SuperBAF Cheap Tube Amp Guide ~$1200 or less

Except that design actually makes sense because it's rackmount.

 

It's probably way too cheap for SBAF, but I just ordered an XDuoo MT-602. I am curious/bored and it is cheap. It cost me $200.00 for the amp, stock tubes and two other sets of tubes (GE and Voshkod).
Apparently the gain is pretty high and my whole collection are efficient headphones, but I have several options for dealing with that.

Looking forward to playing with it.

 

Does anybody here have any experience with Eufonika tube amps out of Poland? He normally sells on Etsey and eBay.

 

Well, I am trying to sell the XDuoo MT-602, to no one's surprise.
I also gave up on the Polish, Ukrainian and Australian tube options.

I kind of went back to the well in a sense. I was pretty happy with a Little Dot MKIII A while ago so...
I bought a Little Dot MK9 tube amp.
I was looking for a tubey sounding amp and this is certainly it. It has a thick sound with lots of bass.

I got this amp on Monday and have been using my Grado GH2's with the stock tubes. The volume doesn't go much past 10:00, depending on the music.
On the first day I was about three songs in and I thought maybe I had turned my Schiit Loki on by mistake. As you all know, Grado's are not really known for their bass. . Very impressive, to me.

I have run through lots of new rock, classic rock and quite a bit of jazz so far. Obviously clarity is not it's best feature and I noticed it big time when I switched over to my Violectric V220 for a song or two.

I am going to stay with the Grado's for the weekend and start rolling headphones on Monday.

For features and clarity my iFi Pro iCAN is in a very different class. But the iCAN is about four times the price. Nothing there to compare.

I am curious to see how it compares against the Violectric V220 over time. I always thought of the V220 as a little bit tubey, But it is Way different than the LD!

I also have more tubes coming in next week, 6SL7's and 6080's.

I was looking for an amp that would bring a different sound to the house and this has definitely done it. And for a very reasonable price too. During my research phase the budget kept going up and up ("Our amp is great, but if you upgrade to the magic model it is heaven on earth").
This amp cost me $660.00Cdn., landed in Nova Scotia.
I will be concentrating on this amp for the rest of the month. I like the look too. But Damn does it get hot!! I have a fan coming in tomorrow for it.

 

Hello. I have been a lurker and just joined.

Yes, I have experience with Eufonika. I just picked one up. While I have enjoyed my LCD-X/THX-789 setup for years, I was looking for something with a bit of a different signature and wanted to rejoin the tube world with higher impedance headphones.

At the price, the amps have my highest recommendation. With stock tubes the amp is dead silent and has very good dynamics and detail while picking up the characteristics of the tubes. I have tried some different NOS tubes with varied outcomes and have some higher end tubes coming in to see how they do. I find the tube rolling fun, but others may not like this aspect of the hobby. Overall, the build quality is good. It has a good appearance even if my wife said it looked like someone's science experiment!

I have mine set up with the pre outs going into the single ended input of the THX and have made an indicator of volume balancing. That allows me to easily A/B Tube and SS pre-amplification by pressing the input button on the THX. Honestly, I either prefer full SS or full tube and haven't found a case where I prefer a hybrid setup. That said, I have enjoyed having both.

My chain is a home built Roon server to a RPI running RopieeXL into a Topping E50 DAC that goes balanced into the THX and single ended into the Eufonika. Headphones used are LCD-X, HE-4XX, HD6XX, DT1990, and the bonkers Hifiman HE-R9. I have a set of ZMF Aeolus on the way. I am curious if these with the Eufonika become my preference relative to the THX/Audese setup.

To no surprise, the Eufonika doesn't sound great with lower impedance headphones. Cross out the LCD-X and the HE4XX. It powers the 6XX and DT1990 well, without any indication of impedance mismatch. The DT/Eufonika combo has been what I have been going to lately most often (post EQ) as it has plenty of dynamics, lots of warmth, detail, and as much high end sizzle as you wish to dial in.

 

(Sorry to crash the thread but y'all don't take this rec on the HE-R9. It's on sale open-box for like $99 and very much not worth it even at that price.)
Sorry, I just don't want people throwing good money away on bad products.

 

Hello Erroneous. I respectfully disagree...in limited circumstances. I use the R9 pretty much exclusively to listen to 90s rock that I heard live when I was a young dude. At MSRP they are offensively overpriced. At $99, they are a fun headphone that can be tamed with EQ to be quite fun if you want a different sound when you are in the mood. They wouldn't be my only headphone, but I am happy I added them to the collection for the cost of a tube.

