2. amps-preamps
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Looks for Headphone Tube Amp

Hey everyone,

I’m not an audiophile, but I’m looking for help when it comes to finding a small tube amp for a pair of Meze 99 Classic closed back headphones. Something between $100 - $250, I mostly listen to indie, acoustic, pop, and hiphop

They don’t require much power to drive them--I could use them w/o an amp--but I’d love to have an amp simply to improve the sound quality as much as possible, within reason. Looking to use the headphones and amp for an iPhone and Macbook air.

Would love any suggestions and reasoning behind the suggestions.

Again, I’m not an audiophile, and know these aren’t audiophile quality headphones, but I like seeking the advice of experts!
whyistherenopie
whyistherenopie OP
18 posts
 
@soix i’m definitely going to jump in! This is all super helpful. I really appreciate your advice.

I was looking for a record system last year and tons of folks  had the same perspective on cables as you. Haha I think it simply means your opinion is in good company w me: I'm a believer in good cables after reading everyone's responses. I definitely want to invest in making this as nice as I can on my budget.

Slowly been assembling everything, i should be finished by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted on how it all sounds when i've assembled It all! Thanks, again, for all your advice!
soix
9,456 posts
 
Yeah, don’t thank me til you’ve heard everything hooked up and run in a bit.  Realized I forgot to include interconnects — I think 0.5m Cullen Cable Copper Series RCA for $85 should work very well and hopefully not break the bank.  Look forward to hearing your impressions. 
whyistherenopie OP
18 posts
 
@soix everything finally came in the mail. I havent been able to stop listening to music hahaha. For a budget headphone setup, I'm pretty stoked on everything I got, it's perfect for what I needed and exactly what I was hoping it would be. Thanks for steering me in the right direction, I love this setup!
ghdprentice
6,976 posts
 
Congratulations. One can get a rewarding system at most investment levels by carefully chosen components. Since some of your stuff is still new, it should sound a bit better after passing the 200+ hours on everything.
whyistherenopie OP
18 posts
 
@ghdprentice Last year I was looking at an affordable turn table setup and most folks on the thread were thumbing their nose at me; it was pretty annoying tbh, since I admitted at the beginning of the thread I’m not an audiophile. It’s been refreshing to have helpful folks for this headphone endeavor.

For anyone who wants to know, here’s what I got, even though I kinda blew up my initial budget:

Desktop Setup:
- Meze 99 Classic Headphones
- Meze 99 Series Silver Plated Upgrade Cables
- Topping L30 Headphone Amplifier
- Topping E30 DAC
- iFi iPurifier USB Audio Filter
- Audioquest Golden Gate RCA Cables
- Audioquest Cinnamon USB B to C Cables

Phone (already had these components)
- Audioquest Dragonfly Red
- Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter

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