I currently have the following for headphone listening of my music:
- Beresford TC-7510 DAC
- Little Dot MKIII tube headphone preamp/amp
- Sennheiser HD-595 headphones
The sound is really, really good - very transparent, good soundstage, detailed and warm. I think the headphones are the weakest link and could be improved to get the best out of the DAC and tube amp. The Little Dot MKIII is an imported Chinese-made tube amp with both pre- and power-amp stages driven by tubes. Amazing sound, but needs to be powered off and cooled down after 8 hours of use. It's solidly built and reassuringly heavy.
Budgetwise, I think it all added up to around the £500 mark including interconnects between the DAC and amp.
- Beresford TC-7510 DAC
- Little Dot MKIII tube headphone preamp/amp
- Sennheiser HD-595 headphones
The sound is really, really good - very transparent, good soundstage, detailed and warm. I think the headphones are the weakest link and could be improved to get the best out of the DAC and tube amp. The Little Dot MKIII is an imported Chinese-made tube amp with both pre- and power-amp stages driven by tubes. Amazing sound, but needs to be powered off and cooled down after 8 hours of use. It's solidly built and reassuringly heavy.
Budgetwise, I think it all added up to around the £500 mark including interconnects between the DAC and amp.