Oh, and they are my go-to headphones for a Jerry Bruckheimer or Marvel movie at my desk. Dynamic and fun and sounds like you have a subwoofer in your ear.

 

Erroneous, your comment made me want to test my opinion a bit more. I am using Metallica, Nothing Else Matters on Qobuz to test the HE-R9 on tubes to the LCD-X on SS. It is really no contest - the LCD-X destroys the HE-R9 in technical detail. There is a reason this has been my personal reference for a long time now.

However, the R9 is more dynamic and feels like it sounds like an exaggerated rock concert with good mids and reasonable highs.

Also, I tested The Crow soundtrack and the R9 felt more like me trying to hold my girlfriend's hand during that move premier for the first time than the LCD-X.

Horses for courses.

 

Concur!

 

I briefly listened to R9, there's a scoop in the lower mid, making it sounded hollow and weak in vocal, I didn't like it. I'd say the Drop R7DX sounded more even, though bass-lighter comparing to R9.

In China, the second hand price of R9 is ~$70, which is similar to Deva Pro, I'd choose Deva Pro (or Deva even). But hey, if you need closed-back headphones at these price range, R9 isn't that bad. (or maybe old second handed HD565? those things are amazing)

 

Just to defend my position from earlier and further derail the thread (sorry) , but I now have my pair of HE-R9 on my head while I write this review.

The left ear is higher volume than the right ear. I've tried multiple cables and it's a headphone problem not a cable problem. This would be possibly understandable if it hadn't been hanging unused for basically all of its life because of the sound quality. Ok, let's go beyond that. They feel like cardboard headphones that cost $5 to manufacture.

That would actually be fine if they sounded good, but I'm listening to music through 3 sheets of wet curtains and the little bit of enjoyment that's inherent with the music is stymied by the absolutely shitty in every way quality of the headphones.

These are basic airline headphones that nobody actually wants to listen to but hey it sure would be great to hear the words of the movie.

In short, actual shit that probably cost $3 in child labor to manufacture and there is no excuse that makes sense for these to have an initial sale price of $899, an "oh shit they're not selling" price of $289, or a "man, we really fucked this up" price of $99 lately.

Just clear them out at the $5 you have invested in each pair and hope that people can forget. Typical HiFiMan.

 

I've gotten to try HiFiMAN's dynamic driver MDR-R10 ripoffs and this is a fair take on how they sounded. Didn't know that they originally retailed for USD900 but presuming that the R9 is comparable to the "R10"D that I got to try out, that's insulting.

 

The intense excellence of Susvara often makes me forget how much not good there is in the Hifiman range, and what's bad (Jade II, the timbre of some of the Arya variants I've heard, the build quality) is anywhere from very bad to worst in headphone-dom. Sundara and the R7DX are in the not good, not terrible range.

The HE-4XX at $100 I honestly think is fair, especially used closer to $60, just don't listen to them around anyone who doesn't want to hear your music. They leak like mad and will throw whatever you're listening to clear across the room. They're like little waveguides. I had a coworker with a pair that listened to ambient glitch noise all day and it got so bad I feared the office would stab him. Mercifully, he ended up going remote

 

Are there any cheap DHT tube amps?

 

Made in China

 

Elekit TU8900 or a Bottlehead Stereomour with DC filament supply upgrade. Elekit can be a bit dry though. Otomon labs from Japan can build you one as well for around $1700.

 

Not to stir up trouble but were the issues RD had with Otomon Labs ever satisfactorily sorted? I can see how language barriers and communicating the build of a fully custom amp through those language barriers could just make for all sorts of shenanigans though; I feel something more by-the books could step over a lot of those problems.

 

No idea what happened there. I personally use an Otomon 45 amp and I know a few people who own one as well. If you want an affordable DHT amp, you don’t have many options.

 

You can get a used Oliver Sayes 45 amp with a headphone out for around 1k or slightly lower. You can commission one from him too.

@pure5152 is selling the cheapest DHT headphone amp I have seen. Has a unique design.

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...fs-pure5152s-leaving-audio-garage-sale.14034/

If you are okay re-purposing a speaker amp, I regularly see DIY type DHT amps being sold for less than 1.5k on USAM

For eg: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650026517-relyon-2a3-integrated-tube-amplifier-upgraded/