Good headphone amp?

[Permanent Waves]

^ Interesting comment, IMO the Grado cans sound best out of all tube or hybrids. I am very partial to the Mapletree amps by Dr. Lloyd. Also the Musical Fidelity X-Can V2.

Yea I've always heard you want tube or hybrid for Grados too. They don't need much power to drive and with all SS they can sound too harsh and grainy for some.

That's why when my 225i's were my best cans I got a Head-Direct EF1 hybrid amp for them. It was a good match, although I ultimately switched it out for my SS Matrix M-Stage which is a better all rounder. If I listened to the Grados primarily though I don't know which amp I'd choose. And I have a high tolerance for harshness or brightness.

All of this assumes that the SS/tube distinction is real though; imo it is often greatly overstated.

 

[theoman]

The little dot came in today. Very well packed and only took a week to get.
Im pretty impressed with it's looks.
Plugged it directly into my reel to reel and placed a prerecorded beatles tape on. What a smooth sound! Its only been 2 hours and I haven't burn it yet.

But it sounds much better than going thru the R2R pre-amp or my Mac pre-amp.

Do I need to change any setting for my grado's

 

[theoman]

After a few days the little dot really came to life when I switched from my turntable to my cd player. The grados seemed to have more depth and very very clean sound.

I would have to say there a big difference between the little dot and my mcintosh pre-amp when it comes to using my headphones.

Jolida cd player, little dot III and grado 125's are so far is a great match up.

 

[Mr. Lin]

^ Interesting comment, IMO the Grado cans sound best out of all tube or hybrids. I am very partial to the Mapletree amps by Dr. Lloyd. Also the Musical Fidelity X-Can V2.

I don't really know for a fact, I'm just repeating what another member got into earlier in the thread. But it looks like our guy here has tried the combination anyway and with success!

Yea I've always heard you want tube or hybrid for Grados too. They don't need much power to drive and with all SS they can sound too harsh and grainy for some.

Although I certainly would not try to dissuade anyone with Grado headphones from getting a tube headphone amp - as you know, I've discovered my all-solid state Head Box SE sounds fantastic with my 325i Grados (with an op-amp upgrade). And some people feel the 325i is one of the brighter models in the Grado lineup (I do not, I think it's just neutral, a little lean in the bass, but tight - and awesome ). My point is that, tube or solid state, much hinges on the quality of the headphone amp in the end.

After a few days the little dot really came to life when I switched from my turntable to my cd player. The grados seemed to have more depth and very very clean sound.

I would have to say there a big difference between the little dot and my mcintosh pre-amp when it comes to using my headphones.

Jolida cd player, little dot III and grado 125's are so far is a great match up.

I'm glad to hear this has worked out for you. As a fellow Jolida 100 CDP, Grado headphones, and LD amp owner, I have an idea of what you're hearing, and I'm not surprised you like it.

One bit of side advice, if down the road you have a little bit of extra money and are looking to upgrade your setup there, one of the cheapest ways would probably be to upgrade the tubes inside your Jolida to some brand of 5751 tube (preferably NOS, IMO). That tube type is known to be just about the best kind for the Jolida 100, and I can attest to this from first-hand experience. You can get a nice pair of GE JAN 5751 tubes for like $15, even less if they're used. It's not critical that they're perfectly quiet either (like it is in other audio applications), so pretty much any decent 5751 should yield an improvement, especially if you're using the stock tubes.

It's a great CD player, there's a lot of "pop" and excitement to its sound signature.

 

[Permanent Waves]

After a few days the little dot really came to life when I switched from my turntable to my cd player. The grados seemed to have more depth and very very clean sound.

I would have to say there a big difference between the little dot and my mcintosh pre-amp when it comes to using my headphones.

Jolida cd player, little dot III and grado 125's are so far is a great match up.

Cool, glad you are enjoying your purchase. I think amps make a difference, a significant difference, even if it might not be day and night. It depends on many things. (How good the headphone out is, how good the external headphone amp is, how good the cans are, the source, etc.)

My point is that, tube or solid state, much hinges on the quality of the headphone amp in the end.

Agreed! :thmbsp:

 

[shortcuttomo]

I would have to say there a big difference between the little dot and my mcintosh pre-amp when it comes to using my headphones.

