Headphone amp
 

Looking for opinions. Currently I am using my Benchmark DAC3 HGC purely as a headphone amplifier. I am having my W4S DAC handle the heavy lifting and sending the analog signal to the Benchmark. So the Benchmark is not using much of it's capabilities.

Granted it is one heck of a headphone amp, even receiving Stereophile's A rating, but wasting much of it's functions.

So I am looking for suggestions on headphone amps, without DACs, in the under $1k range.

I have had the Schiit recommended to me. Thoughts? Suggestions? I am not interested in hearing about off shoot products that may be hard to find. I want to know about alternatives that I can be easily obtained.

Or would I be better to just keep the Benchmark even though I am not using many of it's functions. After all, it is a great back up DAC (latest ESS chip), and backup pre-amplifier...

Keep the Benchmark. Smaller package, solid block of aluminum and steel, great potential with multiple doors open to diversify in the future if ever needed. It can also serve as a backup to your W4S if you ever need to service that or wish to upgrade etc and don't want to be left without music while you do it...

Thank you Hector... I keep going back and forth on this one, although I am strongly leaning that way. Not sure I would find a much better headphone amplifier even without the other functions in the same pricing level!

It seems like such a shame to have all of the other capabilities sitting there not being used, however it is a nice thing having a backup unit if ever needed. At some point I might even want to setup a second system <shrug>... would be a great heart of a second system :)...

I have a Ray Samuels Raptor.

Hey Bob, I have never heard of that one so I had to look it up. It looks interesting :)...

The Woo Audio WA6 is also a good one. http://wooaudio.com/products/wa6.html

I heard that Woo Audio is pretty good equipment.

I have sold the Benchmark and decided on the Woo Audio WA6.

It seems to do exactly what I am looking for. Another amplifier in my system that is designed for and dedicated to powering my headphones.

The Wyred 4 Sound preamplifier is so versatile that it has four outputs (and now I am using them all :) )... To the ARC amp, the First Watt amp, both subwoofers, and to the headphone amplifier!

With quite a bit of research I have read a lot of good things about the Woo. I also appreciate that it is an American made product. I like that it has the ability to roll tubes if I ever get to the point that I want to play around a little.

Excellent Randy. A couple of things:
The rectifier tube pictured on the WA6 looks like the 5U4G listed as a direct substitute, not the 5AR4 listed as the standard. I'm not sure if that means it could show up with either/or depending on availability, but thought I'd mention it just in case so you're not surprised if it shows up with a straight tube instead of the curved tube in the pictures. Either one will sound fine.

Having said that, if you can swing it, go for the Sophia Princess rectifier tube upgrade. It's another $160 but well worth it, perhaps the best bang-for-the-buck upgrade for this amp. It will give you smoother sound and a better soundstage as advertised. It looks cool too.

Happy listening.

Thank you Tony. With my research and Audio Advisor doing research and calling me back it appears as if the only change in the 2nd gen is a tube change. The original tubes were getting difficult to get. AA believes the 2 they had in stock were the 1st gen. So I think I am getting the pictured tube.

Probably will play with a tube change down the road. Want to get used to it a little first.

I love that my W4S pre has so many outputs... so that I can control all sources to whatever amp I want!

Ah, I just assumed you were buying from Woo. When I bought my Woo amps they weren't selling through anyone else yet, I forgot you can get them through Audio Advisor now. I see Advisor doesn't offer the upgrade options available on the Woo site.

Yea, but AA has them in stock and Woo has to build them. Also AA does not charge for shipping and Woo does.

Headphone amp
 

Congrats and good luck. I have had a Woo WES which I use with Stax 007 and 009 headphones. I find the build quality very high and have had no issues going on 7+ years. And the SQ is very good

Makes sense. Regardless you're going to enjoy it.

Thank you. Looking forward to it!

We have Woo .... First listen, pretty darn good. Of course not even close to being broken in. Woo suggests 150+ hours for the unit to reach top performance. My HD800S headphones have never sounded so good.

Randy a picture or two would not hurt us
:ttiwwp:

Hehe Hector... let me listen for a bit... I'll get some photos up at some point :D...

Randy.......A good thing about the Woo is once you grow tired of it you will probably be able to sell the Woo faster than your Benchmark sold.

