Hi-Fi Audio Ultra-Fi DIY Headphile Blog - Stereo-Untypical

I’ve ordered 4 x 0.1uF Jupiter caps to replace the radial box MKC’s in my Baby amp. I’ll report on the results as soon as I have them installed and given a few hours to warm up.

I would like to spring for the V-Caps, to do a full comparison, but they are just too expensive for me right now.  I’ve had some decent, though not staggering improvements with Auricaps in the past.  I’m hoping for ‘more’ from the Jupiters.

Related link: Comparison of crossover and signal coupling caps

Tags: DIY, Headphone amps by admin
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I picked up my used Baby amp about two months ago and I’ve been using it in several contexts. On my desktop, it drives my old B&W V201’s (90dB 4 Ohms) quite well; in my main system it powers my Silver Iris 15 Open Baffle Coaxials; and alternatively, my Audio-Technica ATH-W1000 headphones - yes, directly from the speaker taps using a 10 Ohm resistor in parallel accross each output. My Baby has the upgraded binding posts, and a pair of Western Electric 396A’s doing input tube duty.  The Baby really is compact, and moving it around is not a big deal. Nice and versatile.

This amp is a winner. It retails for 799-899 in the US, but can often be found on Audiogon in the 350-400 range. For that kind of money this is a tough amp to beat. With 4 x 6P1T Russian output tubes in a push-pull configuration, it makes about 10 watts per channel. Using efficient speakers with a benign impedance curve is advisable to get the best performance out of the amp.

Listening to it direct with reference-calibre headphones really highlights the amp’s resolution and dynamic abilities. By using the 40 Ohm headphones with a 10 Ohm resistor in parallel, the amp sees a constant 8 Ohm load….very nice. I can hear previously unheard low-level details on many discs, not just breathing and the usual studio artifacts, but even harmony vocals that were obscured before. Dynamic capability is pretty decent also, though the amp can sometimes be overtaxed by complex music. Most of all this is a very musical tube amp, but with no trace of euphonic tube distortion. The sound is clean and balanced.

Very recommendable as a great used amplifier value.

Tags: Headphone amps, Single-Ended Triodes (SET) by admin
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Head-Fi.Org — The world’s largest headphone forum (by far) is on life support. Head-fi.org is a tremendous resource by any measure, with a community of some 50,000 members. It’s a busy site and runs the vBulletin software platform. The site went down for planned maintenance sometime late 11/9 or early on 11/10, and then something in their RAID array failed.

For those of us who frequent the forum, this is getting to be agonizing. Sincere best wishes to all the admins and technical guys who make HF work, I hope they sort out the issues as soon as humanly possible. Sometimes technology just sucks!

If you have any updates from Jude, please let me know.

Tags: Headphone amps, Headphones, Industry News by admin
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This is the Darkvoice 336i, an amp that has been making a major impact in headphone audio circles. It is made in China and features a single 6N5 driver tube in front of a 6N8 rectifier. These tubes are replaceable with the 6AS7 and 6080 types - very popular Western tubes of the past. The amp therefore has enormous appeal for tube rollers. Oh, and the best part? This amp sells for an astonishing $240 on eBay. In the hotly contested budget tube amp segment, the Darkvoice appears to have the edge on competitors like the Little Dot 2++ and Feel HP100.

The Darkvoice puts out 1 watt of power, and can drive loads from 32 to 600 Ohms, making it ideal for a broad spectrum of headphones. And indeed it has been praised for its’ flexibility as an all-rounder. The 336i also has two older brothers — the all-new 332 ($400) and the top-of-the-line 337 ($600).

Tags: Headphone amps, Headphones by admin
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I haven’t been bitten hard by many retail hi-fi products in the last 7-8 years, but this amp slams me. See Srajan Ebaen’s excellent 6moons.com review for more details. This is a beautifully designed single-stage tube preamp intended as a dedicated headphone amp of the highest quality; it can also drive loudspeakers directly, although the output into an 8-Ohm load is only about 1/4 watt per channel. The amp is voiced and impedance matched for the wonderful ‘W’ series Audio-Technica headphones, also from Japan.

Congratulations to Shigeki-san on a lovely accomplishment. The amp retails in North America for $975, complete with the NOS Western Electric 408A tubes.

And if my wife is reading this, please put in a good word with Santa for me?

Tags: Headphone amps, Headphones by admin
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