any) duties/brokerage charges I incur.

That would be great. Thanks for the info. Can I ask you how much did you pay for the unit itself?

 

[Tech2]

The LDMKIII was $199 + $45 shipping to the USA. I bought mine on ebay, but if I'm not mistaken, they have raised the ebay price.