Headphone Amplifier

I bought myself an early birthday present and I love it. This is not something that I actually needed, but - now that I have it - I really like it. This beautiful little unit sits between the turnable - which puts out a steady signal with no control over the volume - and my headphones. At its most basic level, it allows me to control the volume, bass and treble.

But what I particularly like is the vacuum tubes that you can see sticking out the top of the unit. I haven't had an amplifier of any description before, and they give a warmer and smoother sound. Almost everything these days is solid-state electronics, which is more precise and durable. Some people say that solid-state amplifiers produce a drier sound, but I have read that this isn't true anymore. Either way, it is the imperfection in the sound that the vacuum tube produces that produces a different sound.

So it is possible that I am just enjoying a new gadget and imagining the warmer sound, but I am enjoying it. Right now, I have Together Alone by Crowded House on (sadly from a CD not a vinyl copy), but it sounds wonderful.

10:47 am, February 22, 2025

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