Monitor II headphone amp review

davejames

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Futher to my original post on this forum, after purchasing this amp here is my review :)

Monitor II Reference Series Headphone Amplifier
Purchased from: www.njc-audio.co.uk

For many years I have listened to music through my Koss electrostatic headphones but after listening to a pair of Beyer headphones I found that while my Koss headphones were very good the Beyers were better still, as naturally technology has moved on since those days, I ended up with the Beyer DT880 600ohm version, then after listening to them on a friends dedicated headphone amp I decided I needed a proper amp as the headphone out on my Technics CD player wouldn't drive them loud enough & I wasn't happy with the headphone output of my older integrated amp (Pioneer SA9500II).

I looked at all the "famous" makes but then by chance found the Monitor II amplifier built by NJC Audio, I couldnt find much information on this amplifier but after reading through the page & looking at the specifications of the amplifier it seemed very good indeed, with plenty of photos including some internal shots of the amplifiers circuit board showing the high quality components used made me more confident that this may well be an option to consider, after a few emails to NJC Audio the guy was very helpful & I found out that the amplifiers are built completely by himself, I got the impression from his email replies to me that he was a pure enthusiast, so at the end of the day I decided to take the plunge & here is my review.

The day after I placed the order a box arrived by DHL & it was the amplifier, eager to see what I had spent my money on I opened up the box to reveal an extremely nice looking piece of kit, first impressions is that this amp is really well made with nice attention to detail, but at the same time has a home made charm to it, possibly down to the fact the front panel has no legends or writing of any kind, but it certainly was not going to look out of place on my hifi shelf, with all that solid aluminium it reminded me of how they used to make amps in the good old days, it actually has similar looks to my classic "Pioneer SA9500II" integrated amp which shares a very similar thick aluminium front panel.


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As we all know though, looks are not everything, it has to actually sound good, so after hooking it up to my Technics CD player I plugged my Beyer DT880/600's into the front & switched on, hmm I couldn't hear anything, no turn on pops/thumps, not even the slightest hiss when I turned the volume up, I thought to myself "is it working?" I checked the connections & the LED was on at the front of the amplifier, so I started playing a CD & the music started playing, I was amazed at how completely silent the amp was with no music being played, you would be mistaken for thinking its not plugged in if it wasn't for the LED on the front (which illuminates slowly upon switch on, I guess this is to do with the "soft start" as advertised), so far I was impressed.

After playing around with the amp for the next hour or two & listening to my favourite songs, I was very impressed with what I was hearing, everything just sounded correct to my ears, the bass was really deep but never flabby or boomy, mids are all present & the high end seems very refined & pleasant to listen to, even cranking the volume up it was never harsh or fatiguing for my ears. At the rear of the amp there is a "Gain Adjustment" switch, which has 3 positions, Low, Med & High, my 600ohm Beyers worked fine in all positions but I found with the "low" setting I had to turn the volume almost fully clockwise for normal listening level, so I figured that setting must be reserved for more sensitive lower impedance phones, Med & High were perfect on the Beyers with the volume control having a nice amount of travel.

To test the low gain setting I plugged in my Audio Technica ATH-AD500 headphones, which are 66ohms & while not reference quality like my Beyers they are extremely good at picking up any amplifier hiss because they are quite sensitive & have a rather high spike in the treble end, I tried them with the low gain setting, no hiss or hum & this setting seemed perfectly matched to these phones with plenty of volume adjustment, I then tried the medium & high settings, still dead silent on the background, although personally I would always use the low gain setting for low impedance/high sensitivity phones as you get much more adjustment on the volume control.


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A day later now & I have listened to this amp a lot with various pieces of music & my first impressions that this is an extremely good quality amp seems to be confirmed more & more every time I listen to it, I am finding I can hear detail in songs that I never knew was there, the amp does seem extremely revealing & this is both its strong & weak points, on a high quality mastered CD such as "Jeff Beck - Emotion & Commotion" the amp really does shine, the dead silent background really is good with the first track & the guitar sounds very real with plenty of midrange & a quality that I just can't put into words, but the revealing nature of this amp can also be its downfall when you play a poor recording, hooking the amp up to my DAC playing a 96-128kb MP3 file, the amp picks up on the mp3 "mushyness" & reveals everything!, but I guess that is more of a problem with the poor MP3 file rather than the amp, 320kb MP3's were good but Flac was better still, providing you feed the amp with a decent signal it really does begin to sing.

