Entry level tube amps for beginers

[RexAevum]

Hello everyone,

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but would love to hear your opinion about some nice tube amps on a budget. I am looking for a nice robust entry level tube amp for low impedance headphones to try and round them out.

Budget - ~$500

Source - PC->Questyle cma600i / Schit Modi 2 Uber

Preferred tonal balance - Warm tubey sound (doesn't hae to be by default, will want to try my hand at rolling tubes). I am trying to make my more airy headphones sound more musical and softer, to reduce some of the peaks in the highs.

Current headphones -

1. Audeze LCD-X
2. Audio Technica AD100x & m40x
3. Philips Fiddelio X2 & SHP9500
4. Monoprice Retro

Future Headphones (possible): 1. Mr.Speakers Aeon Closed 2. Focal Ealear or Clear 3. Audeze LCD-2c 4. Senheiser HD600 or HD6xx form Massdrop

Preferred Music - Listening to a wide variety of music, no specific preference.

Considered options:

1. Garage 1217 Project Ember 2 or Sunrise 3
2. Schiit Lyr 2
3. DarkVoice 336SE
4. Woo Audio WA6 (a bit over budget but if really worth it might consider)
5. Bottlehead S.E.X. 3.0 kit

Location - USA

Notes: Currently leaning towards something form garage 1217, either the ember or the sunrise, since i have heard the tubes for the amp are very easy to find, are cheap, it offers a wide range of customization and works well with low ohm headphones.

Anyone have experience with Garage 1217 stuff ?Any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[kxrider85]

The Bottlehead Crack w/ Speedball is renowned for being a great pairing with the HD 650. That's all I really know though.

[3 Minute Reviewer]

32 minutes ago, kxrider85 said:

The Bottlehead Crack w/ Speedball is renowned for being a great pairing with the HD 650. That's all I really know though.

Do you happen to have one/have you built one? This is actually a really intriguing option imho at this price point.

[kxrider85]

49 minutes ago, kmathieu2220 said:

Do you happen to have one/have you built one? This is actually a really intriguing option imho at this price point.

I have not. I looked into it when my HD 6XX was on order, but just didn't quite want to spend the money.

EDIT: Actually, the Crack may not be such a good choice. It has a high output impedance, making it pretty limited with planars like your LCD-X

[seduce_me]

Cheap tube amps (below $700) are warm and distorted and suck at neutrality. I like the Bottlehead Crack though, it doesn't try to hide what it is and once fully upgraded is actually quite a decent amp. Avoid the Darkvoice or Little Dots, they are known to cause fires. 

 

Garage1217 stuff is pretty decent I heard so that could be another choice.

[RexAevum]

2 minutes ago, seduce_me said:

Cheap tube amps (below $700) are warm and distorted and such at neutrality. I like the Bottlehead Crack though, it doesn't try to hide what it is and once fully upgraded is actually quite a decent amp. Avoid the Darkvoice or Little Dots, they are known to cause fires. 

 

Garage1217 stuff is pretty decent I heard so that could be another choice.

Yeah, i considered that but most of the headphones I have are low impedance ones and the crack is better for high impedance ones.

[seduce_me]

7 minutes ago, RexAevum said:

Yeah, i considered that but most of the headphones I have are low impedance ones and the crack is better for high impedance ones.

You could give the Schiit Valhalla 2 a shot since it has a low output impedance for an OTL tube amp. It lets you hear the softness of an OTL but is neutral enough to work with many headphones. Also it's $350 instead.

[spwath]

2 hours ago, seduce_me said:

You could give the Schiit Valhalla 2 a shot since it has a low output impedance for an OTL tube amp. It lets you hear the softness of an OTL but is neutral enough to work with many headphones. Also it's $350 instead.

I have it and like it. I might prefer it to the bottle head crack with speedball I had on loaner, but I might prefer the massdrop x Eddie current zdt Jr. To the vallhalla 2 but I need to do more listening.

[Max_Settings]

Yeah for under $500 I’d go with a Valhalla 2 and tube roll it.

[KMASCII]

I'd probably agree with the Crack amp suggestion with the Speedball upgrade. Was thinking about getting this one, and from what I've heard and read it may pair well with your LCD-X. Unfortunately, I haven't heard any of the Schitt products.

