Valve based headphone amplifier recommendations

[Stokiebloke]

Hi All,

Can anyone recommend a valve based headphone amplifier that does not hum with mains frequency?

I tried a Icon audio HP8 MK2 recently, liked the presentation but not the mains hum, albeit the hum was very faint but noticeable through my sennheiser HD600's.

I have a Burson Soloist SL MK2 and it has a silent background and a neutral detailed presentation that I'm very happy with, but you know how it is, I keep wondering if the grass is really greener....?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

[struth]

if you have one that doesnt your in luck. most ive tried you get a little. prefer ss for headphones. after saying that the XS dac head amp is fairly hum free

[Stokiebloke]

if you have one that doesnt your in luck. most ive tried you get a little. prefer ss for headphones. after saying that the XS dac head amp is fairly hum free

If that is the case Grant, you have saved me some money because I can't live with mains hum in my ears!

I guess DC heater supply and choke filtering is expensive to implement if that's what's needed.

[richie60]

No hum with my Bottlehead Crack.

[Firebottle]

Hi Rob, I have one of these original PCL805 OTL headphone amplifiers from an article published in 1984.

http://www.jogis-roehrenbude.de/Verstaerker/PCL805-KH-Amp/PCL805-KH.htm

The performance is stunning, it took a couple of tweaks to perfect and as built the gain is very high but there is a way to reduce this successfully.
Be aware there is an error in the published circuit diagram.

The end of the article states 'This amp is still offered today (of course, with some improvements) at Audiovalve under the name RKV Mark II' .
The price of the Audiovalve units is quite prohibitive imo.

[Stokiebloke]

Thanks Richard, good to know. What cans are you using with the crack?
I've read they are a match made in heaven with hd600's.

[Stokiebloke]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the link. I will read with interest.
I've seen the Audiovalve gear, ....expensive!

[southall-1998_mk2]

Schiit Valhalla 2 is a nice match with 600's.

S.

[greygoose]

I have a EAR HP4 and no hum at all, used with HD800.

[richie60]

I use the HD600 or the DT1990 with the Crack (speedballed). They make a nice noise.

[Stokiebloke]

Schiit Valhalla 2 is a nice match with 600's.

S.

Hi Shane,
Thanks for the recommendation.

[Stokiebloke]

I use the HD600 or the DT1990 with the Crack (speedballed). They make a nice noise.

Thanks Richard, good to know as I have the HD600

[Stokiebloke]

I have a EAR HP4 and no hum at all, used with HD800.

Hi Colum,
Thanks for the recommendation, have tried the HD800, seriously good headphones.

[Landloper]

Hi All,

Can anyone recommend a valve based headphone amplifier that does not hum with mains frequency?

I tried a Icon audio HP8 MK2 recently, liked the presentation but not the mains hum, albeit the hum was very faint but noticeable through my sennheiser HD600's.

I have a Burson Soloist SL MK2 and it has a silent background and a neutral detailed presentation that I'm very happy with, but you know how it is, I keep wondering if the grass is really greener....?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

Happily using a Little Dot MkIII with mostly Sennheiser HD 650s [though sometimes HD 700s, when I can be bothered to reset the gain dip switches]. No mains hum - the 700s in particular are revealing, so any nonsense would be noticeable. My advice would be hang on to the Burson and experiment with valve units. I expect you are very well aware of the necessity of ensuring that the pins at the base of the tubes are clean, otherwise you may experience the undesirable type of distortion.

[Stokiebloke]

Happily using a Little Dot MkIII with mostly Sennheiser HD 650s [though sometimes HD 700s, when I can be bothered to reset the gain dip switches]. No mains hum - the 700s in particular are revealing, so any nonsense would be noticeable. My advice would be hang on to the Burson and experiment with valve units. I expect you are very well aware of the necessity of ensuring that the pins at the base of the tubes are clean, otherwise you may experience the undesirable type of distortion.

Hi John,
Thanks for the Little Dot recommendation.
I like the Caiman SEG, it also has a good headphone output.
My Burson is "a keeper" as they say, a valve based unit would be in addition as you suggest.

[ovlov854]

A possible answer is battery power. This may still be around
/www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/rwa-isabella-lfp-v-preamp-sonic-frontiers-anthem-1-power-amp-black-rhodium-opera-dct.224845/#post-3600939

I have a RWA Cassabria battery valve HPA which is similar.
Absolutely love it

[Landloper]

Hi John,
Thanks for the Little Dot recommendation.
I like the Caiman SEG, it also has a good headphone output.
My Burson is "a keeper" as they say, a valve based unit would be in addition as you suggest.

Agreed, Rob. I use an SEG too [the ability to dial in the appropriate gain setting for your headphones was a useful feature included by Stan].

[wee tee cee]

Stans Capella works very well with my 650/700s.

I run it with the seg both on battery power-great combo IMHO.

[Stokiebloke]

A possible answer is battery power. This may still be around
/www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/rwa-isabella-lfp-v-preamp-sonic-frontiers-anthem-1-power-amp-black-rhodium-opera-dct.224845/#post-3600939

I have a RWA Cassabria battery valve HPA which is similar.
Absolutely love it

Thanks for the recommendation Martin, not come across RWA before, interesting idea to resolve any mains hum issues.

