Been looking into getting a hybrid tube for some planars. Is there such thing as a hybrid tube amp that has the cost to performance of the Atom at that $100 mark? Whats perhaps the closest thing to it?
The Loxjie P20 possibly.
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Yeah that would be my pick as long as you can run balance. The xduoo ta10 is also good but outside this range
The P20 is only worthwhile balanced?
It has significantly more power balanced. What headphones are you using?
Would just be M1060 headphones, perhaps Takstar HF580 or Blon B20 down the road
Could I run XLR adapters to allow me to use the balanced port? Or will that not work well?
You could just get a balanced cable which would be safer and better (assuming the m1060 is what you are using)
Was thinking of getting a male XLR to female 1/4 adapter so I could use any SE headphone I own now and for the future. However if that may cause some problems I might look for another hybrid amp.
I wouldn’t suggest converting balanced to unbalanced that way as that can damage your other headphones or the amp
Damn ok, good to know. Thanks
I know I am late to this, but you might want to look at Schiit Vali 2, new or used. There is also Xduoo, again, new or used.
I had the P20 and it was junk to me. I have been told that is because of the output impedance which is, I believe 45 Ohm. And most of my headphones are about 32 Ohm.
I bought a Vali 2 used and it sounds great. But not very “tubey”. I also bought a used XDuoo TA-20 that I received today. I’ll give it a good run through tomorrow. Today I started with the HD600’s and then went to the HD58X’s. Sounds very nice so far.
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Would this hybrid tube amp be a second amp? If you already have an amp, you can make a tube hybrid with something like this:
FX Audio TUBE-01 6J1 Tube Buffer HIFI Preamplifier (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HEQJGPC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_C28jEbMHJ1MND
There are variants that have tone controls for $23-30 more. I was quite surprised how good such things are. It’s not going to be state of the art tube sound, but it’s more effective than many realize.
Looking for a very “tubey” hybrid for current and future planars. Already have a solid state in the SP200 and a decent true tube in the Little Dot MK2. Has anyone tried the Little Dot MK1? Seems like it could potentially fit the bill with a nice tube swap.
I think the xduoo ta20 might be up your alley
Perhaps if I could find one used at a good price. Just more than I would want to put into a hybrid at this time. Have you tried out the Xduoo TA-05 by any chance?
The ta05 is pretty nice, solid for the price
Ok sweet might look into that then. How would you rate the tubeyness? Lol
It’s decent, it’s not as tubey as something like the liquid platinum or other higher end hybrid amps but it still has some tube sound. I end up preferring the ta20 more, but that is more cost
Fair enough, thanks for the advice