Need a good headphone preamp for 0 or less. Any ideas?
I would suggest Rega Ear or Project Headbox SE - advantage og the headbox is that there are 3 inputs and pre out with the bonus of 2 headphone sockets each with volume control. On a personal note I'm selling one of the above as I can't justify having 2 headphone amps. I do a lot of headphone listening and have used many amps - from the non SE headbox to a Graham Slee and McCormack MID.
now you'll laugh but... one of those cheapy Little dot II's on ebay in my book represents excellent value. I stuck in a best offer of about £60 and won. Great sound for the money. Runs a tad hot but don't let that put you off. the stock valves area little crappy, so well worth the modest outlay to upgrade them. Neils project is a great stage too.
I forgot to mention i am running Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's as my headphones, if that helps or makes a difference.
These phones will be fine with any of the amps mentioned. I've not heard the little dot - only positive opinion from others - but a valve headphone amp for less than the 2nd hand price of either of the 2 I've suggested can't be bad!
Did some asking around - apparently the Rega ear was designed for Senn HD 580 / 600 (?) headphones. it provides a lot of gain which is apparently good for the Senns but can make "forward sounding" headphones like some Grados sound too harsh.
Bit late now maybe... I have a Little dot 2++ and a G&W TW J1 (both from China). The J1 wins hands down. I've used them both with Grado SR-125's and Sennheiser HD-650's. The Little dot suits the Grado's better - warmer tube sound balanced by the more in your face Grado sound. The J1 makes quite a fine Preamp too (if you one have one source). For £60 on ebay + £20 postage to the UK you cannot go wrong. A 'hifi pal' of mine into serious Hifi briefly auditioned the J1 against a Graham Slee on Sennheiser HD-650's. His words were "yesterday I *briefly* re-auditioned the J1 - this time against the graham slee. (well I was walking by ...) was not a serious audition but based on 30 seconds, minimal difference I'd say !" My 'hifi pal' is working in Shanghai at the moment... They have whole shops that sell nothing but H/phones and H/phone amps.
