Does anyone have some experience wtih the T+A Solitaire P-SE? https://www.ta-hifi.de/en/headphones/solitaire-headphones/solitaire-p-se/
Which amp would you recommend with it and/or planars - 45 Ohm - like it? The HA 200 from T+A is definetly too expensive for me… Preferably tube amp! Thank you!
which characteristics/specs to look for a tube amp when I plan to use it with planars? second headphone Clears should also pair well with it…
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output impedance. Ideally, you want the output impedance of your headphones to be 8x the output impedance of the amp, otherwise the impedance mismatch tends to bloat the bass. Whether you think bloated bass is a deal breaker or not for a tube amp is up to you, ymmv.
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power delivery and/or gain. Low sensitivity planars need more current than dynamic headphones to reach similar volume & control. “High gain” can help alleviate this somewhat by boosting gain before the output stage, but even so without sufficient current the sound may be plenty loud yet still limp and uncontrolled.
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OTC (Output Transformer Coupled). You generally don’t want OTL (output transformerless) with planars. OTL tube amps typically have higher impedance and less power, so they usually don’t work well with most planars.
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@chrisnyc75’s points are spot on. You might consider a tube hybrid amp. The Schiit Audio Lyr 3 could work well for both. Another option, the Jotunheim 2, while not being a tube amp, could also suit your use-case. I liked it very much for my Clear and LCD2-Classic.
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how would that be specified on a product page? I mean producers neither actually specify how much impeadance “comes out”, they rather tell what headphone works with adjusted impeadencen, nore do they mention how much current is supplied… Like with the statement under the Kenzie Ovation: “the ability to support 5 different impedance: 8, 16 which are great for high efficiency planers” the Encore is gone from the ampsandsound page - why that? So something like an Ovation with 5 impeadance settings would be a safe bet…
Thanks, I was thinking about that also… But for right now I´m happy with Clear + Questyle twelve. I am planning on a serious step up. So I rather save up a bit longer to get something like a R2R Dac + tube amp like an Encore + VC or planars on the same level, since that would be a bigger deversification to Clears . I realise many users on this forum like Shiit, ZMF, ampsandsound, made in the US. Rightfully so, but hard go import to austria.
Just like @MRHifiReviews @TylersEclectic and the Professor mentioned on their “best tube amps under € 1000.-” that one has to invest quite a bit more than that to really get a significantly better sound. That there are not many around 1500 or so, that one wants to go up to a Pendant or similar products.
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Current is tied to the output power of the device. A typical OTL tube amp has about 250-400mW of power. That’s not a lot of current delivery, and again even if internal “high gain” applies voltage gain before the output stage, the low power output still isn’t going to drive low sensitivity planars well. You should note, though, that not all planars are low sensitivity. Some, like Audeze, are low impedance but are generally high sensitivity and will work fine with low powered tube amps, though maybe not so well with their impedance rating. Hifiman & Abyss tend to have higher impedance ratings, but lower sensitivity, so the inverse is true.
As for the impedance rating, if it’s not listed you can always ask. I think with amps that have multiple headphone outputs rated for different impedances (i.e. ampsandsounds) they tend to test that they work well with headphones with those ratings. Still, if you want to know the actual output impedance of each jack just email them, I’m sure they’ll tell you. I emailed Decware a few weeks ago about the Zen Taboo, its output impedance is 10ohms.
Tl;dr: look for an output transformer coupled amp with a power rating over 1.5W and it should work with pretty much any headphone.
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Alright, I am able to follow you so far… 250-400W sounds a lot. I´ve read a few times that many like an Euphoria with Clears and similar cans. I hope and probably have to attend High End Munich if/when it´s allowed again.
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Oops, yeah, that should have said 250-400mW. 
I hear you; my plan is likewise to save for a significant upgrade, to the Vérité open and, when pennies permit, something like the Pendant. Good luck!
Yeah, I wondered about where you were and checked out your profile page to see if you were outside the US. It’s tough for folks outside the US, in many cases, when it comes to the availability and price of certain headphones and related gear. I get it, I’m originally from the UK.
It sounds like you’re on great path - do please let us know how things pan out and please share your impressions of your new gear, when you get it.
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I will! A shame that Audio Note don’t produce a single headamp…
Any idea how the Playmate 2 with vivid opamps compares to the higher-end burson offerings
I haven’t heard the Playmate 2 but @Tom_Ato did a comparison:
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I only have the standard model without the Vivids. Sound wise, it’s not too far from the bigger models.
When you don’t need balanced output or more input options, it’s a great device for a very good price! I am sure the gap gets even smaller with the V6 Vivids.
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After watching Joshua Valour’s headphone amp tier list I don’t know if I can ever take any of his reviews seriously…sigh…
I think @Nuance has a comment recommending the RebelAmp. That would be 3 steps above Valour’s S tier IMO.
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Lol yep, that was me. His b-roll is stupendous, but he and I apparently don’t hear the same things. To each their own…I guess.
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But he tries so hard though!!
I briefly watched and ho hummed through it.
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I now wonder if he spends much time with equipment, or quickly reviews stuff and then moves on. He gutted the principle of using raw quality as a standard in making price and value a deciding factor for each tier (e.g., Schiit Heresy as S Class?). He should do a “quality” list and a separate “value” list.
He confused himself regarding tube amp criteria per their distortion and coloration. Distortion is the goal of a tube amp so they cannot be judged with engineering measurements. At the same time he flipped and flopped about subjective criteria for SS amps (e.g., etched 789 presentation vs. smoother competing products), but didn’t value subjectivity for tube amps.
Bad logic from start to finish, unfortunately. The audio industry desperately needs to minimize its obsessions with electrical measurements and focus on human perception. Perception is all that matters to humans and all that they can actually hear or interpret, but often nonlinear, unexpected, or plain weird.
Many viewer comments were critical, and some pointed out the narrowness his selection (i.e., as mostly lower priced SS). This kind of analysis must be resisted, or more people will buy mediocre products, suffer without knowing they are suffering, and then dogmatically defend their own misery.
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I cringed at how many comments I read stating they purchased the A90 based on his recommendation. Yikes!
I wish people would realize headphone measurements and amplifier measurements shouldn’t be analyzed in the same way. The latter are really only useful to identify real flaws, as in audible ones.
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There are very few youtubers that know what they are talking about and also have a goal of providing valid information. He is in the very long list of people just looking to monetize as much and as long as they can.
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