What do you mean by this. Are you saying integrated amps out of the speaker taps behave differently than a power amp out of the speaker taps? I know that these power amps aren’t necessarily designed to drive a higher impedance load (more than 4 to 8 ohms) but I haven’t heard of anyone having an issue assuming a volume control is in place to protect the headphones.
Also, thanks for the feedback on the other amps. I’ve looked at the Angstrom Stella SHA20 and Aries Cerat genus but the prices for those are way outside my budget so I’ve ignored them for now (although it seems most of the amps that would be a significant step up are way outside my budget haha). Fortunately I’m really liking how my system sounds so I have plenty of time to research other options and save for something nice.
Do you have any specific sonic characteristics you want to focus on?
The primavera is good but I like that more with the susvara than the 1266
Out of those I’ve only heard the ha300 (although I have heard the evo 400 but only with speakers), and while that’s a nice amp, it’s likely more a sidegrade to what you already have, different yes but not sure if I’d call that an overall upgrade. Now the modwright ha300 on the other hand would be an upgrade lol
Also, while I have not heard the cfa3, I would suspect it to be a downgrade from what you have already tbh. Again though not heard it so can’t really say anything, but only basing that statement off other diy kg designs I’ve heard in the past
Mass kobo 394, it would have excellent synergy with all the headphones with the mysphere 3.2 and the 1266, not heard the lcd 5 though so no comment there
I personally wouldn’t grab a stella if your main headphone is a 1266, it’s awesome with a mysphere 3.1, utopia, and susvara depending on what you are looking for, but I think that amp drops the ball in the bass with the 1266 which is something I really would want to prioritize with a 1266 lol. Genus is pretty amazing though
Just a quick comment here. I’ve only heard the naut and ha300 out of this list but those two sound pretty wildly different. Sub 10k you could also look into maybe paulauf. Its mysoheres creators favorite amp for the 3.1 and also seems to be a favorite in the 1266 thread. That said, I haven’t heard it so take that with a grain of salt. Also, have you considered something like an OG cavali Liquid Gold? I think branching out into tubes would be the way I would go if I were you but its at least something you can look into. I have lines on few of them if you want more info just shoot me a pm
Again though, all going off of hearsay not my own ears here. The wa33 was solid with lcd-5 but I haven’t been a massive fan of the amp in terms of “getting my foot tapping” in the chains I’ve used it in
I think both of those would be solid sidegrades (well the paulauf would be an upgrade if you had a mysphere over the 2 amps he has, but not for the 1266), but I don’t really think either would be a leap over what he has tbh. Both awesome amps, but I don’t know about an upgrade in ability
Thats very interesting. I assumed the OG LAu would be a side grade but I guess the price of the pautlauf just made me assume it may be an upgrade. Good to know thats where it stacks up.
I would say it’s quite well poised if you have a mysphere, I’d def rather have a hpa100 over a formula s + powerman or liquid gold, at least with a mysphere. I still might rather have the other amps with the 1266 though, depends
I listed some in my original post but too far towards the end. Here’s what I’m looking for: bass like the Formula S and Powerman, warmer more organic sound, slightly softer treble, and bigger stage and depth.
I know someone who really enjoys the ha300 with the 1266 so that’s why I’m considering it but it definitely does seem like a side grade to me. It’s not at the top of my list but might be fun to demo if I can. Same goes for the Primaluna.
I will look into the modwright ha300.
As for the CFA3 there are some on head-fi who insist it’s much better than the Formula S and Powerman however there are some usability quirks like not being able to plug in and out headphones while the amp is running that makes it less than appealing. It isn’t super expensive though, I think 2-4k depending on upgrades so would be a cheaper option.
I had this on my list after reading through your amplifier pairings with these headphones then removed it since I thought it would be too similar to the Formula S + Powerman but since I’m open to finding something that’s an upgrade to the XIAudio amp not just different I will reconsider it. Also the price for the mass kobo is more in line with what I’d be comfortable paying for a new amp.
Do you have impressions on the nautilus you could share, that’s the one I’m more interested in
I did a quick google search on this and couldn’t find it, do you mind linking it?
I am interested in this after reading your impressions on it from some different places, I think discord maybe. I was thinking about not going after amps like EC, DNA, or Cavalli that are harder to find but it’s an option for sure.