[ovlov854]

A possible answer is battery power. This may still be around
/www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/rwa-isabella-lfp-v-preamp-sonic-frontiers-anthem-1-power-amp-black-rhodium-opera-dct.224845/#post-3600939

I have a RWA Cassabria battery valve HPA which is similar.
Absolutely love it


Thanks for the recommendation Martin, not come across RWA before, interesting idea to resolve any mains hum issues.

As you are not that far away you would be most welcome to come and listen to mine and bring your own HP

[Stokiebloke]

As you are not that far away you would be most welcome to come and listen to mine and bring your own HP

Hi Martin,
That is a very kind offer, thank you.
I've waded through this comprehensive list.... https://hoved-fi.dk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3753.... of valve based amplifiers, and then chased reviews of the ones within my budget....and the conclusion is I am unlikely to find anything worthwhile that is affordable for me, so unless I win the lottery (and I don't gamble at all), I shall have to be content with my Burson.... not so much of a hardship tbf!

Thanks again.

[Lawrence001]

May I ask, why did you rule out the little dot and bottlehead crack?

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[Stokiebloke]

May I ask, why did you rule out the little dot and bottlehead crack?

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Hi Lawrence,
I haven't ruled those two out specifically, I've cooled on the idea of a valve based headphone amp.

[Lawrence001]

I wouldn't give up just yet the 6xx can be sublime with a good valve amp. If you get one second hand for a good price you can pass it on at no loss. It's always worth doing some valve rolling before giving up on an amp though.

I now use a Eufonika amp from Poland, it's similar to a crack with the speedball upgrade. Stunning, but I prefer the 650 with it for a bit more warmth

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[Stokiebloke]

I wouldn't give up just yet the 6xx can be sublime with a good valve amp. If you get one second hand for a good price you can pass it on at no loss. It's always worth doing some valve rolling before giving up on an amp though.

I now use a Eufonika amp from Poland, it's similar to a crack with the speedball upgrade. Stunning, but I prefer the 650 with it for a bit more warmth

Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

Hi Lawrence,

Is it the H7 model you have? That seems close to the bottlehead crack layout, and it looks like it has four chokes in the power supply which bodes well, has it got a quiet background? Seems like a good piece of kit for the money.

[Lawrence001]

Yes I haven't used it for a while but I don't recall any noise whatsoever. After all I said, I'm currently driving a pair of Hifiman HE6 with a 1000wpc class D amp [emoji23]

I tend to switch things around every couple of months for a change. My other goto pair are HD560 Ovations which also work well with the Eufonika. And the HD650s with a Lehmann Black Cube clone (lovely cube) or my little dot Mk3. Sold both my Mk4SE and spare Mk3 the other month as I had too much gear.

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[Mike Reed]

There is a Serbian amp, whose name escapes me, which is thoroughly recommended with Senns. Two years ago I went through exhaustive research into both valved and class A units for my 650s and short-listed 3. A Teac, HA???, Beyer and this Serbian one. I ended up with a Myryad Z40 NOS class A being sold off cheaply, and haven't regretted a thing. Others who have or do use this very versatile amp sing from the same hymn-book. They do pop up on eBay on occasion for around £100. 4 inputs, 1 output, 2 x gain, 20 min. stand-by function if no signal and 2 h/ph. jack inputs.

[Stokiebloke]

There is a Serbian amp, whose name escapes me, which is thoroughly recommended with Senns. Two years ago I went through exhaustive research into both valved and class A units for my 650s and short-listed 3. A Teac, HA???, Beyer and this Serbian one. I ended up with a Myryad Z40 NOS class A being sold off cheaply, and haven't regretted a thing. Others who have or do use this very versatile amp sing from the same hymn-book. They do pop up on eBay on occasion for around £100. 4 inputs, 1 output, 2 x gain, 20 min. stand-by function if no signal and 2 h/ph. jack inputs.

Hi Mike,

There are three Serbian headphone amplifier manufacturers, Auris audio, Trafomatic and Solaja audio listed on hoved-fi.

I saw the Myriad amp being advertised and at the time thought it was too good to be true, ....he who dares wins eh?

Thanks for the recommendation.

[abbot]

I use a Little Dot MkIV SE with Siemens C3g as input valves and alternating 6SN7 as output valves. (At the moment one Brimar 6SN7 and one Melz 6N8S/6H8C). These valves need adapters but the SQ is very much better than with original valves and their equivalents. There is no background noise whatsoever. Dead silent. I listen via Sennheiser HD650.

These tubes also work with Little Dot Mk III but I got my amp at a good price as second hand. I have tried a lot of valves but these do me very good. They don't 'beautify' the music. I listen to a lot of acoustical music as well as 'electrically bettered' :) .

C3g and 6SN7 are considered 'end game tubes' on the HeadFi 'Little Dot tube rolling thread'. Next step is separate filament supply to use valves like 6080 and equivalents as output valves. They are outside of what the amp can safely handle.