[USAudio]

Has AVA considered producing a dedicated headphone amplifier?
Lots of headphone related information here: http://www.head-fi.org/
Thanks

Edit: or perhaps even a combination headphone amp, preamp and DAC in one box???   aa
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=64965.msg596353#msg596353

[BradJudy]

Frank mentioned the possibility of a small one-board Insight that could be built as either a pre-amp or a headphone amp:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=63173.msg570935#msg570935

Sounds like a pre-built board, but the rest of the build would be DIY.  It could be a fun for the Head-Fi crowd, but it doesn't seem clear if/when it might come to be.

[USAudio]

Sounds good but still seems like the headphone section would be a bit of an afterthought.
I was thinking of something like a pure dedicated headphone amplifier that receives the full design/engineering attention that Frank's amplifiers receive.
Something like that could be a big hit at head-fi.org.

[turkey]

Sounds good but still seems like the headphone section would be a bit of an afterthought.
I was thinking of something like a pure dedicated headphone amplifier that receives the full design/engineering attention that Frank's amplifiers receive.
Something like that could be a big hit at head-fi.org.

The Insight headphone output doesn't sound like an afterthought to me.

[USAudio]

The Insight headphone output doesn't sound like an afterthought to me.

Good, glad to hear that!

[USAudio]

To carry this a step farther, how about a combination AVA headphone amp, pre-amp AND DAC all in one box?   aa

Something like the DAC1pre from Benchmark:
http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/system1/digital-analog-converter/dac1-pre

or m902 from Grace Design
http://www.gracedesign.com/products/m902/m902.htm

or Meier Corda Symphony:
http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/symphony.htm

or Lavry DA11
http://www.lavryengineering.com/productspage_pro_da11.html

[dB Cooper]

If you peruse the AVA preamp product pages a little bit, you will discover that all AVA preamps- be they tube, SS, or hybrid- already have headphone amps built in. I can vouch that they have REAL NICE headphone amps. Don't be fooled by some "boutique" headphone amps being as (or more) expensive than some AVA preamps.

This pre/dac question has come up before, and IIRC Frank didn't feel that the unit was sufficiently quiet for his liking. It is a great concept, fewer boxes, fewer wires, but concept and execution don't always match up.

[Dan Kolton]

How about a pre-pre for moving coil cartridges (including provisions for adjusting load resistors)?

[dB Cooper]

Or a complete Insight set for my first gen MosFet SCA80 (known around these parts as "Old Faithful")   aa


Still gives a good account of itself despite its age, but getting noisy now, especially noticeable thru phones, which is how I listen a lot of the time

Will surprise you when you plug in yer 'phones though



Hey, I can dream, Can't I 

[oneinthepipe]

Or a complete Insight set for my first gen MosFet SCA80 (known around these parts as "Old Faithful")

Or my SCA-50/Omega 50!

[dB Cooper]

What he said!

Why not, they're the same size box... Different power xformer, -80 might need a 'transplant' 
It'd sound as good or better than a lot of hi-buck 'boutique' headphone amps, I'd wager aa

[USAudio]

...
This pre/dac question has come up before, and IIRC Frank didn't feel that the unit was sufficiently quiet for his liking. It is a great concept, fewer boxes, fewer wires, but concept and execution don't always match up.

That's too bad as the units already out on the market are very popular!
If AVA could put one out for less than $2000USD it could prove to be quite successful.

A couple more that I didn't list in my above post:
HeadRoom Desktop: http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/the-desktop-line/headroom-desktop-amp.php
Lavry DA11: http://www.lavryengineering.com/productspage_pro_da11.html

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=64965.msg596353#msg596353

[USAudio]

Something like this: http://www.redwineaudio.com/products/isabellina_hpa
might be interesting from Van Alstine?

[boycephoto]

I remember AVA talking about changing the phono circuit in an Insight preamp  (I think) to have enough gain to use a Denon MC.   Not to long ago.  Maybe he is already working on something along those lines for the future????  Only Frank would know.  In the past he recomemded a MC transformer instead of a pre-pre, but that was a long time ago and things do change. 

Dave

[boycephoto]

Mr Cooper,

I like your BS Meter.  Can you change the settings to corespond to the current line of thoughts and answers you are responding to??  If you can, I think I need one too. 

Dave

[avahifi]

To answer a few questions:

The Insight Phono Stage with gain increased just barely runs out of quietness when used with the Denon DL103.  The last time I tried it was when the phono circuit still was using AD845 chips.  Now that they have been replaced with OPA627s it should be about 3 dB quieter and might just work.  I will try again one of these days when I have time to mount a Denon again.

Combo preamp/DAC is still a project I intend to investigate further.  With some new ideas in progress it might just work.

Dedicated headphone amplifier.  Well darn it it requires a chassis, regulated power supply, toroid power transformer, and most of the same bits as a full preamp except for the switching functions.  Its much more cost effective to get the whole preamp.

Frank Van Alstine

[plaf26]

The Insight Phono Stage with gain increased just barely runs out of quietness when used with the Denon DL103.  The last time I tried it was when the phono circuit still was using AD845 chips.  Now that they have been replaced with OPA627s it should be about 3 dB quieter and might just work.  I will try again one of these days when I have time to mount a Denon again.

I had a similar experience with a DL103R and my small box T8.  Now using K&K Audio transformer with 32K ohms loading resistance and it's very sweet indeed!  Now I know what they mean by "air" around the instruments and a stable sound stage.