Headphone amps are a cornerstone of hi-fi headphone audio. Having a quality amp means properly driven headphones and an exceptionally deep black background. The resolution added by this contrast is going to make your headphones really shine.
The Matrix M-Stage is a class A headphone amplifier. This design is based on the high gain, low distortion, OPA2134 dual operational amplifier from Burr-Brown/Texas Instruments. The op-amp is the DIP8 version, this makes the M-Stage amenable to tweaking (e.g. op-amp replacement with OPA627s, etc).
This unit has two gold plated RCA inputs and one analog output (60 ohm); useful if you need a preamp as well. A front-plate mounted switch allows to toggle between the two inputs. Four switches accessible from the bottom of the unit enable one to set the amplifier gain to 0, 10, 18, 20dB as desired.
Here is an excellent review for the M-Stage posted on Head-Fi:
"Now for the most important part of this review; how does the thing sound? In a word: Excellent. It is very dynamic and full-bodied but still well balanced. It does not seem to impart any sonic signature but rather gives you an open window into the music. This is my kind of amp." - project86
https://www.head-fi.org/t/475618/matrix-m-stage-amp-review-simple-cheap-and-excellent
Estimated ship date is Aug 6, 2013 PT.
Payment will be collected at checkout. After this product run ends, orders will be submitted to the vendor up front, making all orders final.