Definitely after the foot tapping amps so maybe the wa33 is not the best here but then again I wouldn’t say the lcd-5 is really a foot tapping sort of headphone like the 1266.
Cool cool just wanted to make sure I understood you correctly.
That really sounds like the aic 10 tbh. I think the 845 would offer you grander stage and tighter bass as well although it isn’t that soft, but it is organic, but it’s not something I’d consider warm either. The wa33 could be in the running, although I might worry it wouldn’t be warm enough for what you are looking for. The trafomatic would be a good pick imo
When I had mine it was a good match imo, helped tame things down, give a more holographic stage, and also offered better timbre and tonal density, better microdynamics too. I do think it did make things a bit too rounded for my tastes but it was an enjoyable pairing nonetheless (I wonder if I should have included it in my comparison initially)
People have said similar about other kg designs that just didn’t line up with my experiences as well, the kg fans on headfi or headcase tend to be pretty (let’s be generous here) enthusiastic about the diy designs and how they compare to other things lol. But again not heard it so no real idea
Honestly I wouldn’t do that with most amps mentioned. I will 100% assure you something like the 845 will blow itself up along with the headphones if you do something like that as well
It is pretty different, although it’s signature might not be the sound you are after. It’s a more cleanly neutral but it’s an organic and well bodied cleanly neutral. Focuses more on overall control, depth and placement accuracy, micro ability and nuance (while still not letting down in macro), and presenting it in a fairly organic manner. I just don’t know if it’s signature and strengths are what you are looking to focus on
I would personally rule out DNA if you want to prioritize the 1266, I don’t think the dna amps I’ve heard were good pairings with the 1266 really whatsoever, but with a mysphere 3.1 and potentially your lcd 5 (seemingly amps similar to the d8kp sorta so basing off that) it would potentially be very worthwhile to consider, I think for a solid upgrade you’d want to go stellaris although I hear the stratus now has better quality components so also might be viable. For EC, perhaps a studio b or balancing act might be worth a look although I thought it was only good and not great with the 1266, and going higher into upgrade territory the studio (try to find a studio monolith than tribute in your case). For cavalli I still think it might be more a sidegrade but the liquid gold would still meet what you are mainly looking for tbh quite well
Just FWIW that stipulation comes from a user without an electronics background and not from the designer not the builder…
Either way, I think on the CFA3 you should just hold off for a bit until gizmo gets his and can comment on it. 1266 is his main can currently and he basically cares about bass control over all else. TBH you may be able to buy it off him in a couple months at a solid price anyways if its a curriosity of yours. Ontop of this headamp is working on a CFA3 they plan to drop later this year.
Something to consider here: The maker hates selling to US customers. Im not sure why but he really doesnt like doing it. If you can find one used or someone in japan to proxy you may be better off.
Also, I dont have the 394 but I love the ever living shit out of my portable 428. Its to the point that (for cans it can run) I generally subjectively prefer it to most of the popular amps in the ~1500 used range (GSX-mini, V281, phonitor). The timbre and texture of the thing are genuinly just fantastic. If the 394 is just a step up in technicalities and has the same house sound it will be an amazing pairing for 1266 given the 428 is already a pretty damn solid combo at lower listening levels (though the 1266 is clearly under driven by it)
Not that I would be confidant enough to give others. I heard it at canjam and while I did spend close to 2 hours on it across the two days with a ton of cans it ultimately was just an amp that didnt realy speak to me. That said, I was clearly in the minority of my friends group distinctly preferring the forge/og mogwai due to its more special spatial presentation. I shot a couple of guys invites a few minutes ago that actualy have one so maybe they can comment once they get added.
Only reason I even brought up the OG LAu is because there are a couple for sale right now. Ultimately with OOP stuff its not worth reqing unless you have a line on one to pass on IMO
Just take this with a grain of salt. Tons and tons of people love wa33 and it does give them foot taps. Something to keep in mind is that I like pretty lush and vivid mid and generally like some more unnatural staging. This is not wa33s strong suit and the fact that I only tried it on more forward/dry dacs (dave and weiss) didnt do it any favors either. TBH I kinda got the impression that wa33 was super duper source transparent but maybe someone else can comment there since I didnt try it on enough stuff to know for sure.