After using the amp every day since it arrived I'm very happy with it but the problem is I don't have another headphone amp to compare it against, I only have the headphone output of my Technics CD player which by comparison sounds a little muffled, & the headphone out on my SA9500II equally sounds poor compared to this dedicated headphone amp, so a phone call later & I got my friend to come around here in the evening with his headphones & amplifier, he owns the Senheisser HD650 headphones & has them hooked up to his "Graham Slee - Solo SRGII", which got me interested in the whole headphone amp scene in the beginning, so I had a listen to his setup but didn't like what I was hearing, where had all the detail gone?, it was there but much lower levels than what I am used to hearing, so I plugged my DT880/600's into his amp & that was much better to me, I just wasn't used to his HD650 headphones.


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We spent the rest of the evening listening to both amps using only my DT880/600's, to be honest both amps sounded quite similar at first, but it wasn't until I played a few tracks from my "Acoustic Alchemy" albums that I found the Monitor II amp revealing the slightest more detail on the acoustic guitars, the fret noise was more apparent with the Monitor II, ever so slightly recessed on the Slee, the difference was hardly noticeable but there, so I then had the idea of doing a blind test, listening for a while on each amp & then changing to the other, one amp was slightly more detailed, we were both sure that we must be listening to the Slee, but when we looked it was the Monitor II , I must point out that it was a very small difference & without an A/B comparison would most likely not be noticed at all in casual listening, but it definitely was heard by both of us, regardless of this both amps sounded superb.

I was amazed & to be honest quite pleased! my friend however was also surprised especially considering how much he had spent on that amplifier in the first place,but he made a good point that his headphone amp has a well known name, which was a point I could not argue with him on, but at the same time it was the Monitor II that just had the slightest more detail & I personally would take that over features or names etc..


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The Monitor II amplifier seems to be the complete opposite of mass produced, whereby he says he makes them himself & as he clearly states "they are all made by hand & this takes a lot of time, so only a few will ever be available at any one time" or something to that effect, but knowing that each amp is made here in England by somebody that is obviously a real enthusiast, for me just adds to the charm of this amp & could explain why its such a great sounding amp with real value for money, to be honest when I saw all the specifications & the "hand made" part on his web site along with the modest asking price I thought "no way!, this is too good to be true" & I almost turned off, but maybe they are that price due to the fact he seems to make everything himself, at the end of the day I don't really care as the fact is this amp is really good value for money, sounds great & more importantly for me drives my 600ohm Beyers very well indeed, all in all this has been one of the better purchases I've made recently.

Conclusion:

Overall I have been more than suprised by how good this amplifier has turned out to be, which probably means it could hold its own against other headphone amplifiers in that class, it seems to have no problems driving low impedance phones or high impedance 600ohm phones & really seems to convey a refined sound quality which I guess is not too surprising considering the high specs & the high quality parts used inside, build quality is by far the best I have seen so far, with solid aluminium on the front panel & a hefty lump of aluminium crafted into a volume knob that really does look good quality.

To sum it all up then in a few points:

Pro's:
Here are some of the good points in brief...

  • Very good sound quality that is refined & has plenty of detail.
  • Ability to drive 600ohm headphones with ample power
  • Has a gain adjustment switch, useful if you own varied sensitivity phones.
  • High quality parts used inside & the alps pot for example has a nice "fluid" feel.
  • Solid build quality with lots & lots of aluminium, looks great & doesn't take up too much room.
  • It's made here in Great Britain! by somebody who sounds like an enthusiast.
  • Price!! seems too good to be true but its not! it might just turn out to be one of the rare bargains that come along from time to time.
Cons:
Nothing is perfect & the Monitor II is no exception here...

  • The gain adjustment switch at the back is a chrome toggle, I would have liked a little push button of some sort but that could just be me.
  • The aluminium feet on the bottom seem a little overkill with the attention to detail, rubber stick on feet would have been adequate..
  • The aluminium fins on top are nice looking & may aid cooling (although mine never even got warm after hours of use) could attract dust.
  • While I like the fact that these are made by one person & not mass produced, maybe it might take a few weeks to get hold of one when they are sold out.
Without a doubt the biggest thing is what my friend picked up on, the name, it doesnt seem to be very well known, which could very well explain why they are priced lower than "famous" makes, in my view if they were similar priced I think most people would simply go for a make they know, which would be a shame really as in terms of sound quality this amplifier more than proved itself, it also has a 3 year guarantee!! & is certainly built to last internally & externally, so I am not too concerned by the fact its not very well known.

