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World Audio Design HD83 - Anyone know how these measure up to modern headphone tube amplifiers?

Zaiden

Zaiden

pfm Member
This might be a bit of a long shot, because I reckon PFM forums seem more focused on speaker/amplifier gear as opposed to headphones. But it's well worth trying so here goes.

I'm looking to acquire some headphone tube amplifiers down the line, because I have heard that the Sennheiser HD650/HD6XX (which I own a pair of) form a legendary pairing with tube amplifiers.

If I could extend my budget, I would look into a Bottlehead Crack. Honestly. But some unexpected choice acquisitions over the past few months have dented the audio budget allocation I set for myself.

I'm willing to go second hand and would describe my budget as £150. Options I have considered include:

  • Littledot MKIII
  • Darkvoice 336SE
  • Xduoo TA-26 (I can directly procure this from China off Taobao while avoiding VAT/Customs)

During my research, the World Audio Design HD83 came up and many older folks on older forums (e.g. Rock Grotto) seemed to be raving about how excellent this tube amplifier is.

I now have the opportunity to acquire one for about £100, and was wondering exactly how good a deal this would be. I should mention I would be willing to carry out modifications/handiwork to tinker/upgrade the amplifier.

Unfortunately, these Rock Grotto anecdotes seem to offer very little comparison to modern offerings such as the ones I've listed above. Comparisons to modern offerings is what I would ultimately be seeking out to determine which offers the best value proposition, because I have no idea if improvements/advancement in headphone amplification technology might have obsoleted what would have been an excellent option from 2 decades ago.

Does anyone have any experience with the World Audio Design HD83 (or World Audio Design products in general)?
 
I have no experience with this headphone amp but I have built and owned at least three quarters of WAD / WD amps and their phone stage.

They are all well designed and offer fantastic "bang for buck", the forum is a bit quiet now but it's a friendly and very helpful place when it comes round to mods or tinkering.

if headphones are your thing and it's fully working without any issues I'd snap their hand off at £100.

Just a thought does this need a power supply like their phone and pre amp? . If so makes sure it's included, at that price it seems a steal.
 
At that price I'd grab it just-because, even though I've never heard one. I've the original article somewhere - yes, it included the PSU onboard.

WD kit has always been thoughtfully and conservatively designed. Look at it this way - if it doesn't suit you, just sell it on here; I bet it becomes essentially free for you to try for a while.
 
I have one and they can sound absolutely fantastic - although I would say like so many kit based devices, the sound quality is very dependent on the quality of the build.

As you may be aware the design changed during their life with an original black case version while the later versions had a silver case but more importantly could match the impedance of different headphones by using internal dip switches. Just be aware that when swapping headphones, you must turn the amp off and wait a bit!

I have a wide range of headphone amplifiers including offerings by Aune, Graham Slee, Musical Fidelity, Tim de Paravinci and Ray Samuels and the one I enjoy the most is the HD83...! I use mine with a number of different headphones including Grado sr225’s, Etymotic er4s and Sennheiser hd580’s and it sounds great with all but sounds particularly good with Beyer dynamic dt 990s

I listen to a wide range of music from classic, jazz , opera and rock but I have to say that heavy metal at high volumes is mind blowing!
 
By the way I see you use the fatman amplifiers , we have several and would thoroughly recommend upgrading to nos Russian valves.
 
Has to be much better than the Chi Fi offerings the OP names!

Personally I find headphone amps a waste of space as all reasonable ones sound near as damn it the same...as I would expect. My HD580's are 300R load and obviously HP's have no crossover hence the easiest load imaginable. I designed and built a money no object class A headphone amp just to see if there was any advantage over the built in amps in my laptop, PC, CD player etc but the difference was negligible.

I guess the attraction of valve stages is to make them very coloured so that they do "sound different"!
 
Only headphone amp I have is a Graham Slee Novo, I picked up for a good price.

I've had expensive Headphone amps in the past = rip off.

S.
 
Copperjacket said:
By the way I see you use the fatman amplifiers , we have several and would thoroughly recommend upgrading to nos Russian valves.
Click to expand...

That's good to know! I will certainly look into Russian NOS valves.

One thing I will mention is that the Fatman amp crackles a bit while playing music for the first 5-6 minutes that it's started up and proceeds to never crackle again while it's still on. Is this normal or a sign that there's some issues with the amplifier?

Additionally, do you think it's an appropriate pairing with the Dynaudio Emit M10s or do you think the Fatmans could be a bottleneck/limiting factor in my current system? I'm pretty new to speaker hifi since I transitioned from headphones, so can't say I'd know much.

Arkless Electronics said:
Has to be much better than the Chi Fi offerings the OP names!

Personally I find headphone amps a waste of space as all reasonable ones sound near as damn it the same...as I would expect. My HD580's are 300R load and obviously HP's have no crossover hence the easiest load imaginable. I designed and built a money no object class A headphone amp just to see if there was any advantage over the built in amps in my laptop, PC, CD player etc but the difference was negligible.