 

For an entry level tube amp, I've owned the Little Dot MK iii. This Little Dot amp has very good clarity when paired with decent DAC. But, if a person were to get this amp they'd probably want to upgrade the output tubes to the Electro-Harmonix 6H30Pi Gold for more authority. They may be a bit pricey but well worth the purchase ($35.00/tube I believe). A person would also want to swap the 5654 driver tubes with something like Sylvannia JAN's or GE 5-star's. In terms of sound the Little Dot, with the tube upgrades, has excellent detail, but might lack a bit of the bass "body" like what I get from the Audiotailor Jade. This isn't to say it's tighter bass doesn't have good depth, just not as prominent as my Jade. The Audiotailor Jade isn't available anymore.

 

I'm actually thinking of getting another Little Dot MK III. I listen with either the Sennheiser HD650 or the HD600. I occasionally listen with the Monoprice Monolith M1060's but these can be a bit bright and unbalanced to my ears. I'd love to get a pair of LCD-X though. Anyway, that's my two cents.

[seduce_me]

YMMV, but I hated the Little Dot Mk3. It belongs in the trash. I wasn't hearing any of the clarity or bass of the HD650s. The bass was gooey and muddy, overwhelming the mids and the tube haze was really bad with the HD650s. Even the onboard headamp powered it better. My suggestion: Get the Valhalla 2, tube roll it to your choice. Here are a few choices you can look at:
- Russian 6n23ps

-Western Electric 396A + 6922>396a adapter

-Electro harmonix 6922

[RexAevum]

Valhalla 2 was one of the ones i was considering the same as the lyr 2. I have their Schiit stack and it is a great combo for the money. It's coming down to the Valhalla 2 and Garage 1217 project ember, im leaning towards the ember since it's smaller, is a hybrid that can pare with a lot of different headphones, comes with a 5 year warranty the same as the Schiit amp and was designed for the purpose of swapping tubes for different sound. Will say that the Valhalla 2 looks much nicer  

[RexAevum]

9 minutes ago, seduce_me said:

YMMV, but I hated the Little Dot Mk3. It belongs in the trash. I wasn't hearing any of the clarity or bass of the HD650s. The bass was gooey and muddy, overwhelming the mids and the tube haze was really bad with the HD650s. Even the onboard headamp powered it better. My suggestion: Get the Valhalla 2, tube roll it to your choice. Here are a few choices you can look at:
- Russian 6n23ps

-Western Electric 396A + 6922>396a adapter

-Electro harmonix 6922

Can you make the Valhalla 2 sound like a tube amp that is warm and musical, or is it like most of schiit's stuff aiming for neutral? And what tubes could help with that? And i have herd that OTL amps dont work well with planar headphones and I have a few of those...

[seduce_me]

Valhalla 2 should work with the LCD-X if you insist on a tube amp, but if you have worries I'd recommend a SS amp instead.

 

Different tubes can slightly change the sound of the tube amp, but the Valhalla is mostly in the neutral side, relative to other tube amps of course. Skip the Lyr, it's not worth it from most impressions I read.

[seduce_me]

I can't say much for the garage1217 project ember, you might want to ask @spwath for that.

[RexAevum]

6 hours ago, spwath said:

I have it and like it. I might prefer it to the bottle head crack with speedball I had on loaner, but I might prefer the massdrop x Eddie current zdt Jr. To the vallhalla 2 but I need to do more listening.

Have you ever heard of Garage 1217 Project Ember? Or know anything about it?

[Ahoy Hoy]

My only recommendation is something with Russian Tube amps. They're the only fuckers left who make decent tube amps because its old technology which doesn't get used much these days.

[RexAevum]

5 hours ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

My only recommendation is something with Russian Tube amps. They're the only fuckers left who make decent tube amps because its old technology which doesn't get used much these days.

any amps you could recommend? 

[KMASCII]

16 hours ago, seduce_me said:

YMMV, but I hated the Little Dot Mk3. It belongs in the trash. I wasn't hearing any of the clarity or bass of the HD650s. The bass was gooey and muddy, overwhelming the mids and the tube haze was really bad with the HD650s. Even the onboard headamp powered it better. My suggestion: Get the Valhalla 2, tube roll it to your choice. Here are a few choices you can look at:
- Russian 6n23ps

-Western Electric 396A + 6922>396a adapter

-Electro harmonix 6922

Oddly, that wasn't my experience with the Little Dot MK III with the HD650's. Mine actually sounded a bit sparkly before tube rolling. Quality control issue perhaps? But, I do recall that using any of the Mullard 81xx tubes made the amp sound muddy and washed out. The Mullards were a poor pairing with that amp.