That is always a good thing :).... I am hoping to hold on to this for some time. I think I have finally got the system setup the way I like it. Of course that does not preclude upgrading components :D....

Randy.......Famous last words. :rolleyes:

I left myself an out.... :D

"Of course that does not preclude upgrading components ."

Ok Hector, here are some photos for you...


https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...0&d=1495224544

Oooooooh I'm tempted. I have no experience with tubes and have always been afraid of them, but they look so cool.
Randy I really like your room... very inviting[emoji106]
Thanks for the pics, I can sleep now!

I did not want to be responsible for your lose of sleep. :)

Thank you, I really like how the room is coming into shape. I also like how my pre lets me keep all the amps hooked, just power up the one I want to listen to (including the Woo).

The tubes in the Woo have a very long life expectancy, and auto bias. So none of the normal tube worries!

Wasn't this room "finished" over a year ago? Randy's upgraditis is as bad as the rest of us and he just won't admit it!

I know...I'll never let him forget his system thread was originally titled "my ultra compact system "...I think dan finally edited it.

Pretty soon his system will need a new room ;)

You guys crack me up :)

The new Woo looks great. Now you can listen to your Sennheisers while you start all over again upgrading amps and speakers.

Yea I wish... in my better half's opinion, my upgrades are taken care of for a while (although, next years tax returns are open game :) )...

Does not stop accessorizing though :).... I just ordered an old RCA NOS rectifier tube... highly recommended by a good friend and very inexpensive... so can still do some playing around with the sound without component upgrades....

Well, this is not good. I think the Woo just blew out.

Listening Thu evening, couple hours... Fri evening for a couple hours, and then tonight. Maybe two hours if that... all of a sudden pure distortion... buzzing...

Turn off everything. Brought system back up. Plays great through speakers... so the other components are good. Hooked headphones to the spinner. Sound fine, so they are good.

All of the tubes glow orange as they should. No smell, no issues looking at the tubes... but just a buzz through headphones when turn power on. I even waited until the tubes cooled. Didn't take long actually. Reseated them to be sure... still just a buzz in the headphones when power turned on....

Randy

Pull the tubes out and reseat them and see what happens. Worst case scenario is that one of the supplied cheap tubes has crapped out.

I actually did that. Same.

There are no obvious signs in the tubes. Glow orange, etc. But as soon as I turn it on just a buzz in the headphones.

Really impressed with sound... :(. I was listening at reasonable levels, not cranking it hard. I set the volume on the Woo at about 1 o'clock position and controlled level from the preamp.

Well since you don't have spares it will be kind of hard to diagnose. Leaves you with calling AA and see what they say. If the buzz is in both channels would indicate the pretty looking Eastern rectifier is going bad. Not really all that surprising. The Shuguang tubes have always been hit or miss.

Ok, so I pulled the tubes out again. Put them back in. Now when I turn the amp on the buzz is there for maybe 5 seconds and then it fades and the amp plays just fine. Actually sounds very good.

I sent a reply e-mail to the gentleman at Woo who sent a welcome e-mail to me. I explained what happened and that I am concerned that the tubes may have an issue. I copied the guy I know at AA.

I had already ordered a RCA NOS rectifier tube. It has not arrived yet of course. Wondering if I need to get NOS 6DE7 tubes also. Either way I want a good set of original tubes.

I have had feedback distortion come through headphones through tube amp that was too close to the source,CD player.

Randy

Cycle the tubes a few more times and the start-up buzz may just go away for good. I have had tubes in the past that had start up noise for the first few times they were powered up. The great majority cleared up though some didn't and were put aside.

The start up buzz is not as worrisome to me as last night when out of the blue everything got very distorted and fuzzed out, etc. And only came back normal after removing the tubes and reseating them twice.

I will wait and see what Woo says, or AA, and go from there :)...

Thanks for the suggestions and input. I wish I had some other tubes to switch in and try out. Depending on how it all goes I may just pick up some NOS for those two tubes as well.

The Tubestore has NOS ones for $6.95 a piece. I suspect that it may clear up eventually and all will be good. I don't listen to tube pieces for at least 30 minutes anyhow so noise may be there on start up but gone by the time I listen.