There is an old thread on this amp on Hi-Fi .org, like 38 pages, and there is a 16-page mod thread on it. The overall talk was really good so i bought it.
I will say it sounds mean with the Chinese tubes, but when i upgraded to Jan 5670w and 2- 6jd8 buggle boy tubes, wow it woke up and sounded beautiful. Now given its $250 price tag it's a steal IMO, it smokes my Little Dot Mark II.
I'm going to do the mods inside soon. It drives my HD 6xx no problems and i can't go past 1 o'clock or it will blow my brains out. It also makes a fantastic pre-amp, wow it's really good. Anyway just a follow and thanks for all your help.
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I ended up getting this amp
I had a lot of suggestions on here and all were appreciated, but this kind of won out in the end, price, sound.
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If you want something that is cheap, has tubes in it, and has headphone jack, plus plenty of other functions (including bluetooth, optical, coaxial, and phono inputs!), go for Dayton Audio HTA100 (not the "HTA100BT which is the older model)
Granted, the tubes are in the preamp section, the power amp section is solid state class AB, but it's a very nice little amp with great build quality for the price and an incredible 5 years warranty! I bought one as a birthday present for a friend. There are quite a few reviews online.
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Yes, i know the Muzishare X7 is good, and the Wilsenton R8 i, the problem is the headphone outputs good. Just because it sounds good on speakers doesn't mean it has a good headphone jack. A lot of times the headphone jack is an afterthought from audio makers.
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With your wish list, I suggest looking at the Willsenton R8 (the improved later version) or the Muzishare X7. Both are push-pull AB and will deliver 45WPC in ultralinear mode, enough to power average speakers and will have a headphone jack also. The $400 SET EL34 will not be able to do nearly as much for you. If you go with the Willsenton, you might want to upgrade the tubes to Psvane tubes, they are better. If I were buying now, I would get the Muzishare. I have the Willsenton R8, and it sounds wonderful, especially for the money, but I also did the DIY internal upgrades which adds costs but is exchanging the generic components for high-grade audio components and takes some time and basic soldering to do. (There is a upgrade mod series on YT at "Skunkie Does Electronics"’ channel which documents the process well. I found it worth the cost and trouble.
The cost will be $1400 (AMZ) not $400, though, before tube upgrades.
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No, i didn't buy that one, i found another one off eBay that had a good little following years ago, it will be here next week.
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@audiomike33 I looked at all the pictures on the link you sent and got a kick out of their picture of the speaker taps and their unique spelling of Right and Left--If you go for it hope their quality is better than their spelling!
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Yep I saw that no longer making amps I wonder why if they're successful and they're making money why would they stop making amps and they haven't revived that thing in a long time it's a good little lamp I hope they do well with speakers.
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according to Glow's web site they will no longer sell amplifiers after stock on hand is exhausted. they want to focus on the speakers..... :(
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So the headphone output is good on the Wilsenton ?
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I am very happy with my Willsenton 300b integrated amp, with a headphone Jack and 8 wpc. It cost $1500. As good as it is, I will upgrade the caps when it comes off warranty. Even stock, it is a dandy amp, with a fit and finish that belies its modest cost.
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I will see you at the Tube Addicts meeting ha ha. What you said though, the Tekefunken name keeps coming up and Seimens, there pricey tubes. Thanks for you input.
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Read the sound description at Brent Jesse. My personal preference is all nos stuff. My favorite is Tekefunken, Tungsram, Seimens, Ei. American tubes are 6922, Phillips, Rca, etc. The various Russian tubes are nice too. Personally I dislike Mullard , but others love them. The bottom line is you’ll have to try some. Maybe I’ll see you at a Tube Addicts Anonymous Meeting, it’s a vicious disease. 😆 Happy hunting , Mike.
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I appreciate everybody's input a lot of choices obviously I actually bought a it's a 708 B headphone/ preamp. What I'm looking for is now some help with E88CC tubes anybody here have any experience with these tubes I'm looking for some good sounding models RCA Mullard anybody have any experience with these?
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I did find a 709 B amplifier it's a headphone amp / preamp it had about a 40 page following number of years ago but it seems like a good amp and it's been updated I actually purchased it.
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Yeah they're a Gamble unless you can find a thread here a thread on hifi.org or somewhere where someone's bought one and there's a bunch of people following it in a thread that's probably the only way I would buy one and I actually have found one.
