Tube amplifier for Fostex TH-X00

[Yoshimitsu]

Hey

I am new to this forum, and i hope it's true that you don't bite because i am a newbie concerning audio etc.

I recently bought a pair of Fostex TH-X00 Purplehearts and now i am looking for an amp to power them. I don't have an experience with any sorts of amps, but from what i have read a tube amp seems to be more my cup of tea than a solid state amp. However i would also take into consideration the THXAAA 789 amp because it's completly transparent and balanced.

i did some research myself and found some amps that are within my price range:

Little Dot MK3, Little Dot MKIV (350 usd), Darkvoice 336E, Bottlehead crack with speedball upgrade, Garage1217 (i am not sure which one), XDUO TA 20, Megaherz (Italian tube amp manufacturer, no idea which modell and about price), Elekit TU-8180

Currently, my headphones are connected to a Technics A900S Reference amplifier, that goes in to the RCA outputs of my Asus Xonar Essence STX. I am planning to exchange the Asus with a Khadas Tone Board DAC.

I got this amplifier from a friend, and it sounds much better than running the headphons over my soundcard. But i dont think it's ideal for headphones (not planning to use speakers) and it takes up a lot of space technics_se-a900sm2_su-c800um2_pre-power_amplifier.jpg

For which tube amp should i go for? Or would the THX serve me better?

my best regards and thanks

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

[Yoshimitsu]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

Thank you

[Randy Myers]

First question is what is your price range? It sounds like you are looking for a headphone amplifier, correct?

If you are in this range you might want to consider the Dennis Had amplifier I have for sale. Very highly regarded amp by one of the most famous tube amplifier designers of all time. Dennis does these amps by hand as a retirement project for himself. He even signs them on the bottom of the unit!

https://www.audioshark.org/showthread.php?t=16154

[Dguitarnut]

I had an Eddie Current Ec-445 tube head amp and it was my Holy Grail amp till I went into speakers. Wu Audio makes nice stuff more readily available and reasonable.
Suncoast is a dealer. Might wanna call Mike or his other brother Mike.

[Shadowfax]

I had an Eddie Current Ec-445 tube head amp and it was my Holy Grail amp till I went into speakers. Wu Audio makes nice stuff more readily available and reasonable.
Suncoast is a dealer. Might wanna call Mike or his other brother Mike.

LOL, good Bob Newheart show reference ( Darrel and Darrel)

[Yoshimitsu]

Thanks for the suggestions, sadly it's waaay over my budget.

350 usd is like my limit.

My headphones only have 25 ohms would i be better off with a solid state amp?

[Dguitarnut]

My first tube hp amp was the DarkVoice 336SE headphone tube amplifier available on Amazon or EBay for less than $300. It’s a great little amp which will get you in tube world. I recommend it highly.

[Yoshimitsu]

My first tube hp amp was the DarkVoice 336SE headphone tube amplifier available on Amazon or EBay for less than $300. It’s a great little amp which will get you in tube world. I recommend it highly.

hey thanks for the suggestion, i was considering the darkvoice. But i am a bit worried because my cans only have 25 ohms and i heard that tube amps dont work well with low impedance headphones. I know that some tube amps have different gain settings, but i heard that nevertheless they don't supply the correct voltage because for that the amplifier would need a transformer.

I am kinda lost tbh, because the outpout impedance of my Technics S900 reference amp has 330 ohm and it sounds waaaaaaay better than my asus essence stx soundcard that has 10 ohms output impedance.

It's not a subjective sound improvement, i had 2 other people blind test the amp and soundcard and we all agreed that the cans through the technics amp sound way better, you can hear details that you don't hear through the soundcard, sound seams cleaner too.

I am really really confused

[Dguitarnut]

My Foster Th-900 sounded good thru it. I had multiple hp’s and never paid attention to the impedance I must confess.

[Yoshimitsu]

My Foster Th-900 sounded good thru it. I had multiple hp’s and never paid attention to the impedance I must confess.

That's very interesting! Have you tried the TH900 with other amps?

Do you have any knowledge of the SCHIIT Valhalla 2?

[Dguitarnut]

I also used an Audio-Gd Master 9 amp which was the best solid state I tried.
I love Schitt products. Owned the Yggdrasil Dac for many years. I don’t think you can go wrong with it. But If tube sound is what you want I would get the Darksound amp. It’s lovely and was 85% of a $3k hpa.