Bravo Ocean Tube Amplifier Discussions | Drop

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Bravo Ocean Tube Amplifier

Audiophile

FULL DISCUSSION

BlackandWhite

Feb 5, 2018

This vs. a Schitt Magni 3?

Feb 5, 2018

Vote

e.xo

117

Feb 5, 2018

BlackandWhiteGet the Magni 3, unless you already have a good solid state amp and really want to have a cheap-o minitube amp like this, chances are you won't get much of the "tubyness" because many of these low price models put most of the amplification towards the soldi-state side of things anyway and you have to put stress on a tube to get to the "magic" of them

Feb 5, 2018

Eli35

653

Feb 5, 2018

e.xoAs a Little Dot I+ owner, I mostly agree with that. However, if you definitely want some tubey-ness, and given the price tag, I'd give this a chance. But if prices were the same, or you don't care about the tube sound, Magni 3 is the way to go.

Feb 5, 2018

e.xo

117

Feb 6, 2018

Eli35I honestly have very limited expirience with tubes to be honest.. but from what i've heard the Little Dot Mk1 is one of the best "cheap" desktop tube amps and the next step up would be a darkvoice, although i heard the Little Bear B4 portable tube amp (70 or so $ on amazon) is awesome and delivers a good tube-sound BUT it only can be operated while on batteries..

Feb 6, 2018

Vote

Eli35

653

Feb 6, 2018

e.xoWell, there's also the Little Dot MKII, the "big brother" of the I+ and the cheapest OTL amp (full tube, no solid-state). Problem with the MKII is that, being an OTL amp, it has high output impedance and it's only good while driving high impedance headphones (like Sennheiser HD600/650/6XX, Beyerdynamics 300 or 600 ohm versions, and so on). For low impedance headphones, it won't either deliver much power or sound too good, and it'll probably have strong background noise. But the sound you'll get from that is supposed to be the entry level of "real" tubey-ness, not a compromise like hybrid amps (LD I+, Bravo Ocean, Little Bear B4...).
My main headphpones are the HD6XX, I also have some low-impedance planars & IEMs, and I'm really considering buying a LD MKII just for driving my 6XX, even when I already own (and like) the LD I+. That good it's supposed to be the MKII. It all depends on your headphones and personal preferences, perfect amp doesn't exist. But if you only plan to have one amp for a vast range of headphones, Magni 3 seems to be the price-performance king.

Feb 6, 2018