I hope you enjoyed reading this & that it might provide a little more information on this amplifier.
 
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Brilliant review mate :thumbsup: now i might also have to buy one lol dam you ;)
 
Already said but worth repeating:) Great review thank you..

I've just bookmarked my next wish list purchase:)

Anyone paired the Monitor II with the B&W p5 headphones? B&W P5 MOBILE HIFI HEADPHONES - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/6391 for details

Also as much as I love music most of my listening gear (at present) is based around home cinema e.g. Onkyo 805 (downstairs) with LG BH200 Blu ray/hd dvd player, ps3, ipod classic, Onkyo HTX22DX (upstairs) with iphone, Samsung blu ray player or PS3 (most of my music is ripped 320k mp3 or flac or less often old school cd/sacd - would I need to invest in a separate cd player to get anywhere near the benefit of something like this or would I be able to enjoy good quality sound from the off with the benefit of further sonic improvements as I saved up and built up a collection of some decent hifi gear?

All thoughts welcomed thanks

berth:smashin:
 
No you dont need to invest in a seperate CD player, there is nothing wrong with flac, im using my Monitor II headphone amp with various inputs, mp3 player, cd player, etc, they all sound great coming through the headphone amp, far better than plugging my headphones into them directly, thats for sure!

As for those headphones you mention they are 26ohms, the Monitor II is listed to work with as low as 8ohms! so no problem driving those B&W phones, I saw another thread on this forum where somebody was using a pair of Denon 24ohm headphones with the Monitor II amp & he said it sounded great, I havent found it to be a picky amp when it comes to pairing up to headphones & since writing this review ive had the chance to try various other headphones on it with great results, it also has a 3 position gain adjust at the back for matching to low or high sensitivity phones.
 
Thanks Dave - although I mentioned the P5s I'm not totally sold on them - at first I was attracted by the shiny shiny but have not listened to them yet and am aware that there are mixed views on the sound quality so I'm still on the lookout for a set of closed cans that I can use at home/work without sharing my music with everyone and something that is reasonably aesthetic that I can walk about outside with them without someone calling the police :D

The Beyer Dynamic headphones certainly look good value for money but would be more suited for home use for me anyway.. will let you know if i get either the Monitor II and which headphones I settle on

Thanks for the reply:thumbsup:
berth
 
Nice review! Interested to know if you've tried pairing it with your friend's HD650?
I'm very tempted to go for the Graham Slee Solo SRGII for my HD600's!
But after reading your review this seems like a nice and cheaper alternative.
Would love to hear your thoughts! :thumbsup:
 
Nice review! Interested to know if you've tried pairing it with your friend's HD650?
I'm very tempted to go for the Graham Slee Solo SRGII for my HD600's!
But after reading your review this seems like a nice and cheaper alternative.
Would love to hear your thoughts! :thumbsup:

As you no doubt read in the review im personally not a huge fan of the HD650's & prefer my DT880's as they arnt so dark sounding, but that might just me as my friend loves his 650's.

I did try his HD650's on the Monitor II amp before he went & to be perfectly honest both amplifiers sounded similar, I would say the Monitor II had the slightest more detail but it was much harder to notice on his HD650' due to them being more laid back, but they were not quite so veiled sounding on the Monitor II as they were on the Slee, this extra detail was more noticeable on my DT880's, so I think as your HD600's arnt quite as dark as the HD650's I bet they will pick up that extra smidgen of detail too.

My advice would be to go for the Monitor II, it has that extra detail which was lost on the Slee, its better made, has more features (soft start, gain adjust etc), I think it also looks nicer with all that aluminium & you save a heap of cash as well which you can spend on other things, its definately a bargain at this price & hard to beat in my opinion.

Ive listened to the Monitor II amp on my DT880's pretty much every evening since I got the amp & I just cant find anything to dislike about the amp, it has plenty of power & just sounds so refined, even after prolonged listening sessions I never get fatigued.
 
Thanks for the reply and suggestions davejames

So very tempted to order one now but have seen good deals on a 2nd hand market for some great tube amps :D
 
Nice review Dave.:smashin:

I've just ordered one which all being well will be here next Wed. Not for myself but for my brother and now I have to think about some new phones to replace his HD465's.
Then I can sort my own gear out which I'm still looking into.
 
