My setup:

Amp: Little Dot MK II

Pre-amp tubes: 1980's US Military Surplus - General Electric JAN (Joint Army Navy) 5654W

Power Tubes: 1972 Soviet Military Surplus - 6N6P (aka 6H6P) with gold grid


Holy cow, this little amp was worth it. On top of that, upgrading the tubes made the sound so much more better. The little dot's typically come with cheap, modern Chinese tubes that sound pretty lacking. Upgrading the stock tubes is absolutely mandatory if you go with a Chi-Fi tube amp, the difference is so night and day that your partially deaf grandmother could tell the difference.

The audio quality is nothing short of outstanding and the sound signature you get is completely configurable depending on what tubes you use. I highly recommend this guide for deciding what tubes to buy. I chose mine based on the best bassy sound I could get on a budget, and it delivers.

I've had mine for the past year and have been using it with my daily drivers, my Sennheiser HD 429. Today I got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 ohm cans in the mail. I can absolutely notice a huge difference between my computer's internal amplifier and the Little Dot, even without an external DAC. There is so much detail in the music that the DT 880's high range becomes nearly painful to listen to. Soundstage also gains a massive improvement.

Mind you, reviews of tube amps are highly dependent on what tubes a user has in their system, so these reviews should be seen as just as much of a tube review as a review of the amplifier itself. If someone is going to review their amp with stock tubes, their story is likely going to be very different.

Overall, I totally recommend the Little Dot MK II, but again, it is mandatory that you swap out the stock tubes.

Boxes? Maybe you mean the audio stuff?

Left to right:

• Meier-Audio Corda Jazz ff solid state amp
  
• Little Dot MKII tube amp with some Russian tubes I can't remember
  
• My PC in a Node 202, on top is the Soekris dac1011 DAC and iFi Audio nano iOne dac
  
• Audio-gd NFB-16 portable amp

Best "real" tube amp for headphones, on a budget, would be this guy;

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2

It's obviously more than the amp you posted, but I have one and have used it for a preamp, and it sounded GREAT. I'm not really a headphone guy, but many people seem to like it.

Objective 2 [linked is the O2/ODAC combo; O2 is sold individually, as well], Schiit Magni, Little Dot MKII.

I don't have personal experience (except at an audio show but I was auditioning a pair of headphones I didn't have experience with) with the Schiit products but people in this subreddit pay for their yachts so there must be something to it. I really like the MKII as a nicely priced tube amp that works well with these headphones and the O2 was designed to drive anything.

Phono preamp upgrade:

Schiit Mani $129 or a Hagerman Bugle3 $189 (both have adjustable gain settings) besides many other options. If you DIY, Muffsy DIY Phono Kits or Bugle2 PCB-Kit.

Internal preamp bypass upgrade:

Open up the case of the LP120 to manually bypass the switch that does not completely turn off the internal phono preamp to use a better external phono preamp.

Stylus upgrade:

• Minor upgrade: AT95E Upgrade stylus for AT-LP120 $49.
  
• Better upgrade: ATN95E Type Hyper Elliptical Upgrade Stylus for AT95E 710-DHE $120.
  
  Cartridge upgrade:
  
  The popular cartridge upgrade from the AT95 for the LP120 is the Nagaoka MP-110 $129.
  
  Or if going with AT, VM520EB $119, or VM530EN $179.
  
  VM540ML at $250 may be overkill for the LP120.
  
  Headphones: r/HeadphoneAdvice.
  
  Headphone amp:
  
  Musical Fidelity LX2 $199.
  
  Hybrid tube: Schiit Vali $149.
  
  Tube:
  
  
• Schiit Valhalla $350.
  
• Little Dot Mk3 $288. Better than the MK2 but can still benefit from better tubes.
  
• Little Dot Mk2 $145. A real tube amp, however they are cheap tubes so upgrade sooner than later.
  
  Speakers?

Well, the little dot mkII has volume control and should work well then if I am understanding you correctly.

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking of this: Little Dot MK2 MKII 6J1 X2 6N6 X2 Headphone Amp Amplifier Pre-Amp Tube UK Plug https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A2QMAI2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_S-9xzb3NVFKCQ -- what do you think?

Speakers: Edifier R1280DB.

Go with 2.0 bookshelf speakers, not 2.1 computer speakers. These have Bluetooth, optical, and coax. Oh, and they sound amazing.

Headphones are tricker. Will you also be using them with a console or a phone at any point? Want to keep them on while running to get a cup of tea or take a leak? Do you play FPS's?

You have few different options:

Convenience be damned you want awesome audio quality above all else.

• Get a DAC. Sennheiser GSX 1000. Modern, slick gaming features, solid DAC. Little Dot MKII. Because toooobs.
  
  
• Open back headphones. There are a million suggestions at dozens of different price points. I recommend prioritizing comfort, spatial positioning, and a warm sound that won't cause listening fatigue.
  
  
• Modular attachable boom mic. Antlion Audio ModMic 5 or Minimic. Don't underestimate these mics. They sound amazing, you have little-to-no background noise, don't need any additional acoustic treatment, and you don't have to worry about boom arms and the like.
  
