TOTL tubed headpone amp

Was lucky to share a block with the best music bar in Brooklyn for many years. The back room only has about 20 seats. For whatever reason, wonderful acoustics for live music. I hope they survive the virus.

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That would be a great test :slight_smile:

Would love to hear your impressions with the various headphones and the Bartok.

Yes the Bartok does tickle me now seriously…

Beware!!! You might end up getting a second Bartok for your home rig. Once heard it can’t be undone…

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I can tell you that the Raal SR1a and the Focal Utopia are totally delicious with the Bartók.

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That is Nice to hear!

A second Bartok for home? Now there is an interesting concept. :headphones:

The nice thing about the Bartók is that it is a streamer, scaler, DAC and amp all in one box. I pair it with a Roon Nucleus and control it with Roon Remote from an iPad.

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I mean, if your office / man-cave is at a different location, you might have a Bartok for each spot. That would be over the top but hey, there’s no such thing when chasing that audio nirvana!

That’s a S.W.E.E.T. setup!!!

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That’s what I call ‘doin’ it right’. :sunglasses:

I also usually prefer black components but that silver looks fantastic.

Very nice indeed. :+1:t4:

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Black Components Matter

Just in case anyone here was waiting for it to come back in stock, the Cayin HA-6As are fresh off the production line and ready to be ordered at musictek. Here is the link
I already ordered mine and now I am just impatiently waiting for it to arrive :laughing:

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Get ready to go deep down the tube rolling rabbit hole! That amp has 6 tubes and I don’t know if they need to be matched in pairs. If yes, then you’ll be going after a pair of tubes at a time but if not, you’ll have so many options that it can be a bit overwhelming.

eBay is a good source but you gotta be cautious because they might sell you crappy tubes for outrageous amounts of $$.

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You are correct! :rofl:I know that rabbit hole all too well. This is not my first tube amp, but it is my first high end one for my headphones. I have some tubes laying around from tube rolling speaker amps and pre amps, but I have also already purchased some good ones for this amp specifically.
I have been buying them from reputable online retailers and friends because I know what you mean about eBay. :grimacing:
Whats your experience so far? Have any good recommendations?

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Hmmm… One of these days I might get to hear one of those and see if i like it.

The DNA Stratus is only a little bit more $ though, and I know that sounds amazing.

Has anyone heard both?

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I think I’d be happy to “settle” for that setup. :grin:

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I’m not even sure what “TOTL Tubed” even means. Tubed OTL Tubed? I see some amps listed here with transformers, so I’m going to throw my hat into the ring. Tuba uses output transformers to get nice low output impedance. It also works great with high impedance headphones. You don’t have to choose.

Tuba

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TOTL = Top of the line - money no object

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How was your experience dealing with Musictek?

It was fine. I ordered the amp and it was shipped from Cayin and got here pretty quickly. They are pretty responsive with e-mails too.

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