[jtcf]

Please ignore if this derails the topic, but I wonder if folks have had any good experiences with tube headphone amps also doing duty as preamps? If so, what did you use? Asking for a friend with Grado 225s and Senn 650's.

Check out LTA MicroZotl  Wonderful with my Senn 650s and also used mine as a preamp.He can try before buying too.

[mlundy57]

Check out LTA MicroZotl  Wonderful with my Senn 650s and also used mine as a preamp.He can try before buying too.

I don't have any issues with my Senn HD700s with my current headphone amp. They work well together. The problem I'm having is with headphones that are way more sensitive then the Senn's. With a sensitivity of 125dB, my new cans need an extremely low noise floor. The only product in the Senheiser lineup I'm aware of that has similar specs to my cans are the IE 900s which are 123dB @ 16 ohm.

Which means a tube amp that high sound quality and is quiet with the Senn IE 900 should work with my headphones. Provided such a thing exists.

[Armaegis]

How about something like the iFi Pro iCAN? it has three modes: solid state, tube, and tube+, which all alter the sound. It also has a few other functions, low noise floor, and adjustable gain, so it's a bit of a swiss-army-knife type amp.