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The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

Dedicated to the restoration and preservation of all original Dynaco tube audio equipment - Customer support for Tubes4hifi VTA tube amp and preamp kits and all Dynakitparts.com products


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    tube based headphone amp

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    tube based headphone amp Empty tube based headphone amp

    Post by Guest Mon Mar 10, 2014 12:16 am

    what type of headphone amp kit do members here use or recommend, thanks.
    corndog71
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    Post by corndog71 Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:00 am

    I use a Bottlehead S.e.X. amp.
    pmarcin
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    Post by pmarcin Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:47 am

    I owned a Musical Fidelity V3 and a Woo Audio 3. Both were excellent. You might try an Aikido, although it's a little large. Possible headphone amp. My Aikido (6cg7,6922) sounds better than my Monarch NM24.

    There's ebay: Ember.

    The Schlit:Aud Adv


    Last edited by pmarcin on Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:13 am; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : added)
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    Post by Guest Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:34 am

    I did a quick internet search and there are very few kits available. Bottlehead and a Graham Slee knock-off.

    Plenty of ready built amps out there however.
    Zimmer64
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    Post by Zimmer64 Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:06 am

    I use a Bottlehead S.E.X.amp.
    sKiZo
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    Post by sKiZo Mon Mar 10, 2014 12:41 pm

    Sex amp? If you have a listening session that lasts more than four hours, call a doctor immediately ...  tongue 

    I thought kit but didn't much like what I saw at the time, and went with a Maverick TubeMagic. Headphone, DAC, AND a decent basic pre, plus the tube stage. You can still roll tubes and op amps if you so desire to customize the sound.
    corndog71
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    Post by corndog71 Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:00 pm

    A friend of mine has the Maverick but found it more veiled than his JDS Labs ODAC.  Of course the latter is solid state so there's your trade-off.
    I thought the ODAC sounded really good but I'm still more of a tube guy. And the Sex amp uses single end triodes.

    I have an earlier version of the Sex amp and need to upgrade my chokes/output trannys.  Depending on the impedance of your headphones the Bottlehead Crack is another good choice.
    sKiZo
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    Post by sKiZo Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:38 pm

    Wonder if he did any upgrades on the Maverick? The stock Chinese tube and op amps suffered serious suckage, but swapping out to a Raytheon CK series tube and OPA 627's on a Browndog adapter really made mine sing ...

    Then again, it's not a kit ... so forget I mentioned it ...  geek
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    Post by Guest Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:29 pm

    thanks for all the replies.
    Yes, not many choices for kits out there, anybody has experience with the Aikido units?
    pmarcin
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    Post by pmarcin Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:18 pm

    MontanaWay wrote:thanks for all the replies.
    Yes, not many choices for kits out there, anybody has experience with the Aikido units?

    I built four of the pre-amps; I sold three of them. They're easy to build with thick boards. I kept the smallest one that I built in a Tom McNally(R)-sized, Hammond chassis, a tight fit. It's 6cg7/6922 unit and the best sounding,  most detailed unit that I own.(See diytube.com for reference and other projects.) The others  were in the Par-Metal cases, and quite large.

    I recommend buying the boards, PS and pre, first and  then choosing the transformer. I uses a B+ tran and a separate heater tran for all of the units.

    John Broskie, the owner and engineer, makes quite a few changes among the revs of his boards, so be alert. Also, some of the instructions are a little vague, e.g., the one for balancing the triodes. (It's actually in some of the revs.)


    Last edited by pmarcin on Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:29 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : added)
    gener8r
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    Post by gener8r Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:52 pm

    I've built four of these (but with some of my own mods).  As good as it gets.

    Fast service, good documentation, excellent support, and the gentleman that handles this site is in the same league as Kevin, Bob and Roy, if you know what I mean.  

    http://beezar.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=125

    Sponsored content


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