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Beware of those cheap tube amps. They often have a large and impressive box made to look like transformers, but inside that painted wood or plastic box is a "tiny" transformer. Many of those manufacturers even add weights inside so that the amp feels heavy and powerful. Many also use a tiny board for class D amplification and the tubes aren't even part of the audio circuit! There are videos on YouTube if you look.
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Cayin make good amps thanks I'll check out those line magnetics.
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Check out Line Magnetic amps on Ebay. There are a number of them that fit into your budget. Also look at Drop for a Cayin Amp.
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You know Steve Guttenberg the audiophiliac did a review on the Dayton audio hta200 and the emotiva a2m the side by side he said the date and audio was pretty good but the emotiva was better but he did like the date and audio and he did listen to the headphone jack.
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how about the Dayton Audio HTA200 amp? I've read much about it and seen much praise for it.
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I can't see ebay from work but ignore the unformed comments about too small.
I am currently using a 2 wpc SE84 tube amp to drive my 140 lb floor standers. It is all about the sensitivity of your speakers.
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I love DIY I would love to build my own I've heard of those kits before I'll have to take a look at that and do some research on that.
Does the R8 have a headphone jack?
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I heard Glow amp running Audio Note speakers at a show a number of years back. Glad to see they are still around. Have almost pulled the trigger on several occasions just to have a nice good sounding and affordable tube amp to play around with. I am a Glow fan!
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If you don’t mind DIY I’d give Elekit a look. The 8600 is a decent 300B set and the headphone output is ok I hear (I’m not a headphone guy so can’t verify myself).
it’s got enough power to drive a reasonable efficient speaker (90+ dB/W/m) to reasonable listening levels
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This amplifier has garnered a respectable reputation for sound quality and built quality. It’s push pull class A /B rather than class A SET topology. They offer a 300b and 845 SET integrated amplifiers but these are over 2K USD.
Charles
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@jasonbourne71 I was merely reading back what the description was on Ebay, a total hatchet job.
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@jasonbourne71 True, those power levels are more suitable to headphones, but the significantly higher impedance of headphones might cause the audio quality to be compromised.
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There is the musical Paradise MP 301 MK2 the things I've heard about that the amp part for driving speakers is fantastic headphone is okayish not fantastic but decent.
Okay my budget is $1,500 now what other doors does that open up for me?
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@audiomike33
Thanks for all your input appreciate everything it seems like a hard thing to fulfill what I want to get a headphone good headphone and drive speakers all in one unit.
Not necessarily hard to accomplish. However it will require more expenditure to get a “good “ quality amplifier for your intended purposes. You’ll be hard pressed to get decent build quality, power supplies and output transformers at dirt cheap cost. Something has to give.
Charles
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The glow one looks interesting is that enough power to drive any speakers they’re going to have to be awfully efficient speakers. I was hoping something more in the 6w to 7w range.
Thanks for all your input appreciate everything it seems like a hard thing to fulfill what I want to g to get a good headphone amp and something that will drive speakers all in one package.
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@jond : Since it has one output tube per channel it will of course stay entirely in Class A operation. Class AB requires a pair of tubes/transistors driven by a phase-splitter circuit.
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Such low-power tube amps are better suited for headphones than speakers.
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The Glow One is a single-end tube amp using one 6BQ5/EL84 per channel at 3.5 watts output. Input/driver tube looks like a 12AT7. I have a similar custom-made amp like it using a 6BG6 pentode for about 7 watts and one 12AT7 driving both output tubes. Nothing new here. These simple circuits were used in table radio's in the 1950's. No feedback and at clipping 5% harmonic distortion.
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I've enjoyed a Glow One amplifier for several years in my second system and suggest that you give them a look.
A bit more than the one in the link you posted, but they are hand built with end-to-end wiring and no PC boards and can be found on the secondary market.
Here's the link: https://glow-audio.com/
Enjoy!
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It s too small and low quality if you want it to last and sound decent go to
underwood Wally youhave to spend at-minimum $1000+
for example if it cost$1k you are getting less then $200 in parts the restoverhead and markup.
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Ok thanks, it says single ended class A, but then goes on to say A/B. Thanks i will stay away.
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I'd avoid it first it's an SET amp but it's class AB that's just weird, also at an output of 16wpc they are pushing those two EL34 tubes pretty hard. Not good for tube life or amp life.
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