Budget valve headphone amplifiers?

[CageyH]

Is there any decent budget headphone amplifiers available using valves that are any good?
I fancy a change from my SS headphone amp, and seeing lots of Chinese amps available makes me wonder if they are any good?

[CageyH]

:wave:

Is anybody running a valve based headphone amplifier?

[willbewill]

I've got a Bottlehead Crack (no I don't need to see a doctor:lol: ), really good if you are into DIY building and high impedance headphones.

[CageyH]

Headphones are 300 ohm Sennheiser HD650 and HD540 Ref II.
How difficult was the build?

[mightymonoped]

I recently got a Little Dot Mk2. Loving it to bits at the moment. Has configurable gain switches internally for dealing with different headphone impedances. Can be used as a Preamp also. I'm currently running it from the Tape Out on my amp which gives me flexibility in terms of speakers versus headphones. You can also roll the valves if that's your bag. Watford Valves have some pre-tested options specifically for this headphone amp. Inly downside is that it expects a 220v supply, so I need to sort this out soonish as my mains supply is running in the 240's. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170717/0f5e92a060a85dfe271d42b2feca28c3.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Audio Al]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Douk-Audio-Mini-6J9-Vacuum-Valve-Tube-Headphone-Amplifier-Stereo-HiFi-Warm-Amp-/253038407351?hash=item3aea43aeb7:g:IPoAAOSwnK9ZSIm O

[CageyH]

The douk is one I looked at, but surely for £20 the build quality will. be questionable?

[willbewill]

Headphones are 300 ohm Sennheiser HD650 and HD540 Ref II.
How difficult was the build?

I bought mine off a friend so didn't have to build but it looks pretty straightforward.

[Simon_LDT]

I believe Schiit do some well-regarded valve headphone amps. I've got their SS Asgard which is excellent.

[Maouna]

Just got my WOO AUDIO WA6 for 280 pounds from eBay second hand . Its been running 2 hour now because it has a new rectifier tube and it's just a stock tube and it sounds BEAUTIFUL with my new SENH/hd650 . Try to check one out if you can.

[CageyH]

Thanks for the recommendations.
The Little Dot looks interesting, but if the budget is upped a little the Schiit Valhalla comes into range.
I have always fancied a piece of Schiit.

An OTL headphone amp? Is it a good idea.
Maybe I should speak to Mr Fitkrebottle and see if he can make me one with a massive power supply. As apparently they make all the difference.

[Simon75]

I've been using the Schiit Vali with a pair of Sennheiser hd600s for a couple of years. I suspect I would have to spend a great deal more for something better sounding. Sounds especially good with the Mani phonostage, but also great through a CD player.

[nickds1]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1815752970/hybrid-tube-amp-for-the-raspberry-pi?ref=user_menu

Really like it...

20941

Of course it's rather more than just a headphone amp - it runs max2play on the Pi so it's a Vortexbox client too, i.e. everything is served to it. I use RPi 3s, using the inbuilt WiFi and it works very well... use Orange Squeeze on my phone to control it.