I'd be incredibly interested for you to do a "blind test" on this one - properly warm up both amps and get someone else to play music after plugging the phones into one amp or the other. Get a piece of paper and write down your comments as you listen.

Takes at least an hour to do it right, but it's really the only way to do it. It's so easy to switch cans back and forth that they're a great tool for test listens.

 

[Rob-F]

I'm not seeing any discussion here of the Xiang Sheng tube-type headphone amp. This amp has caught my eye (not my ear yet--only looking at pictures so far). I'll use my Grado Sr-80's with whatever I get.

Has anyone tried this Xiang Sheng? They are going for $200 from Hong Kong, including shipping. Objections to using Grado with a tube amp having too high an output impedance are duly noted, but I don't know if this applies to the Xiang Sheng.

 

[Rob-F]

You know what?

You know what? It just occurred to me that my Marantz 7 preamp has a low-impedance cathode follower output. Around 20 ohms source impedance I believe. I ought to make an RCA-to-phone jack adapter and see how it sounds.

 

[mrarroyo]

Rob-F you may wish to check the Xiang Sheng 708B in Head-Fi, there are a couple of large threads discussing the amp. Good luck.

 

[theoman]

Well, after two weeks of going back and forth from the little dot and my mac c-30. The c-30 sounds better with the Grado's hands down. i'm not saying that the little dot is bad! My grado 125's sound better using the mac.

Now i'm going with two systems and looking for a better match for the little dot.

 

[Permanent Waves]

Wait...so you changed your mind? That's cool...just want to be sure.

PS: How do you get your significant other (if you have one) to allow you to have gear on or around the fireplace?! Mine won't have anything to do with it on any of our fireplaces! (Granted we do use them often in the winter so it'd be a pain to move gear constantly out of the way all the time or worry about it heating up too much on the mantle).

 

[theoman]

Wait...so you changed your mind? That's cool...just want to be sure.

PS: How do you get your significant other (if you have one) to allow you to have gear on or around the fireplace?! Mine won't have anything to do with it on any of our fireplaces! (Granted we do use them often in the winter so it'd be a pain to move gear constantly out of the way all the time or worry about it heating up too much on the mantle).

I don't want to get into the fireplace issue. But while I’ve been remodeling the bathroom she's hasn’t said a word about it yet! (but will)

 

[Permanent Waves]

I don't want to get into the fireplace issue. But while I’ve been remodeling the bathroom she's hasn’t said a word about it yet! (but will)

Lol, got ya. :thmbsp:

Enjoy your cans!

 

[theoman]

So my grados will stay with the Mac. I need to start looking for the perfect match head phones for my little dot III and some upgrade tubesj

 

[theoman]

For weeks I was going back and forth from my Mac to the little dot III with the Grado's. Today I added a pair of Sennheiser's to the confusion.

 

[Mr. Lin]

For weeks I was going back and forth from my Mac to the little dot III with the Grado's. Today I added a pair of Sennheiser's to the confusion.

Which model?

 

[theoman]

I'm using Sennheiser's hd 555's and grado sr125's. The senn's sound better on the little dot. I'm hoping to get a pair of hd 650's some day.

 

[theoman]

+1 on the Matrix m-stage, $250 from Tam Audio.

If you look into tube amps, make sure it is uses output transformers (e.g. not OTL or output transformerless) so hum is not a problem.

Who would it hookup my. Computer and iPhone to. This is going to before my office an I heve to connect it to my computer

Thanks
Theo

Is there unit like that. And I don't want to connect the iPod to a 1/8 phono

 

[rnorton]

I also have the Little Dot MkIII and I, too, replaced the inputs with Mullards. I also put silicone dampers on the tubes where the mica touches the glass. I can't say enough nice things about this amp. I run its pre-amp outs into a Hafler DH200 running into B&W DM303's and a Sony SAW40 subwoofer. I use Grado 125's, Sennheiser HD25-1 II's and OLD AKG240's (600 ohm) with it and it drives them all beautifully.

 

[rnorton]

So my grados will stay with the Mac. I need to start looking for the perfect match head phones for my little dot III and some upgrade tubesj

Try Sennheiser HD25-1 II's.