I guess the attraction of valve stages is to make them very coloured so that they do "sound different"!
Click to expand...

There was one person on Rock Grotto who made a claim that they found the Darkvoice 336SE to be better than the WAD HD83, but I find it hard to trust one person's anecdote alone. Of course, the best person would be going myself and drawing the comparison using my own subjective sensitivities. But that isn't always possible I suppose. The next best option is taking wisdom from someone who has experience with the products I'm seeking to compare, since I find it hard to take claims at face value unless the person in question is familiar with both.

For years, I've also been told headphone amplifiers make no discernable difference and never bothered with nabbing one. However, I actually found this to be untrue anecdotally speaking from my own personal experience. I picked up some FiiO A5 at the price of £20 locally - a price too good to pass up, and didn't expect much of a difference but holy smokes, it absolutely took my HD6XXs to another level with just a really clean sound output compared to my mobile phone/DAP/PC outputs. Perhaps a bit too clean/clinical but the possibilities seem especially intriguing in terms of finding some headphone tube amplifiers to pair with this. You might be pleasantly surprised at how far Chi-Fi has come.
Shane2468 said:
Only headphone amp I have is a Graham Slee Novo, I picked up for a good price.

I've had expensive Headphone amps in the past = rip off.

S.
Click to expand...

I saw one of these Graham Slee Novos for sale on eBay bidding at about £68 final but didn't end up biting. An ASR thread made me hesitate from committing to the Graham Slee Novo, since their wisdom with the FiiO A5 was what got me to bite the FiiO A5 in the first place and that worked out for me. Plus I already have solid state covered with the FiiO A5. Although I find myself disagreeing with ASR's outlook on tube amplifiers - I love how comfy and gooey second order harmonic distortions are!

I can't speak about expensive amplifiers but I remember auditioning headphones at Harrods and thinking that a lot of expensive headphones/DAPs/amplifiers are a bunch of snake oil. That's for sure. Hence my philosophy of only trusting my own ears, and wisdom from people with more experience than myself, to continue climbing on my path to audio nirvana.
 
Copperjacket said:
I have one and they can sound absolutely fantastic - although I would say like so many kit based devices, the sound quality is very dependent on the quality of the build.

As you may be aware the design changed during their life with an original black case version while the later versions had a silver case but more importantly could match the impedance of different headphones by using internal dip switches. Just be aware that when swapping headphones, you must turn the amp off and wait a bit!

I have a wide range of headphone amplifiers including offerings by Aune, Graham Slee, Musical Fidelity, Tim de Paravinci and Ray Samuels and the one I enjoy the most is the HD83...! I use mine with a number of different headphones including Grado sr225’s, Etymotic er4s and Sennheiser hd580’s and it sounds great with all but sounds particularly good with Beyer dynamic dt 990s

I listen to a wide range of music from classic, jazz , opera and rock but I have to say that heavy metal at high volumes is mind blowing!
Click to expand...

Should mention this one is a black case.

I listen to music that primarily focuses on female vocals, which I heard is a quality tubes amplifiers really emphasis.

For you, what is it about the HD83 that elicits greater joy compared to the Aune/Graham Slee/Musical Fidelity amps specifically?
 
early said:
I have no experience with this headphone amp but I have built and owned at least three quarters of WAD / WD amps and their phone stage.

They are all well designed and offer fantastic "bang for buck", the forum is a bit quiet now but it's a friendly and very helpful place when it comes round to mods or tinkering.

if headphones are your thing and it's fully working without any issues I'd snap their hand off at £100.

Just a thought does this need a power supply like their phone and pre amp? . If so makes sure it's included, at that price it seems a steal.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got a bit too cheeky since I wasn't really aware of the true value and tried to barter down to £70. The bloke selling the HD83s was having none of it and seemed extremely irate. I will probably message him again come paycheck day, see if £90 is acceptable and if he doesn't cave I'll give in to £100.

It is just that I do not know if £100 for the WAD HD83 is worthwhile, when I can acquire the other 'Chifi' amplifiers at a slightly higher second hand price point, since I have no idea if they are legitimately better or worse - although it seems many young US/UK modern consumers highly rate the three amplifiers that I've listed as a naturally synergistic pairing for the HD6XX.
 
Good grief, the transformers alone cost far more than £100.
Stop being a cheapskate / not surprised seller was miffed at such a low ball...

Meanwhile, do buy all the cheap unsatisfactory crap you think you are owed; you are welcome to it.
 
martin clark said:
Good grief, the transformers alone cost far more than £100.
Stop being a cheapskate / not surprised seller was miffed at such a low ball...

Meanwhile, do buy all the cheap unsatisfactory crap you think you are owed; you are welcome to it.
Click to expand...

I have no idea how good the HD83 will be without listening to it.

If people here say it's great, and that if I dislike it, I can always sell on and recoup the value, then it seems like a clear no brainer.

I will contact the guy and see will keep the thread updated on whether it's still available/whether I arrange a pickup.
 
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