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Antique Sound Labs Headphone Amp

Audiogonisti...any feedback regarding this inexpensive tube headphone amp?

I recently saw a couple of their other products but did not have a chance to listen to them. Looks seemed way beyond the price points. But, on the other hand, one brand new unit had a loose knob tipping off point of origin.

Here's the deal. My system is sounding good. Real good. Finally rounding into shape. But the wife is giving me heavy "stink eye" in the wee, wee hours. Now that I'm self employed -- and worse yet, doing business in Asia at odd hours -- I just need only one squinting eye to make it to the coffee pot in the morning, so I'm staying up until near dawn working and listening to music. Every night. Good electricity at this time to boot.

I thought about picking up a Melos SHA Gold which works damn, damn good as a headphone amp and would be a fine back-up line stage. But, I have serious fever for a turntable. I sold the Sota a couple of years ago and have been vinyl deprived since. I just scored an Arcici Lead Balloon and am hell nebt on getting some buckshot and something to put on top of it. Which brings us back to the headphone amp...

I need something inexpensive and reasonably good. Stuff like X-Cans and Headrooms offend my sensibilties. Anything else out there for a man prowling for good sound on the cheap?

Oh, need headphones too. Left those with an
ex-girlfriend. I'd rather confront a rat in heat than talk to her about returning the SR80's. Any headphone suggestions to go with my inexpensive headphone amp?

Thanks in advance. Jim.
jim
jim OP
418 posts
 
Looks like the MGHead, XCans2 and the Antique Sound Labs will get auditioned. Thanks for the feedback.
bmotorcycle
68 posts
 
There are times when one must be quiet in his own home, for those times I am using the Wheatfield HA-1 with the Sennheiser HD600 with great success. I must admit that my whole system is a tube bassed system, so I am partial to those glowing tubes.

You all say that the cost is 3 times as much, but, you all also seem to agree that it is a better sound, after all that is what we are looking for isn't it, better sound. My vote, if you can afford the difference, would be for the Wheatfield, it is worth the extra expense.
khokugo
122 posts
 
Bmotorcycle,
I can't agree more. Actually, it was HA-1 that took my eyes (I mean ears) at the first place. But I was pretty sure that wife would be pissed off by that kind of instant spending. So, I look around to find MG Head, and succeeded to pursuade my ears to be satisfied with its "return on investment". Sure, if I had had the larger wallet, I would have gotten HA-1, which definitely sounds better.
jim OP
418 posts
 
Bmoto... guess I'll add the Wheatfield to the list. My system is also tube based and I've been doing quite a bit of tube rolling during the past year or two. I need to maintain the tube vibe is whatever headphone amp I ultimately go with. I initially thought about going with electrostatic headphones (since I have esl speakers) but I don't believe I can have those and the tubes at the same time. If I am mistaken, I'd be very happy to be corrected.

Like Khokugo, I need to balance price and performance. The wife likes the 4 Mazda chrome plates I just picked up, and since my new Modulus 3a looks identical to the Mod3 I'm not sure if she even knows that an upgrade occured while she was getting her hair done, but I know she's going to "poop" when I track down 12 matched NOS 6L6GC's or EL34's. Then there's the turntable I want to add to the system...

Thanks for the input.
lornecherry
135 posts
 
I've got Grado RS-1's and the Grado RA-1 battery powered headphone amp running directly into the output stage of my Sony SCD-1 courtesy of Mr. Cardas's Golden Reference RCA.(Don't dismiss the battery powered RA-1 Grado -- it's dead quiet, and really let's the source strut its stuff. Critics might call the Grado a touch analytical, but I'm sold on Grado attention to detail and no over-emphasis on any one aspect of the headphone experience in sacrafice of another. Sterophile Class A, for whatever that's worth.

On SACD it's wonderful. Better than my aging STAX. I haven't heard the big Sen 600's on a tube headphone amp, but on Headroom's best amp the Grado's had a slight edge -- probably comes down to listener preference -- I know others who prefer the Sens.

That said, the STAX vs Sen 600 vs Grado RS-1 is classic audiophile battle with each system offering a different experience. Mixing in some of those liquid tube preamps vs headroom's cross feed systems only makes it that much more fun -- and I have no doubt within a year that I'll have two complete headphone systems.
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