Helot 2x Headphone Vaccum Tube Valve Amplifier [12au7 / 12bh7] (Electro Harmonix Tubes)

I was after a good headphone amp with no frills to connect to the already excellent MSI Z790 ACE motherboard audio output which is really really good to begin with, but I just found listening to a tube amp just slightly better, cant really put my finger on it, but there it is.After some research I came upon the Helot amp and bought it, and so glad I did.It is excellent with my Sennheiser HD650 headphones and arguably as good as my Little Dot MkIVSE which I have downstairs which also has HD650 headphones.Now the only fly in the ointment which is most likely why people report that the unit runs hot.Your house mains voltage may be too high!, the filaments in the tubes are designed to run at 6.3v ac and they do if your supply is at 220v ac, but if like mine it is at 248 to 251v ac you will be driving the filaments at over 7v ac!, this will reduce the life of the tubes as well as generate a lot of excess heat.I built a buck transformer PSU to drop my supply from the 250v down to 220v ac so am using this and the amp is warm, but that is about it.It will still work at a slightly higher voltage but your tubes will burn out quicker and the unit will run warmer.I'm writing this listening to TIDAL streaming master quality tracks and everything is so detailed, and has a wide soundscape, no need for equalization, everything is just lush.I would really recommend this amp for the price if all you are after is a vacuum tube amplifier, no frills just an RCA input, On/OFF switch, volume knob and 1/4" headphone socket, paired with Sennheiser HD650's it's fantastic.Just to add the amp sits on the Topping E50 DAC perfectly, almost as if it were made for it, the amp is just a fraction narrower. The audio from these two combined is just brilliant with the HD650's, its absolutely brilliant and I have spent days and days listening to it. So pleased.

Sources are LP5X with ML / Michael Fidler phono pre or WiiM mini bit perfect out to JDS Labs EL DAC ii+, both then to a Fosi P4 Pre. The amp is silky smooth, very little background noise, but not pitch black. It is smooth, relaxed & melodic, with reasonable detail. Female vocals are beautiful. Definitely worth the price paid. It takes a good while to warm up to its best, so turn it on an hour before you want it. I should also mention Spartan here too. I've had a couple of queries and they get back to you quickly. Customer service as it should be, but often isn't.This is an update after a year and a few headphones & amps later. Everything noted above stands, it is super smooth and easy on the ear, but I would add that this amp is at its best for lower level listening with acoustic / vocal music. If you want the greatest detail, high volumes and tight bass, look elsewhere. Bass distortion is clearly evident at high volumes, regardless of source.

The Helot with Electro Harmonic Tubes sit in my 15k audio system driving a pair of Beyerdynamic Amiron headphonesI took the time to burn in the Tubes for 100 hours and honestly they sound much the same as with 10 hours useHas a smooth warm but with good detail in the high treble but gentle with it, the bass is ok not strong not weak but in the middle so its balanced sounding very easy listening experience you could say a vinyl analogue sound from yesteryear (unlike digital which can sound hardNow my source is HD digital music from Deezer Flak and mostly 24it 48mhz/ 96mhz and also BBC Radio 1 sounds great as well (Hi Fi audio components, not a PC or smart phone) and they give all the punch attack and detail of quality hi rez digital music by the bucket load ~ without any tiring harshness- most importantly they drive easily my 300 ohm Beyerdynamic Amiron headphones with ease (and to very loud levels without distortion)- but again the Helot runs Hot the tubes and its in built mains Transformer get toasty quick, so give it lots of headroom to vent the Heat away (150mm at least! preferable in an open spaceIts a very well built headphone Amp quite Heavy all metal bodywork and a real mains lead socket at the backhowever looks very nice a cool retro talking point with friendsnote - this Helot Amp runs Hot! very Hot indeed this at around 40% to 50% volume levels (loud enough for meThis Helot Tube Amp is up there with sheer sound quality of higher priced products costing several times more than its £149 ~ its the equal of Little Dot Tube Amps at quarter the pricethe lack of 5 Stars?the front Red LED On light is very bright a lower wattage LED would be better for long music night listening, a small point but that's just me (most probably wont notice ..yes i really like it

This is a very nice little headphone amp. I already have one from another maker, but the stereo image on that one was too much to one side at low level, so I felt it was time to buy another one, this time I wanted to go for tubes. There is no image problem with this amp. There is lots of power. It has a hint of that tube sound sweetness I was looking for, it is not a whole lot, but perhaps when it burns-in over time, maybe it will sound even better. At first I thought there was something wrong with the unit, but it turned out that the power lead that came with it was faulty, I have a few of them spare, so when I got one of them all was well with powering it up. I think it strange that there was no manual, not even a small one. It might be said that there is nothing to know, but I have a power tube amp and with that it says that once it is switched off, not to turn it on again till at least five minutes has passed, I don't know if that is the case here. I had it on for about an hour and though I didn't touch the tubes, there seemed to be little heat off them, strangely the body of the amp got very warm, almost hot, it would be interesting to know why. Overall then, so far-so good, a nice little unit.