Quote:Dear Steve
I came across your amp on head-fi. I have been looking for a good tube headphone amp that also acts as a pre-amp. I have gone down the route of considering various chinese amps such as Ming Da, Yaqin, Transcendere etc and then having them modified, but there has always been some sticking point that meant they didn't quite suit.
Then I came across your amp. It seems to be exactly what I am looking for. I intend to use it primarily as a headphone amp to drive Senn 650's and akg k702's. I would use its pre amp output to run into a Burson Audio PI-160, an integrated amp with one input that runs as a power amp. This is a fantastic quality amp made here in Australia. Their gear is sold in the US but I'm not sure how well known it is. This then runs into another Australian made product, the Lenehan Audio ML-1 stand mount speakers.
As an aside, I wouldn't mind hearing your thoguhts on pairing one of your tube pre-amps with solid state power amps, and particularly on the off chance you had heard it with a Burson amp.
I can't find anything locally like your amp, and I don't know anyone who has one. The tube amp profucers here don't really think about the headphone output as a priority, so it is only thought if it is there at all. The chinese alternatives are less palatable to me. I try to support local manufacturers where I can, and smaller overseas producers. Apart from a couple of pieces of the Australian Burson gear, I also have bel canto and channel islands audio gear.
Mark
Hi Mark,
The CSP2 sounds great with hi quality solid state amplifiers. Again, tube rolling to compliment the signature of the amp is possible. The stock tube set is generally warm. You can dial in the "hit" easily with any amplifiers input impedance/sensitivity with the output level controls. Helps facilitate low level listening.
Steve