Yeah I’m looking forward to his impressions as the initial amp smoking was not reassuring but now we know you can’t hot-plug headphones. If he enjoys it I may look for one myself. I’m also looking forward to the more available version of it that is in the works. Didn’t realize that was happening through headamp so that’s cool.
Ok, for the longest time I have been turning on headphone amps with volume at 0, plugging in the headphones, then adjusting volume / gain for listening. To turn off I have been setting volume to 0, removing the headphones, then powering the amp off.
Are you saying that with these more “delicate” amps that you would plug the headphones in before turning on the amp and unplug them after turning off the amp?
Also been looking at MySphere and seeing where they can be ordered from. Woo has open box options that seem like a good value but the 3.2 is not available now.
The confusing thing is that the prices here are approx 3400 euro (3900 usd) excluding VAT MYSPHERE 3 but the msrp on places like woo is almost 5k usd. MYSPHERE 3 — Woo Audio
I would prefer open box, b-stock, or pre-owned but what’s up with the price discrepancy between the manufacturer and places like Woo?
This didnt come from KG (the designer) or dukie (the builder). They both said that hot plugging was just fine. this came from an owner of the amp on HF.
Yes, top one is the normal site. He is the one that didnt like shipping to the US and he will even give japanese customers some discounts there. TBH if you know anyone in japan having them buy it and ship would probabaly be a fair bit cheaper. I didnt consider zeplin though. Thats not a bad shout. I will say though that they are significantly cheaper the 7800 sgd used. It may be worth while to post a WTB ad if you are looking for one.
What is reqed by designers is all over the place with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Burson for example reqs only swapping cans while the amps are off but their amps also have massive DC spikes as they turn on and have a serious issue blowing up cans. Just tbh, for headphone amps, I would probably consider it a pretty serious ergonomic flaw if I couldnt swap cans with the amp on…
EDIT: As for mysphere prices they seem to be all over the place. Hans is on this board if you want to PM him to see if he has any b-stock for sale. You can always hit up woo directly as well to see if they have any inbound.
The issue is that tube speaker amps are often designed for a very narrow set of loads, hence often the inclusion of separate 4 and 8 ohm outputs. The reason for this is that in most SET designs the load on the speaker taps is a part of the amplifier circuit. It’s “reflected” through the transformer and limits the current flowing through the tube itself.
While you are unlikely to damage anything using a higher load (though I can imagine designs where this is not true), it can pretty radically change the character of the amp, you’re basically changing the load line for the output stage, which is the primary design decision in most tube amps.
Short version it won’t necessarily sound the same with headphones on the speaker taps as it does with speakers, and worst case you could get some pretty significant unintended distortion.
Not all tube amps have this issue, if the design includes a CCS then that ought to make it far less sensitive to the output load.
I would agree as well, given the amp has enough juice for the headphones you are trying to drive
Yes the 424 is like a baby 394, and the 394 also ups it’s macro performance as well, becomes more well rounded, phenomenal amp
Correct, although I would unplug them until after the amp is off. Although the 845 is an extreme edge case, that amp will blow itself up at any chance it can, if you turn it on wrong it will shit itself (there’s a 3 way switch, middle is off, top is on, and bottom is warm up. To turn it on, you need to flip the amp down to warm up for I do it for 10 minutes, and then very quickly flip all the way up to on, if you linger in the middle it will shit itself so it needs to be one swift motion). You can hot swap something like the aic 10 more safely for example, but still wouldn’t suggest it, just follow what the mfg says
From my previous post, the load is a part of the circuit, if you remove it entirely (unplug) the current flowing through the tube skyrockets and can simply destroy one of the components in that signal path, that’s usually one of the Cathode resistor, the tube itself or worst case the multi thousand dollar output transformer.
My tube monoblocks are fused to prevent real damage if you turn them on without a load (and yes I’ve tested the feature accidentally), but not all amps are.
Even the WA33 (which isn’t pushing a ton of power by speaker amp standards) instructions state that you shouldn’t leave the amp on for an extended period without headphones plugged in, unless it’s in preamp mode.
Wow. I think you litteraly just removed the 845 from my interest list entierly…
Riviera said just turn volume down and you are fine to swap when I asked. I didn’t ask about letting it warm up with nothing plugged in though. Guess I’ll shoot them another email
