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Favourite High End Headphone Amplifier?

I bought the Auris ha2-se after seeing some glowing reviews online. My music listening is all headphone based nowadays and it's a fantastic listen with Audeze Lcdx. It's my first tube based product after having solid state for over 30 years and Tube rolling the Ecc82/12au7 is great fun. I prefer a Mullard when listening to Tidal as it adds a bit of weight to the lower mids and is a little rolled off up top (Tidal sounds lightweight to normal Wav files). I have various other tubes but my favourite is a Brimar cv491 when listening to Wav files on the PC (sweet highs, tight bass and wonderful mids).
Looking forward to trying a few more brands of tubes as time goes on.
 
Found myself a built KGST amp for my Stax cans. Basically a Stax SRM007t done right without cost considerations. Sounds better than the Trilogy too.
 
MarkW said:
Yes - splendid. Can you compare to a solid state amp - KGHSSHV Carbon, for instance?
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Personally I prefer tubes with the 009s. They seem to give a little bit more harmonic texture. SS maybe better suited to the 007s but at the end of the day it’s down to personal preference at this level. All these amps piddle over the Stax amps and show how the headphones can scale up. I’m using the new 009S myself.
 
Makes sense, seems to be the consensus - if there ever is such a thing in audio. I am holding off on Stax until I have the time to build a Gilmore amp. Never built a tube amp, so that certainly has some appeal.
 
Man, I’m in love!!! Want!!! How much? Who? Just... wow!!! KGGG - meant to push beyond even BHSE or KGSSHV Carbon!!!!

#humbled
 
Recently bought a Phonitor 2 to pair with my HD800. As a speaker guy, it's the first time I can honestly say I finally get Head-Fi. I look forward to the day I can unpack my ATC SCM100ASL's again, but in the meantime I've found a compromise that still allows me to kick back, listen and enjoy it.
 
This is another area of frustration for me and I am pleased to see some manufacturers addressing it: what were important features of amplifiers back in the day have been removed and are now sold separately for thousands of pounds in some cases. I cannot say that the sound quality of them is better than what was previously available.

I had a £3.8k phono stage into a £4k preamp and a £5k power amp. I improved my quality by changing the amps to one with an integral phono stage, despite the phono stage I had being superior, in my system, to a multitude of others: I demonstrated all of the well known, high-end designs of the time in my home system and it achieved a noticeable gain in sound quality.

I moved house and needed smaller speakers. I then moved my new amps on and changed to two vintage integrated devices, one of which has a headphone socket. This beast of an amp sounds incredible with headphones. I have tried a couple of headphone amps and they are simply not as good. They are good, no doubt, but simply not as good as the internal device. I believe that there is no need for separate headphone amps. Manufacturers are selling them separately because there is money to be made. I have no issue with making a profit, the industry needs it, but I do have an issue in creating a market for audiophiles that is simply not needed. Imagine if Quality Street decided to take out the hazelnut in caramel from their tub of Christmas delights, then put them on the market next to the main pleasure device; would you buy them?
 
Depends largely on the headphones and the amp. Some don’t improve appreciably with better amplification, some do. For others, it should be considered a prerequisite, and there are a few for which it’s a necessity (e.g. Stax).
 
JTC said:
Depends largely on the headphones and the amp. Some don’t improve appreciably with better amplification, some do. For others, it should be considered a prerequisite, and there are a few for which it’s a necessity (e.g. Stax).
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I'd be surprised if it is ever a prerequisite unless the headphones are a stupidly difficult drive. Mine are a 250ohm design, so not the easiest, but they sound sublime with my integrated. I have tried four other high-end headphones with the same result.
People can spend their money as they wish, it is a free market, but I object to markets being created without need.
 
I've tried quite a few hp amps with my HD600's and agree to a certain extent that many don't make a difference.
My latest purchase is an NJC Audio Reference Headphone Amp and I can definitely say it is bringing out the best I've heard from the 600's!
Supplied direct from the Manufacturer at £400.00.
 
evand said:
Recently bought a Phonitor 2 to pair with my HD800. As a speaker guy, it's the first time I can honestly say I finally get Head-Fi. I look forward to the day I can unpack my ATC SCM100ASL's again, but in the meantime I've found a compromise that still allows me to kick back, listen and enjoy it.
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Exactly the same pairing here, and the same views - I only use headphones when the rest of the family’s still sleeping, but with this set-up it’s very close to my main system.
 
Yomanze said:
NVA AP10H for me. It would drive a pair of Klipsch speakers nevermind be fussed by headphones. Transparent and dynamic, probably my favourite amp from NVA.
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I agree and have one but I don’t think it is high enough in it’s end or impressive in it’s appearance. I think the OP is looking for something that says and looks ‘I am amazing’ rather than being enjoyable to listen to.

When I aimed for a mid to high end something the thing broke and it’s manufacturers didn’t want to know. So I ignore high end
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Some controversy for you can fans. Headphones are really easy to drive, especially high impedance ones. A fraction of a Watt is all that's needed and in fact some pre amps will drive a pair of headphones! With my HD580 Precisions I can hear only Nth degree differences between the headphone sockets of my CD player or laptop (when the laptop worked.. another story...) or PC or even a high end ish class A SS headphone amp I designed and built. yes there are slight differences and yes the separate headphone amp sounds the best but they really are tiny differences. Another HD580 user said he had found the same thing when I last mentioned this BTW so maybe they are unusually unfussy about the driving source...

Now I wonder if, as cans are so easy to drive etc, with headphone amps designed to offer wide, flat frequency response, low distortion, "a straight wire with gain" if you like, it pretty much is a case of all competently designed amplifiers sound pretty much the same? Further more, that the favoured "high end" or well reviewed or "considered the dogs bollocks" amps are in fact acting basically as tone controls, purveyors of "nice" colourations etc?

An analogy here is guitar amps. Most would agree that the sound of an electric guitar through an accurate solid state amp, especially without effects, is not good.... It's only when a valve guitar amp with 15% distortion and a frequency response like a contour map of the Pennines is used that folk think "ah yes that's a great tone from that Les Paul now"... Discuss.
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I agree. I've posted before on this, but my iPad sounds pretty much the same with my HD650 & 600 (I also had the same result with the HD800S) as my Icon Audio HP8 MkII and Auralic Taurus II. Granted, it doesn't go as loud, but it's loud enough for my needs. The sonic differences are tiny and only noticeable with concentrated A-B comparisons.
 
oldius said:
I believe that there is no need for separate headphone amps. Manufacturers are selling them separately because there is money to be made. I have no issue with making a profit, the industry needs it, but I do have an issue in creating a market for audiophiles that is simply not needed.
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On the contrary, I think you're overlooking the fact that many folk these days do not have the space to accommodate traditional Hi-Fi. I had a dedicated, treated room in which to enjoy my ATC's. Since being in the UK they're crated and in storage because I don't have the space to accommodate the lot.
 
evand said:
On the contrary, I think you're overlooking the fact that many folk these days do not have the space to accommodate traditional Hi-Fi. I had a dedicated, treated room in which to enjoy my ATC's. Since being in the UK they're crated and in storage because I don't have the space to accommodate the lot.
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I can see that. I am though really talking about the removal of headphone sockets from amplifiers so that a separate unit can be made.
 
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