  
• Blue Yeti. You just couldn't imagine not having a huge mic like you see streamers using. It's the defacto go-to mic for a reason. Keep in mind everyone will hear your mouse and keyboard and that guy diving by and your dog sneezing and...
  
  Wireless PC and PS4.
  
  
• SteelSeries Arctis 7. Wireless for PC and PS4, wired for Xbox (blame Microsoft).
  
  
  
  
  
  Gaming headphones.
  
  
• Wired. HyperX Cloud Alpha or HyperX II
  
  
• Wireless. Corsair Void
  

Looking for first tube setup to add on 2.1 with headphones. I already have a Onkyo TX-NR626 (will be using zone 2 as line out for tube preamp). Currently have some Sony MDRV6 Studio Monitor Headphones and B&O Beovox s45-2 speakers (currently using upstairs) I can use with the 2.1 setup if needed.

Everything will have to be able to fit under the projection screen. So I have about 2 feet from the floor to the bottom of the screen. Will be a 60/40 split between music (jazz, folk, blues) and movies (yes only in 2.1). Will be watching/listening from about 15' away.

Looking to spend around $2000 for a Tube preamp with headphone jack, tube stereo amp, powered front facing sub, and probably speakers (currently listen to the B&Os upstairs). Any left over money will be going to upgrading headphones, adding a turntable and acquiring a record collection again.

What about http://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1426706908&sr=8-6&keywords=tube+preamp for a Pre amp with headphones.

http://www.amazon.com/NXG-Technology-NX-BAS-500-500-watt-Subwoofer/dp/B008FSTU4G/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1426707035&sr=8-10&keywords=powered+subwoofer+500w for a powered sub

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Douk-audio-stereo-HIFI-EL34-Single-ended-Class-A-tube-amplifier-rectifier-AMP-/281312152025?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417f82c9d9 for stereo amp? I know there have to be better options. And then what should I do about speakers?

I'm very new to vinyl. I recently purchased a Fluance turntable and realised i need a headphone amp. I found the little dot MK2 and was wondering if they would work together.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2

https://www.amazon.com/Fluance-Adjustable-Counterweight-Anti-Skating-RT80/dp/B01F2EXIFM?th=1&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2QMAI2

Little Dot MKII seems to be the culprit.

those look like tube amps but, that looks like too many too be actual [tube amps] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502791286&sr=8-1&keywords=tube+amp)

Edit: [or maybe not] (http://www.specimenproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MG_0784-LB.jpg)

Your post has been reported for violating Rule 1 of this subreddit and I'll have to remove it.

> Rule 1: All requests that solicit product opinion or asks for purchase advice must be posted in our purchase sticky.

You are very welcome to repost your question in the stickied daily purchase advice thread.

Please make use of this format when you submit a request

____

• Monoprice Desktop Amp is not a good pairing for the HD598 due to 10 Ohm Z out. Better pairing for the 6XX than the E10K.
  
• getting the Monoprice desktop is not smart, since you'd end up with 2 DACs.
  
• O2 is overpriced compared to the cheaper Magni 2.
  
  Why don't you get a tube amp for a different experience? A Little Dot MkII would pair nicely with the HD6XX (not with the HD598 though)

I went with Massdrop's Cavalli CTH Amp/Dac tube amp...upgrade with a 1964 Seimens tube from local supplier. Sweet sound...sweet. Otherwise I would look at this:

​

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2

​

I'm buying the Little Dot MKII amplifier to use with my Sennheiser HD 598s. I'm looking to get these Pioneer SP-BS22 speakers. Will these work well together? This will be my first real hi-fi system so I just want to be sure of everything.

I got them at a nice price :D my budget isn't really limited, I just don't want to spend my money disproportionately.

I cannot find any schiit hardware within EU, I'm from Denmark so I use danish sites, toman.de or amazon.de, amazon.de have the FiiO stuff and the Creative Soundblaster and the little dot mk II but I cannot find the schiit.

Thank you for the help. I actually need a little more help i looked a little deeper and i found two other actual tube amps and i believe they are a much better choice, but then which one.

Litte dot MKII: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2/ref=pd_cp_MI_2

HIFIMAN - EF-2A: http://www.amazon.com/HiFiMAN-EF2A-HIFIMAN-EF-2A-HEADPHONE/dp/B004357WL8/ref=pd_cp_MI_3

One possibility that has respectable sound on a budget and gives you future flexibility is this ART: http://www.amazon.com/ART-USB-Phono-Plus/dp/B000BBGCCI/ref=pd_cp_MI_1

I bought one of these at the same time as the ART, but it didn't mesh well with my system at the time, so I returned it. It is however, tube driven and has a more robust headphone section than the ART: http://www.amazon.com/Bellari-VP130-Preamplifier-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B002TD4GME/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407099671&sr=1-1&keywords=headphone+phono+preamp

Or something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Dot-MKII-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00A2QMAI2/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407099671&sr=1-6&keywords=headphone+phono+preamp#productDetails