Headphone amplifier??

[madmac]

Hi all,

Anybody have an opinion about this headphone amp??.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006HH131A/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&colid=3CJF8MRACBQ62&coliid=I2JSRDZZXRINO5&me=&seller=

[wkhanna]

I see a problem right off the bat……
…..No Valves.

We use a ‘T’ amp at work in our lab to play lossless files off of a portable HD via a decent sound card we installed in a PC. It powers a respectable pair of Dayton B652 bookshelfs. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-650

The little 15 watt ‘T’ amp performs quite well for its intended purpose of ambient fill (think college dorm room); however I would never consider using a ‘T’ amp dedicated to home use on a set of decent cans.


The Little Dot Mk.III is Stereophile rated Class’B’, for whatever you personally feel that is worth. (ePay link for reference only) http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=...ii&geo_id=9992

The Schiit Asgard (solid state for those with anti-valve bias….pun intended) is considered one of the best values available in can amps currently. http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?mai...&products_id=1

NuForce has a nice little unit, too.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=1NUICONIDOBLU

[audioqueso]

The little 15 watt ‘T’ amp performs quite well for its intended purpose of ambient fill (think college dorm room); however I would never consider using a ‘T’ amp dedicated to home use on a set of decent cans.

Agreed.
I had a t-amp before that I tried out with headphones and speakers.
I think they are great for what they are. Good for the price.
However, my Nuforce uDac was much more defined compared to the t-amp (this was using a pair of Audio Technica A900's and Sennheiser HD595).

Cheaper on ebay. But I would say that it depends on your headphones and source. You could also check out head-fi.org, but those guys are super headphone fanatics and may end up convincing you to spend $500 on a headphone amp. :B They are good guys though.

[madmac]

I will be using a pair of Grado SR 80's which are not bad cans for the money. However, I'm not going to buy a 500 buck amp to power a set of 200 dollar headphones. I play mine though the headphone jack of my CD player and am happy with the result so I have to be realistic about the headphone amp I'm going to buy. I need the amp for both music and home theater in an apartment environment where loud audio will not likely be tolerated.

[Silver1omo]

This has received good reviews:

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

You can read about it in here:

http://nwavguy.blogspot.mx/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html

You can buy it fully assembled or in parts for the joy of the assembly.

[madmac]

This has received good reviews:

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

You can read about it in here:

http://nwavguy.blogspot.mx/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html

You can buy it fully assembled or in parts for the joy of the assembly.

That sounds more like my speed!. I'll have to check and see if it's available in Canada. Thanks for the suggestion. :T

[Silver1omo]

This shop http://www.headnhifi.com/index.php/shop/enclosures has cheap enclosures and ships worldwide. I think you can get all the parts from there (including b grade enclosure, parts kit, PCB and shipping) for around $68 USD.

[madmac]

That sounds more like my speed!. I'll have to check and see if it's available in Canada. Thanks for the suggestion. :T

I've checked into this unit and although it looks great, I do not understand why it only has a 3.5mm input. What I want to do is connect it to the tape out RCA jacks of my amp so that I can use my headphones for anything I wish to hear, including movies from my DVD and BD player. Why no RCA inputs?. I don't get it?

[madmac]

Decided to order the O2 today....excellent customer service by the way!!. They replied to my inquiries within a few hours. I'll let you know how the whole thing turns out and how it performs!!.

[Silver1omo]

Great! If I remember right, there is a "desktop" version of the O2 in the works. That should include RCA connectors.

Please let us know your impressions.

[madmac]

This one that I have now is basically a desktop one. It's not something I would want to carry around in my pocket. It even comes with little feet that glue on to the bottom to place on top of your amp.

On another note, the guy at the audio shop told me when I was buying replacement foam surrounds for my Grado SR 80's that they were collectors items at this point. Apparently they don't make 'em like they used to!!. They do sound great, I must admit!!.

[Silver1omo]

Nice, I just got a PCB for the O2.
BTW, how does it sound?

[madmac]

Nice, I just got a PCB for the O2.
BTW, how does it sound?

I've had it on for a couple of weeks now and it's sounds sweet!!. Really nice!. Piles of power too. Get good wires for your hookup though. :W

[Silver1omo]

cool, I'm using a CMoy for now.