Anyone using nobsound. And is it safe to ?

[boza]

Hi everyone
I just ordered one of these little guy's


I will mainly be using it with a sony CD player in the bedroom but I was wondering if it would be safe to hook it up to the tape output on my main amplifier. Is there anything I need to know or be careful of.
I've never had anything with tubes before so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks boza

 

[JoeESP9]

I have one. Yes, you can connect it to a tape output. I replaced the tubes with some NOS 6688's. The case gets hot. Not hot enough to cause any problems but hot enough to make you not want to hold it for long. It looks larger in the pictures than it actually is. It's roughly the size of a pack of cigarettes. I also have a Bravo V2 with an upgraded tube. That runs hot also.

Perhaps I should mention that I have a Little Dot MKII on order. Massdrop and Newegg both have it for $119. I'm looking forward to an all tube headphone amp.

 

[boza]

I have one. Yes, you can connect it to a tape output. I replaced the tubes with some NOS 6688's. The case gets hot. Not hot enough to cause any problems but hot enough to make you not want to hold it for long. It looks larger in the pictures than it actually is. It's roughly the size of a pack of cigarettes. I also have a Bravo V2 with an upgraded tube. That runs hot also.

Perhaps I should mention that I have a Little Dot MKII on order. Massdrop and Newegg both have it for $119. I'm looking forward to an all tube headphone amp.

Thanks joeESP9
That's really helpful. I've looked at the little dot it looks really nice you'll have to let us know what you think.
I thought the nobsound would be ok to run my jvc ha-rx900 headphones.
With them only being entry level cans I didn't want to spend too much but the nobsound looks quite cool and seams to get good reviews. And I will definitely try some different tubes.
Thanks again joe

boza

 

[JoeESP9]

BTW: I think the Nobsound sounds pretty good. It certainly looks nicer than the Bravo V2. The tube replacement IMO/E made a very positive difference in the sound. Bear in mind that headphones are not my primary listening devices. So, I may not be qualified to make qualitative judgements regarding the performance of headphone amplifiers.

 

[boza]

I

BTW: I think the Nobsound sounds pretty good. It certainly looks nicer than the Bravo V2. The tube replacement IMO/E made a very positive difference in the sound. Bear in mind that headphones are not my primary listening devices. So, I may not be qualified to make qualitative judgements regarding the performance of headphone amplifiers.

I've bean using the output on my yamaha as500 but I usually listen to speakers not headphones. it's nice to be able to listen without disturbing the wife now and then or when everyone is in bed so a I thought a little headphone amp would be handy.
I'm looking foreword to seeing how it sounds with the JVC's.

 

[boza]

My amp came this morning I only ordered it saterday.

In the box


It's a nicely made little bit of kit and fairly solid for the price.

Set up with a CD player and my JVC's.



And one on its own


Really happy with it so far. One thing I did do was clean the pins on the tubes as they were a bit rough.
I would recommend one if you on a tight budget

 

[boza]

One quick question ?
Do tubes need to bed in at all.

Thanks boza

 

[Lavane]

I bought this one. Its pretty much the same thing. After replacing the tubes for some nice GE JAN's it sounds very nice. Tube front end, single ended SS out. It can be used as a preamp too with RCA outs on the back.

 

[Lavane]

One quick question ?
Do tubes need to bed in at all.

Thanks boza

Yes tubes need to burn In. Try some 6688's as Joe suggested. Ive found that many of the Chinese signal tubes can be microphonic and noisy.

 

[boza]

I bought this one. Its pretty much the same thing. After replacing the tubes for some nice GE JAN's it sounds very nice. Tube front end, single ended SS out. It can be used as a preamp too with RCA outs on the back. View attachment 903682

That's nice I like the wood front panel.
I've been looking into better tubes it looks like it will use 3 different types.
The ones that came with it are a little sharp at the moment I'm hoping they smooth out a bit with use but it seems to have plenty of detail.

 

[boza]

Yes tubes need to burn In. Try some 6688's as Joe suggested. Ive found that many of the Chinese signal tubes can be microphonic and noisy.

Thanks I will. It dose look like you have more choice with the 6688

 

[bigx5murf]

I have a few of these (little bear and little dot). Keep them away from wireless devices if you listen to a lot of quiet music.

 

[boza]

Seeing as the tubes in this don't get that warm I thought I would make some tube dampers.
I had a bit of a leather belt that I've cut a strip off and join'd together.



They seem to work really well.

 

[JoeESP9]

I like that wooden stand.

 

[boza]

I like that wooden stand.

thanks i made it to go under my phono stage.

 

[Lavane]

Seeing as the tubes in this don't get that warm I thought I would make some tube dampers.
I had a bit of a leather belt that I've cut a strip off and join'd together.
View attachment 904175
View attachment 904176

They seem to work really well.

cool dampers. the 6j1's that came with mine were horrible. just breathing on them came theough the speakers.

 

[boza]

cool dampers. the 6j1's that came with mine were horrible. just breathing on them came theough the speakers.

Thanks. I think these are a bit dodgy but there definitely better with the dampers. It doesn't sound too bad but I think the cheep tubes arn't helping. Although I'm not sure how much of an influence the tubes have in this amp so it will be cool when I can com pair some better one's to what came in the amp.

 

[boza]

Got it set up in its permanent home in the bedroom on a sony cdp-m41 CD player.

I'm using it with my jvc ha-rx700. It sounds really nice for what it cost. It is starting to smooth out a bit now it's had a few hours use. I'm happy for now but looking forward to hearing some better tubes in there see what improvement I can get.

 

[luvvinvinyl]

I got one of these from my Secret Santa, here on AK!!!

I ran my phono stage into it, and enjoyed some late night listening.

There are some very nice tubes available for small money. (<$10US) I've been having fun rolling different tubes into it. All the old tubes outperformed the Sino tubes that came with it. It's a question of which voice you prefer. Since I never much spent time listening with cans, I only have a pair of SR-80s, but they never sounded so good as with this little amp and some old-stock Mullard tubes. Still on deck are the Japanese and German tubes. This is kinda fun!

 

[boza]

I got one of these from my Secret Santa, here on AK!!!

I ran my phono stage into it, and enjoyed some late night listening.

There are some very nice tubes available for small money. (<$10US) I've been having fun rolling different tubes into it. All the old tubes outperformed the Sino tubes that came with it. It's a question of which voice you prefer. Since I never much spent time listening with cans, I only have a pair of SR-80s, but they never sounded so good as with this little amp and some old-stock Mullard tubes. Still on deck are the Japanese and German tubes. This is kinda fun!

Hope you don't mind me asking but what model tubes do you use in yours.
It looks like the 6688 is a good choice
.