Looking for a DIY tube headphone amp kit

[ik632]

We're moving to a new office at work and I want to setup a nice headphone amp to use with my SqueezeBox.

Can anyone point me to a nice kit I can buy and build myself. I'm experienced with assembly and can solder well and have most of the equipment for basic assembly (insert component, solder and trim leads). I also have basic testing equipment.

Mainly I want to buy a kit that will sound good. It doesn't need to be audiophile quality, but better than just plugging the headphones into my laptop or the SB Touch directly.

If it comes with a case that's cool but I can make a nice case for it.

I like the Little Dot Mark III (http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=6889114ddc7731dc700b5617a23561bd) but would rather enjoy the pleasure of building it myself.

Price cannot be over $200 for finished kit (since it's for work and would certainly be overkill).

[richidoo]

Hi Nick! Good to see you again!

Check out the bottlehead Crack amp for $220. It is only good for higher impedance headphones.  What headphones do you plan to use with this amp?

I'm working on a battery powered SS headphone amp designed by Sol, based on TDA1308 headphone amp IC.

We've been talking about having a headphone meet for a year. Maybe your new amp will be a good reason to do that!

Also this, but not a kit:
http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=1

[BobM]

Go over to www.head-fi.com and check out the many, many different options open to you for a diy head amp. You can certainly find several recommendations for your particular headphones, as well as different ways to tweak the kits wih parts selection and such.

Good luck.

[ik632]

@Rich - yeah thanks, it's been a while. Not sure of headphones quite yet. We have this work deal with Bose and my boss offered to get me noise canceling ones because my neighbor is so loud. So, they will more than likely be the Quiet Comfort 15's because I like the over the ear better. I know there are better ones out there, but you know I'm cheap and usually go to the 80% mark where I am satisfied anyway.

My grandmother worked for Sennheiser for a long time but I never asked her to get me a pair while she was working there. She joked that the headphones that she used to assemble were almost $2k a pair and I didn't believe her until I looked them up one day

@Bob - I'll definitely check that out. I'm not opposed to building the entire thing from scratch, though if I need to do a board I'd prefer to buy one that's already etched.

[richidoo]

The Quiet Comfort 15 is an active headphone. It carries batteries and opamp based amplifiers inside the headphones. So the input impedance is probably higher than normal to make them compatible with the wimpiest sources, but no technical specs are given anywhere. So you probably don't need an external amplifier, just a good sounding source, like maybe a Cowan portable player.

[djdube525]

I've found that the noise canceling phones like the Bose are not as good as many people expect/hope for canceling out loud neighbors. They are great for reducing the hum of a plane or the sounds of all the fans in a data center.

If loud neighbor is your concern, and you only plan on using these at work... I'd look for a closed back (you don't want to disrupt your neighbors right?) over the ear headphones. Open back head phones, like many of the Senns, will have sound leakage and can disrupt workplace environment.

[ik632]

I know from an audiophile stand point the Bose stuff doesn't rank that high, but I'm pretty sure that they would be a heck of a deal.

The other thing is I need to be able to use the headphones for phone audio too. I know that this is against everything we (as audiophiles) believe in, but need that too.

I did try the non-noise cancelling ones the other day and they were pretty quiet with just the headphones so maybe I don't even go with noise cancelling.

[etcarroll]

I have a bunch of 12AU7 tubes, and will soon need to use headphones.

I'd like to diy a tubed headphone amp.

Have an ancient pair of AKG K-240.

Edit: Just tracked down the Bottlehead Crack, that could be me. Anyone familiar with this unit?

[ik632]

Quick update:

So, I ended up with the QC-15. These are quite good for removing low frequency rumbling noise and some other noise up to about 3khz. The high frequency isn't really reduced that much (tested with some pink and white noise).

Anyway, they do sound pretty good and work very well for travel. I know they are not true audiophile headphones, but the deal was good and I'm happy

[Carlman]

Cool, congrats, Nick!
As to the mobile phone/mic/headphones.... Do your headphones have a button to receive a call?

The only time I listen to earbuds/headphones on my phone is when I'm bike riding or have the phone stored somehow... So if someone is calling, I have a hard time getting to the phone... if the cable had a little button, that'd be cool.

None of this is ever clear to me through the marketing.  It's just "ours is best, you buy!"....