Thanks :smashin:

I just replied to another post of yours regarding the DT880/600's, asking what amp you went for, I should have read this post first :laugh:

As anyone on here now knows I absolutely adore my NJC amp paired with the DT880/600's :D sound quality & build quality is very hard to beat, another plus is that its one of the few amps these days thats actually made in the UK, I know not all chinese stuff is bad, some is made ok but ive had too many bad experiences with chinese things going faulty so its refreshing to see we actually make something decent in this country once again! :thumbsup:

You cant go wrong with that setup really, the DT880/600's are the nicest sounding headphones ive owned so far & the amp drives them effortlessly, im finding now that I really enjoy listening to music, before I got bored quickly, im even enjoying certain classical pieces :eek: something I never thought id listen too, instruments on the beyers really have texture if thats the right word to use, although they do take a lot of burning in to sound their very best, I noticed most changes after about 80hours, I was less impressed with them out of the box (I never believed in burn in until I got the DT880's).
 
I replied to the other thread too:laugh:

Glad you mentioned the burn in period. I was wondering about that:smashin:

Agree that many stuff is manufactured abroad then sent in and a stamp added.
I also noticed that many manufactures keep updating their models or new models released and this I find a little off. It impacts on second hand values and lets be honest for a huge amount of equipment the standard in sound has not improved and equipment from 20 years ago still wipes the floor with a lot of modern equipment. Take my A370 mkII which was designed by Tim Dr Parvavicni off EAR and sold under MF. A huge 49kg amp which takes around 2500w to power it and built like a tank. It's 20 years old but still holds good.
The only way the uk manufacturing will make a second stand is to start with raw materials and build everything but that's for another thread somewhere else.
The Monitor II amp does look well built and for a fraction of the price of many and to be honest ÂŁ249 is nothing in terms of cost for equipment. It's good to support UK firms that do build and design stuff :smashin:

Edited: the phones have now turned up :)



Thanks :smashin:

I just replied to another post of yours regarding the DT880/600's, asking what amp you went for, I should have read this post first :laugh:

As anyone on here now knows I absolutely adore my NJC amp paired with the DT880/600's :D sound quality & build quality is very hard to beat, another plus is that its one of the few amps these days thats actually made in the UK, I know not all chinese stuff is bad, some is made ok but ive had too many bad experiences with chinese things going faulty so its refreshing to see we actually make something decent in this country once again! :thumbsup:

You cant go wrong with that setup really, the DT880/600's are the nicest sounding headphones ive owned so far & the amp drives them effortlessly, im finding now that I really enjoy listening to music, before I got bored quickly, im even enjoying certain classical pieces :eek: something I never thought id listen too, instruments on the beyers really have texture if thats the right word to use, although they do take a lot of burning in to sound their very best, I noticed most changes after about 80hours, I was less impressed with them out of the box (I never believed in burn in until I got the DT880's).
 
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Great review on the Monitor II, I notice you mentioned a 1-year warranty this is in fact a 3-year warranty according to information supplied with the amp I received today. Also the web site mentions a 3-year warranty.

You did say that you would have liked a push button switch instead of the toggle switch, I much prefer the toggle switch rather than a push button but this is very much a personal preference.

The fins on the casing are I think purely an aesthetic feature as like you I have found the amp to run cool, I have other amps that have the same casing feature.

Overall I am delighted with the performance of the Monitor II although I have only used it for a short period of time,

MOD COMMENT...this is not a presales area for auction sites.


Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this little known headphone amp it deserves greater exposure.

Harryo
 
I just recieved one and my paperwork states 1 year warranty but have just checked his website and it looks like he offers a 3 year warranty now.
Will contact Nick to see if he will offer me the 3 year warranty.



Great review on the Monitor II, I notice you mentioned a 1-year warranty this is in fact a 3-year warranty according to information supplied with the amp I received today. Also the web site mentions a 3-year warranty.

You did say that you would have liked a push button switch instead of the toggle switch, I much prefer the toggle switch rather than a push button but this is very much a personal preference.

The fins on the casing are I think purely an aesthetic feature as like you I have found the amp to run cool, I have other amps that have the same casing feature.

Overall I am delighted with the performance of the Monitor II although I have only used it for a short period of time,

MOD COMMENT...this is not a presales area for auction sites.


Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this little known headphone amp it deserves greater exposure.

Harryo
 
It would appear that in my previous posting I have transgressed:-

"MOD COMMENT...this is not a presales area for auction sites."

My apologies for mentioning an 'auction site'. I was not promoting sales of any of my amps.

Basically what I was trying to say was that I am so delighted with the performance of my newly purchased Monitor II headphone amplifier that a number of my existing headphone amps are now redundant!

Harryo
 
I just recieved one and my paperwork states 1 year warranty but have just checked his website and it looks like he offers a 3 year warranty now.
Will contact Nick to see if he will offer me the 3 year warranty.

The change to a 3-year warranty must be a recent change as previously when I have looked at the web site the warranty was shown as 1-year.

There are very few if any headphone amplifier manufacturers offering a 3-year warranty.

Harryo
 
Just had an email from Nick who has confirmed that he has extended his warranty to 3 years.
Even better this extends to anyone who has purchased this amp this year too so I'm covered and Dave so are you:smashin:

Very rare to see this so thumbs up for NJC Audio.:smashin:



The change to a 3-year warranty must be a recent change as previously when I have looked at the web site the warranty was shown as 1-year.

There are very few if any headphone amplifier manufacturers offering a 3-year warranty.

Harryo
 
[NewfieDrool], Thats GREAT!! thanks for updating the thread with that info, im sure I wont need to use the warranty as its so well made but its nice to have a 3 year warranty, what a great company!! :thumbsup:

This really enforces what I said in my initial review, that this amp is really one of those rare products that come along from time to time to show how things should be made!, since writing the review ive had the chance to listen to quite a number of other so called "high end" amps, from solid state to tube, but I always find I return to the monitor II simply for its superb sound quality, also dont get me started on build quality, compared to some amps ive tried (might I add costing considerably more!) the monitor II is leagues ahead, for me having an amp that not only sounds superb but whereby each one is personally handmade for me makes it more valuable & sought after.

Thanks again :smashin:
 
Which other headphone amps did you compare the Monitor to? I would like to know how it stacks up against similarly specced Graham Slee and Little Dot offerings with a view to driving some 600 ohms Beyer 880s... Ta!
 
Well so far the only amps ive managed to directly compare against the Monitor II has been the Slee SRGII & more recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Woo Audio 2 valve amp.

[edit] Warning LONG & possibly boring POST :boring: :boring:

As for a similar speced Slee I dont believe there are any Slee amps that have the same specs as the Monitor II, comparing specs the Slee's arnt as powerful, the SRGII used in my review even had the PSU upgrade, but even that PSU isnt anywhere near as powerful as the one that comes with the Monitor II, compare specs of PSU & you will see what I mean (Slee = 200ma, Monitor II = 800ma).

One thing about the Monitor II worth pointing out is that the price doesnt do justice to the high build quality & sound of this amp, going purely by price one would naturally assume that it MUST be inferior sounding to a ÂŁ400+ amp but that would be completely unfair to judge purely by price, if it wasnt for the fact that you buy direct from NJC essentially cutting out any middle man! then this amp would be far higher priced than what it currently is, certainly more so than a slee as comparing build, spec & sound of both these amps the slee just isnt in the running, especially when you bring price into the equation, read this post:

Rock Grotto Audio Forum - For Headphones - Headphone Amps - Amplifiers - X-Can V2 - Musical Fidelity - headphone Discussion - Amplifier Discussion - DIY - Amplifier Kits - Projects - SCHA - Sennheiser - Beyer - Grado - Audio Technica - Headphone amp

As for the little dot, I dont know what they are like but I prefer to avoid amps made in China, where as I have tried a Woo Audio 2 valve amp & is highly regarded & is considerably better than anything from little dot, in terms of sound quality the Woo was different to the Monitor II, everything was there just the same as with the Monitor II except the only thing I didnt care for was the way in which the amp coloured the music, headphones such as the HD595 are known for their forward sounding midrange which has a nice snap to it, with the Monitor II amp this midrange snap is present, however on the valve amp this had all but disappeared, whether this is that "tube sound" people talk about I dont know, but it changed the way the 595's sounded & while not unpleasant I was left wondering if its correct? since the 595's no longer had the characteristics mentioned in headphone reviews.

