Need some help from the community here. Other than XDUOO and Schiit, does anyone else make a Hybrid Tube amp at or below the $1,000 price point?
1 Like
Monolith Liquid Platinum. I can’t name any others without the help of Google.
I will say I have no complaints about the xDuoo MT-602.
I know Dayton Audio has some reasonably priced gear. I have almost bought the HTA100 at least three different times. Rockville is another one that has some interesting looking tube amps.
Douk Audio, Fosi, and AIYIMA are budget brands that have a bunch of tube gear, but I don’t know how good they are.
You can find a WA7 amp on the used market for less than $1,000. That’s a highly recommended amp for Focal and Sennheiser headphones.
Is the WA7 a Hybrid?
Sparkos - Gemini
Hagerman - Tuba
Eufonika - H25 (H32 is hybrid)
Seems like the xduoo ta-20 plus is the best for your money under $1000 right now. I have the Gemini and it’s definitely a step up from the ta-22, but is it worth double the price? Not really sure yet.
If you’re willing to go up to $1000, you could maybe find a used Cayin Ha-3a for a little more. Brand new it’s too much, but seems like a really great amp
1 Like
The tuba is not a hybrid, neither is the cayin nor the eufonika (they do make a hybrid but I think that’s called the h32)
2 Likes
I knew the Tuba wasn’t. Hadn’t heard of the Eufonika before. We’re trying to figure out if there’s anything else in that market worth looking at for review @M0N.
You already mentioned stuff from schiit, xduoo, and cavalli. Interested to see how the new sparkos comes along. the at-bha100 is hybrid I believe and 1k. In terms of what can be had used at or under 1k, the pathos aurium or fosgate signature might be able to be had at that price. I can think of a lot of options above 1k but not as many at or below. I guess some of the diy millett or garage1217 amps would count. Lector zum h is just above. Maybe some of the music hall hybrids but those are old
Edit: a used ecp t4 if you’re lucky. Does the ifi pro ican count? The most base model wells dragon potentially. Musical fidelity xcan? Some of the old hifiman hybrid amps? Red wine corvina? Antique sound lab hb1? Cary HH-1? There’s those new lsa hybrid hp amps, and I think rogue rh5 sometimes dip pretty low. Really have to dig for more. Question marks because I don’t remember prices
If something is worthwhile to review or not I guess would depend on why you’d want to review it and what you’d try it with, just spitballing since it doesn’t seem like you’re really looking to build a chain, just see what’s out there
2 Likes
Is the WA7 actually a hybrid? I havent found much online, some sources seem to claim that its actually a otc amp instead of a hybrid (Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies Gen 3). Ive considered the WA7 recently aswell, decided against it though.
Do you already have a solid state amp? Would running a full tube amp as a preamp be an option?
The wa7 is not a hybrid, it is transformer coupled set but with a solid state psu. It seems like it would be hybrid given it’s size and power output, but pretty sure it’s not. I am unsure if it’s truly balanced or not though
1 Like
I had seen the Pathos Aruium, but also saw that it was $1,600. I did go ahead and point it out though. Had no idea Sparkos was coming out with something new. @WaveTheory The at-bha100 looks quite interesting.
It was really more a realization that there hadn’t been very many come in for review. Wanted to see what was out there, and if it was worth trying to get some of them in. I certainly don’t need it, not after buying that AIC-10 earlier today, lol.
Like I just said above, I’m not looking for one personally. This is more to see if there are any that are worth bringing in for review.
Yeah that’s kinda peak hybrid lol
1 Like
This is correct. The PSU is solid state coupled to the 12AU7 tubes for power alone. No transistor in the signal circuit at all.
I’m glad Audio Technica cleared this up:
I know that it’s rare for an AMP to be compatible with DSD. So relieved
3 Likes
I did not see that when I was looking at it. 
Do you think it would also work with vinyl? 
Well, I know one way to find out. 
Oh yeah just a note for anyone wanting to get BHA100 which imo is endgame hybrid for me that its discontinued due to lack of sales so after the retailer on aliexpress runs out of stock its out of stock for good.
Edit:
Just saw the DSD part. Im thinking what if people actually try to push coax DSD into the amp lol
