[taz]

The Little Dot amps seem a bargain at the moment. I've got a pair of Sennheiser HD595 headphones and want to drive them using a valve-based head amp. I listen mainly to jazz, smooth jazz and jazz-fusion. I'm looking for a warm, creamy sound with good attack on bass notes, a wide soundstage and a high level of detail and clarity.

So, which of the Little Dot amps can provide the sound that I am looking for? Or should I seek an alternative headphone amp? My budget is up to 300 USD.

 

[Alpha 1 Omega]

in that range MKIII or MKV would work very well.

I say MKIII and save the rest for tube roiling but that is just IMO.

 

[Maxvla]

HD595s are a bit different than my HD580s, but I just got an MKIII today and absolutely loved it on jazz. I popped in some Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out and refused to switch cds until it was done. The sax was lifelike, the bass was full with a decent kick (HD580s don't have the punchiest bass anyways though), the piano was clear and penetrating, and man the drums were great, probably the thing I liked best on that cd. The soundstage was big, too big for the pop albums I tried later.

 

[taz]

^ Sounds good! I'll be using lossless audio from an iPod as the source. I already have a valve amplifier for my main room that is fed via an iPod dock and the sound is truly mesmerising. The thunderous highs are just so incredibly addictive and I want to recreate the same type of sound for a smaller room where I cannot justify a full-blown amp so will listen via headphones.

I'm not after overpowering bass but do like sound that 'hits' you with a very fast attack on strings, for example.

But much more than that, I like a sound that bathes you in a creamy lather!

I've definitely got the valve bug and love the warm sound.

I shall look into a MKIII. What is the delivery like (i'm in the UK). I'm usually quite wary of ordering from an international supplier but these little amps seem to be held in high regard.

 

[Alpha 1 Omega]

you might want to go here for shipping details LINK

 

[Sparky14]

I'm listening to a bit of Wynton Marsalis on my 1 week old MkIII with HD650...fabulous!, and I don't really like Jazz. But it sounds so good, I'm enjoying it.

Shipping to Los Angeles took 6 days, so I'd guess double that for UK.

I wouldn't worry about the customer service aspect. David ZheZhe is held in high regard, and his communication through my sale and shipping was great.

 

[Maxvla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taz /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ Sounds good! I'll be using lossless audio from an iPod as the source. I already have a valve amplifier for my main room that is fed via an iPod dock and the sound is truly mesmerising. The thunderous highs are just so incredibly addictive and I want to recreate the same type of sound for a smaller room where I cannot justify a full-blown amp so will listen via headphones. I'm not after overpowering bass but do like sound that 'hits' you with a very fast attack on strings, for example. But much more than that, I like a sound that bathes you in a creamy lather! I've definitely got the valve bug and love the warm sound. I shall look into a MKIII. What is the delivery like (i'm in the UK). I'm usually quite wary of ordering from an international supplier but these little amps seem to be held in high regard.

I live in the US. My paypal e-check cleared with Little Dot on 10/24 and I received my amp (that shipped from China 10/24) yesterday the 28th. They are good people.

 

[taz]

Now I have a dilemma! A voltage dilemma. If I order a Little Dot head amp I have to specify what my country's voltage is.

Here in the UK we have a nominal voltage of 230 volts (it changed from 240 volts a few years ago).

The ordering process doesn't have a 230 volt option. The nearest is 220V or 240V - either should work but as the MKIII is a valve amp, I don't want to take any risks. Should I specify 240V?

 

[Maxvla]

I would post on their forum at Little-Tube or email them to see what they suggest.

some bonus info:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidZheZhe Earlier this year we took on a concerted effort to improve our QC system, and it has really begun paying off. I thought it would be interesting to post our incident rate on a few models (not all models have numbers crunched yet) for this year. According to Consumer Reports, consumer electronics in general have about a 15% defect rate. These numbers include all reported incidents for the amplifier itself, from scratches on the case to DOAs, shipping issues or QC. Little Dot I+: 1.8% Little Dot MK II: 3% Little Dot MK III: 4.6% Little Dot MK V: 4.4%