With regards to the Beyer DT880/600's, the midrange is already extremely smooth on the Monitor II amp, there arnt any traces of harshness whatsoever at ANY volume levels, plugging them into the valve amp again coloured them, its hard to put into words how they sounded but I felt as if the sound was more loose with the valve & lacked a little sparkle on the high end, where as it sounded tighter & more energetic with the Monitor II, perhaps this is tube vs solid state? the main area in which the Woo scored was looks, the build quality is very similar to the Monitor II, where the Woo is unbeatable is in the show off factor, having all those valves glowing in the dark really does look very nice, but while thats all well & good its sound quality that will always be the one thing that brings you back for another listen & I have to say I prefer the neutrality & energy of the Monitor II rather than the coloured sound of the valve amp, as for other aspects of the sound soundstage etc was virtually equal between both amps, again this is with a Woo audio 2 amp, I cant say what the little dot would be like, but I wouldnt expect it to be in the same league as a Woo.

I personally love the fact the Monitor II isnt colouring the sound at all with my headphones, its completely neutral & so im hearing how the headphones are supposed to sound, if I dont like the headphones I will change them for another make, not change the amp!, also while this may only be applcable to the Woo, I found it had a slight hum in the background, hardly audible, but I could just about hear it on quiet passages of classical music, its suprising how annoying even the slightest hum can be though after hours of listening, I have heard a few other people mention the same thing about the Woo & more recently here ive heard that other items like the Beresford DAC has audible hum, so perhaps this is normal in todays amp market? I guess I have been spoilt by the Monitor II as it doesnt have any amount of hum whatsoever, which really does make quiet passages excepionally good as they are completely DEAD silent.

Sorry this post has become so long but thats about all I can say to answer your question, regarding the little dot you would need to hear from somebody who owns one, but one word of warning as I realized with the valve amps is that valve availability is a problem & will only get worse as most of the the valves are no longer in current production, with some of the best ones from Mullard fetching a real premium as they are extremely rare & hard to find.
 
Thankyou for the long and detailed response, it is much appreciated.

I am currently using a Caiman to drive some AKG 600 ohms cans that I've borrowed from a friend, and the Monitor II is sounding like it'd be a useful upgrade as the Beresford's own headphone amp doesn't quite have the requisite juice...
 
Sorry this post has become so long but thats about all I can say to answer your question, regarding the little dot you would need to hear from somebody who owns one, but one word of warning as I realized with the valve amps is that valve availability is a problem & will only get worse as most of the the valves are no longer in current production, with some of the best ones from Mullard fetching a real premium as they are extremely rare & hard to find.

Dave....as you rightly say,many of the really good Mullards are getting difficult to find,or attract high prices,but,depending on the tube you're looking for,there are a lot of alternatives,such as Telefunken,Philips etc,and a good number of tubes such as the 6SN7,and ECC8* tubes,are readily available,as NOS tubes,at relatively good prices.

It's worth checking availability of good NOS tubes when buying a tubed amp,but I have a tubed preamp,two sets of power amps,as well as a Cary 300B SEi and an Earmax,and considiering the diversity of tubes used,never had a problem sourcing NOS tubes for them....do expect to pay a premium though!
 
I didnt see your post there mate, yes not all tubes are hard to find or expensive, some of the more common ones such as the ECC83's are in production again, of course not by Mullard but there is a place in Slovakia manufacturing tubes, also Russia & of course China!, infact any tube that is still used in guitar amps will be easier to buy due to the fact that for guitar amps tubes have always been prefered.
 
I didnt see your post there mate, yes not all tubes are hard to find or expensive, some of the more common ones such as the ECC83's are in production again, of course not by Mullard but there is a place in Slovakia manufacturing tubes, also Russia & of course China!, infact any tube that is still used in guitar amps will be easier to buy due to the fact that for guitar amps tubes have always been prefered.


There are still a good number of NOS Telefunken and Mullards to be had if you look in the right places,but the prices ARE going up,so it's beginning to make my "investments" in some of these old tubes look sensible after all!
 
Hi,
Thanks to the OP for posting the review. I've just received the Monitor I amp that I ordered last week.

It fitted my budget perfectly and hopefully it will be up to the task of driving my HD650 (got them for <ÂŁ150..new). Also waiting on the Spitfire mk2 DAC, hopefully everything will blend together nicely. I'm hoping for a little taste of high end HiFi for a low enough budget.

Thanks again for the info.
 

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