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[Jamil]

I am thinking of upgrading my headphone amplifier at some point in time.  I am happy with what I currently use, but I would like to switch to a tube amplifier in the future.  I have a tube power amp I have been considering in this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08134V3VK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2PX9X6SPZ090Y&psc=1

The unit above is a power amp plus headphone amp.  With this, I also would need a DAC.  My thoughts for this is a transparent DAC, since the tube amp will color sound on its own.

For DACs, I was thinking this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VXX51GF

or this:

https://www.amazon.com/Musician-Pegasus-Decoder-DSD1024-Amplifier/dp/B089FHRRLW

Any thoughts?

EDIT:  I am removing the M400 DAC and replacing with the Musician Pegasus R2R DAC.  The M400 is not in the same league as the Benchmark above.

[Jamil]

After a bit of research, I am not going to order a tube amplifier.  Based on my findings, lots of companies have stopped manufacturing vacuum tubes.  I am having a tough time even finding current manufacturers who still make them.  All of my searching for required tubes are showing old "legacy" results with some searches returning used tubes.  The amp above is a brand new product that requires tubes I cannot even find being made.

[JimH]

Jack Woo makes nice amps.

https://wooaudio.com/

[dtc]

New tubes are certainly available. Look at The TubeStore.  They have multiple options for the tubes for the Wollenstan amp - both KT88s and 6SN7s.   Companies like Electro Harmonix, JJ, Mullard, Tung-Sol, Sovtek and Shuguoag  make a wide range of new tubes. Many tube dealers specialize in old tubes, but they are by no means the only option.

https://www.thetubestore.com/power-tubes/kt88-tube-types

Tube Depot also has lots of new tubes.

https://tubedepot.com/t/tubes/power-tubes

Tube equipment certainly takes more care than solid state equipment, but if you get hooked on the sound, there is nothing like it. A combination of KT88s and 6SN7s can be a great sounding amp. It should have a very open "tubey" sound without being bloated. I have a 6SN7 pre-amp (Cary SLP-05) and love the sound.

Benchmark makes very good DACs. They tend to be a little analytic for me. If you like a tube sound, you might look at the Chord DACs. I find them more open than a lot of the current DACs.

[Jamil]

Thanks for your posts.

It looks like vacuum tubes for audio gear is primarily made only in Russia and China.  Yes -- you can certainly order new tubes, but they will be made in one of those two countries.  USA stopped making them as has most other countries.

I actually reconsidered and did order a tube amp after finding one with easier tubes to order for.  Woo amps are well known and high quality, but they also are at a high cost I would rather not spend.  The fully balanced class A headphone amp costs over $8k USD, for example.  That's a bit more than I want to spend.

Instead I selected the LittleDot MK8.  This amp is also class A fully balanced, it also provides lots of gain to drive all headphones.  It requires two types of six tubes in total for replacement.

Two of these:

https://www.thetubestore.com/genalex-gold-lion-ecc81-b739

Four of these:

https://www.thetubestore.com/sovtek-6h30pi

These are brand new tubes made in Russia and China.  These are the only two countries making vacuum tubes.  The alternative is NOS for discontinued stock.

Also, I selected the Pegasus R2R DAC for a more analog sound.

[dtc]

Looks like nice choices. Never heard either piece, but they look like nice designs. Like the R2R design.

Enjoy the music!

[battermoose11]

Get a Schiit Vali 2. One tube 6BZ7 dual triode . Sounds great with my hifiman 400i headphones.

[Jamil]

Thanks for your suggestion, but I already placed my order for the LittleDot and DAC this past Tuesday.  I will probably get the headphone amp sooner than the DAC.  I was told that the DAC must go through an aging process for the high precision resistor network.  It will be fresh out of the oven, so to speak.

I already have two balanced XLR cables that are in great condition.  I will need replacement balanced cables for my headphones.  These look good on amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NVHFPHJ

Also, I will order a can of DeoxIT spray contact cleaner for tube maintenance.

[Jamil]

I will have the headphone amp earlier as expected-- my LittleDot MK VIII SE was shipped today Fedex scheduled for delivery this coming Friday.

I have a balanced XLR rack CD player I will use for burn-in awaiting the DAC.

[Jamil]

The headphone amp is quite impressive.  I have burned it in for for about fifty hours or so.  I sprayed all the tube contacts with DeoxIT, and I am listening to my CD player connected to it via XLR cables.  I am burning lossless APE files to CDs to play, and this amp outperforms my old one by a wide margin.  The clarity of individual instruments within the sound stage is impressive.  I'm listening to Teena Marie's Marry Me from her Congo Square CD.  The bass is tight, focused with feeling, the strings are spread out in the sound stage.  The horns have a pleasant sound that blends in very nicely with the band.  On top of that, Teena Marie's vocals in the mix are on point.

I am currently using Beyerdynamic DT990 600 ohm headphones.  These are open single ended.

I will get the Beyerdynamic T1 second generation headphones shortly, and I already have the balanced cables for them.

[Jamil]

A couple more notes:  anyone who claims that vacuum tubes do not require burn-in doesn't know what they are talking about.  I replaced the original two pre-amp tubes with these two:  https://www.thetubestore.com/genalex-gold-lion-ecc81-b739.  Brand new unused they did not sound very good.  They were somewhat harsh.  However, after many hours of play their sound is improving.  I also get more power output by changing just two tubes.

I am also using my second generation T1 headphones connected via balanced cables.

[dtc]

Totally agree. The harder part is recognizing when the tubes are getting old. By the time they totally fail, they are often well past there prime. Since it happens gradually, your ears tend to adapt.  On several occasions I have been surprised by how good a replacement tube sounds, even before it is burned-in.

[Jamil]

I actually canceled the DAC order I had decided above.  I was reading more and more about quality issues with it.  Also, the unit was taking too long for shipment.

Instead I chose an ESS Sabre based DAC using two of the ES9038pro DAC chips in a fully balanced design:  http://www.mu-sound.com/DA004-detail.html

I paid for it just last week, and I will receive the new DAC today.  It cleared customs yesterday and the delivery truck has it right now.  This one uses newer Sabre chips than the Benchmark DAC3 I was originally considering.  Also, it has more features too.  It supports DSD64 to DSD1024 decoding where the Benchmark is limited to DSD64 max.

EDIT: This DAC is amazing.  I have been listening to it for the past several hours now.  This is the best I have ever heard.