Suggestions for pure headphone amp around $200?

 I like my Schiit Vali 2 with a 6GC7.
Less than $200 all in. The 15 day audition won't tell you much. The stick tube blows and so does the Russki 6922 I tried next.

uber, given the level of the rest of your system, I'd suggest treating the headphone amp with the same level of importance, especially if you're planning to upgrade or add more headphones in the near future.  You should probably be adding a 0 to your budget.

Lol Greg.

You could be right but as I still only use cans about 1% of the time I have a hard time justifying that expense in my head.

However I know it's a big vicious circle and the better the headamp/ cans the more I might use them.

Headphones have been an odd rabbit hole for me.  For a while, I was listening to them a lot and bought a few different ones as well as a few amps.  They are cool in a lot of ways because it's like being able to swap out speakers and there's no room to deal with and even the upper tier headphones don't cost as much as many speakers do. 

But... you have to wear them, and they can be uncomfortable, and you have cables, and... blah blah blah. 

The main thing that happened with me is that I kept improving my systems to the point that my speakers sounded as good or better than the headphones and headphones don't really have a "soundstage" or image like speakers do.  I still listen to them on a regular basis, but not as much and I have way more stuff than I need.

Then I will buy some of your castoffs Greg!
😁😁