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Favourite High End Headphone Amplifier?

Been watching this thread with interest, thought I would share my thoughts. Recently purchased a Rega Brio which has a dedicated headphone output, also have a Mytec Liberty DAC/Headphone amp. Neither of these is anywhere near as good as my Woo Audio Fireflies with matching PSU. Granted the Woo cost as much as the Brio & Liberty combined but the difference in bass weight, scale, detail & every other HiFi cliche you can name is night & day. Late night listening with my Focal Elears can go on into the early hours with absolutely no listening fatigue.
 
Not sure if these have been mentioned, but DarkVoice 337 (doesn't sound dark) and SMSL VA1 (voiced for Sennheiser) are both excellent. DarkVoice is made for Japanese market and should be used with 120/100 stepdown transformers. Also being an OTL tube amp, benefits from careful tube selection.
 
I've had a demo of some Stax SR-009S's and a Stax SRM T8000 headphone amp. They were very impressive on every level, from comfort and sound detail to placement of instruments and voices. The improvement over the SR-009 pair was obvious, they were more upfront for a start. Electrostatic headphones really are a game changer.

Can believe there are other hybrid tube headphone amps which might be better and cheaper. There is however a fourth as yet undesignated section on the T8000, which might be for a direct turntable input. I guess there would be another module to add to the T8000 for this.

It is interesting to discover Jude Mansilla from Head-Fi now prefers the SR-007s, because his tastes have changed, although he says the 009S definitely top the pre-S pair.


The UK exchange rate is crap at the moment. A top Stax set-up is the price of a decent secondhand car. I might be tempted to go down that road in the future though.

Jack
 
TheDecameron said:
Mike, you had a Chord Dave did you not? How was it for driving headphones and what was the beast amp you’ve experienced with moving coil headphones?
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The DAVE is a great DAC but I can’t recommend it as a headphone amp - I found it a bit lifeless driving Utopias and D8000’s. For dynamic headphones I think the EAR HP4 is still the one to beat but I’ve also got the Head-Amp GS-X Mk2 which is as great solid state alternative. At the moment the HP4 is my go to so I’ll probably have to let the GS-X go as I really want to try a KGSSHV Carbon to drive my MrSpeaker Voce’s.
Going on reviews another option would be the Pass HP1 for dynamics.
 
Jack, the Stax 8000 isn’t meant to be that great and word on the street is that the only way to really hear what a pair of 007/009/009S can do is to pair with an amp on the Kevin Gilmore design family (e.g. KGSSHV variants, KGST, KGGG or the much lauded BHSE). I’m damned happy with 007 mk1 driven by KGSSHV Mini, and it leaves all the other headphones I have owned in the dust...
 
JTC said:
Jack, the Stax 8000 isn’t meant to be that great and word on the street is that the only way to really hear what a pair of 007/009/009S can do is to pair with an amp on the Kevin Gilmore design family (e.g. KGSSHV variants, KGST, KGGG or the much lauded BHSE). I’m damned happy with 007 mk1 driven by KGSSHV Mini, and it leaves all the other headphones I have owned in the dust...
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Thanks for the info. All I know for sure is when I listened to the Stax 009S's they were an obvious step up from the 009's.

Jack
 
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If I was designing a high end headphone amplifier, I would add HRTF options and a selectable output impedance. Some headphones are voiced for as high as 120 Ohm source (the old IEC 61938 standard from 1996)
 
Just pressed the button and ordered a KGSSHV Carbon:). Birgir is a pleasure to deal with and made some interesting observations regarding the Voce. Now experimenting with different pads:rolleyes:. I can see a pair of Stax SR007's looming on the horizon.
 
Mike, yes, Birgir is a real gent. It's just a shame that you can't easily hear a Mjolnir before you order (unless you are very lucky), which means taking that leap of faith. Depending on how 2019 goes, I may consider a BHSE, but my KGSSHV Mini (which will be somewhat inferior to your Carbon) truly takes the 007mk1s to a different place.

The big question I keep coming back to is this: would 007+BHSE be a better setup than 009S+KGSSHV Mini... I think Birgir's view is that, properly amped, the 007 may in fact be the better all-round headphone, but at that level I am sure it's all down to individual preference...
 
Birgir doesn’t seem that keen on the 009S but, like you say, it’s all down to the individual. in fact, he seems pretty unimpressed with most electrostatics apart from the 007.
 
The 009S is slightly less toppy/bright than the 009 which can come across as less detailed I suppose although imo more tonally accurate. The Carbon is also fairly bright and whilst some on head-fi have initially praised the combination they have engaged in tube rolling to tame it down. Daft in my opinion. I think the Carbon May be more suited to the 009S and the BHSE to the 009. Just my 2 cents.
 
There is a review of the Stax T8000 in the latest Hi Fi + which has just downloaded. Summarised as excels in midrange detail but look aftermarket if you want a more gutsy sound. Which means like all Stax amps - a bit thin sounding.
 
monya said:
The Carbon is also fairly bright and whilst some on head-fi have initially praised the combination they have engaged in tube rolling to tame it down.
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Strange! I thought the Carbon was fully solid-state, basically a KGSSHV with some (hugely) uprated components and circuit variations. Not sure where tube-rolling would come in, unless a tube-pre was introduced for sone reason?
 
monya said:
There is a review of the Stax T8000 in the latest Hi Fi + which has just downloaded. Summarised as excels in midrange detail but look aftermarket if you want a more gutsy sound. Which means like all Stax amps - a bit thin sounding.
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I would tend to agree that ‘gutsy’ would describe what the KGSSHV brings most over the 006T I used before. With the 007mk1, it has prodigious bass weight, definition and control, but in doing so it trades off perceived nimbleness (but that’s an illusion - it’s still hyper-fast compared to anything else)...
 
JTC said:
Strange! I thought the Carbon was fully solid-state, basically a KGSSHV with some (hugely) uprated components and circuit variations. Not sure where tube-rolling would come in, unless a tube-pre was introduced for sone reason?
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You’re right. The Carbon is tube free. I was having a Senior Moment! However I don’t recommend a Carbon with the 009 which could be a bit bright.Maybe better with the S variant.
However at this level it’s all down to personal preference really. All these amps are very good. I’ve also found tonal variations with different feet or platforms + interconnects.
 
Sorry to bring the tone down a bit, but what is the cheapest/easiest/best entry point for trying a pair of Stax?
 
I too am watching this thread with interest having picked up a pair of Utopias. There's such a huge range of headphone amps and DACs in the marketplace its hard to know where to start.
 
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