SMSL SP100 Tube Headphone Amplifier Discussions | Drop

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SMSL SP100 Tube Headphone Amplifier

Audiophile

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SMSL SP100 Tube Headphone Amplifier

MastiffMike

164

Sep 3, 2019

As someone that's been considering getting their first tube amp, and wanting to do so on a budget, this peaked my interest. I like the look but question the complete lack of a single photo of a finished unit. And I know very little about tube amps, but I'm guessing this isn't a good representation of a decent sounding tube amp? Sure it's reasonably priced, but I'm willing to spend a little more to get something I'll be happy with.

Sujay Rao

109

Sep 3, 2019

MastiffMikeHowsabout a DarkVoice. I bought it off an early drop and rolled the tubes. Keep going back to it. Really likeable. I think it’s dropping right now.

MastiffMike

164

Sep 3, 2019

Sujay RaoYeah I've heard good things about that one. Only thing that's stopped me is that it's at the top of my current budget (and that's with the stock tubes, buying different ones would push it even higher). Which begs the question, what is a reasonable budget for uncritical listening by someone with mediocre hearing and a modest budget? I'm debating whether I'm better off waiting until my budget increases so that I'm not buying something now that I'll just regret buying later. Seems like there are a fair amount of decent options if I spend more (in the $300-$400 range). (I'm sorta drawn to the Musical Paradise MP-301 Mk 3 but haven't really done enough research to know if that'd be best since it's outside of my current budget - but it isn't overly expensive). I know (for ME) I can't justify spending more than $500 on headphone amplification, but mayeb spending $400 is better than spending $200. I typically listen using speakers, but have found myself going to headphones more lately (IEMs when traveling and cans when working).

electroCrunch

Sep 4, 2019

MastiffMikeI'd look into the Loxjie P20 if you're after a sub-$100 budget tube headphone amplifier. More power, better specs, only a little bit more cash. If I recall correctly, SMSL is the parent company for Loxjie, for whatever it's worth.

Fayne

2583

Sep 4, 2019

MastiffMikeI'd suggest a Little Dot 1+ if you're looking to stay in the ~$100 range, MassDrop has them sometimes but they can be found pretty easily on places like Amazon. I've nothing but good to say about them. Mine still gets used even though I've much "better" tube amps on hand (CTH & ZDT Jr.). It plays nice with all my cans, but I wouldn't want to use IEM on it. The tubes they rock (6J1/6ZH1/6AK5/EF95) are available pretty much anywhere (amazon, ebay, etc) and are usually sold in matched pairs. I'm a fan of the Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV from the 80s, but I know a bunch of people swear by the GE 5654W. Either way, the tubes are fairly cheap to be had. Plus you can even stuff a Burson v5i Op-Amp in it at a later time for that final upgrade, if you're into that kinda thing. In the ~$250 range I'd have a look at the MassDrop CTH. Once you swap the 6922 out with a GE 5670W (and adapter) it is a veeeeery delicious sounding amp. It isn't bad with the stock EH, but it gets much better with the right NOS tube. The only problem I've run into with it is inability to use very sensitive cans like the MassDrop x Meze 99 Noir. Both are hybrid style amps, with tubes at the input/preamp and solid state at the output stage. That reduces the tube style sound a bit, but makes it much easier to work with run of the mill cans without having to get expensive.

RayF

22219

Sep 6, 2019

MastiffMike"I'm willing to spend a little more to get something I'll be happy with." You're going to need bigger closet.

(Edited)

Eli35

653

Sep 6, 2019

MastiffMikeI own the LD I+, and have little bad and so much good to say about it. Now keep in mind tubes are a a bit of a rabbit hole: you take a look inside, start looking for some cheap NOS matched pairs on eBay, next thing you see is 10 incoming packages with lots of tubes, opamps (hybrid amps and DACs need some love too, you know), cables, A/B switches, RCA splitters... You'll have to deal with problems you probably never considered: ground loops, EMI, output impedance, hiss when using too sensitive headphones, background noise, mismatched/microphonic/weak/defective tubes... Everything is much more prone to degrade the sound quality of your setup compared to when using solid state amps, you have to be much more aware about little details in the chain. However, when you get it right, the extra spicyness some tubes can add to your setup (and the extra effort you put on A/B'ing, testing, replacing, reading opinions, etc) is well worth it. Tubes are cool, not better. If you have some high impedance (200ohm+), consider buying some OTL amp. I have the OG DarkVoice 336SE, it sounded GOURGEOUS with my HD6XX (although it might fail mine's right channel died after couple months, I still gotta fix it smh).

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kyeblue

Sep 23, 2019

Eli35Speaking of a rabbit hole, over the summer I swapped my 2013 CX-5 for the 2019 model, then surprised by its missing of a CD player, after considering the options of adding a third party CD players, I decided to digitalize my CD collection. And two month later, I bought 3 head phones and returned one, three CD players and returned two, three headphone amps and returned two, and subscribed to Tidal and Amazon Unlimited HD for free trials. I also bought a tube-amp, and waiting for a pair of speakers arriving this week. Now I am here looking for another headphone amp :-( and I will need some speaker wires pretty soon. I am attracted by SMSL SP100 by its form factor, but I cannot find reviews anywhere outside amazon, it is also odd that this model and M100 does not seem to be available in the Chinese domestic market, so I am a bit skeptical if the tube is more or less for decoration. Nonetheless since I now have enough Amazon reward from the spending spree, I am going to spend the reward on this little cutie, and may experiment it with some tube rolling, as 6N3/5670 is relatively cheap to play with.

(Edited)

Fayne

2583

Sep 23, 2019

kyeblueYou may wish to check out the LOXJIE P20. It is ~25 more than the SMSL, but fully balanced. It is a hybrid amp that uses the 6N3P/5670 tubes and has a digital volume controller. The reviews are pretty positive even.

(Edited)

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Eli35

653

Sep 24, 2019

kyeblueHave you considered the Little Dot I+? It's almost on the same price range, it can fit several tube families (EF91, EF92, EF95/6J1, WE408A...), it sounds good, build quality is decent, opamp can be replaced too, easy to mod, has plenty of power... My only concerns is that it's only suited for medium to low sensitivity and/or high-ish impedance headphones, since high sensitivity low impedance headphones (or IEMs) require lower gain and hiss is noticeable (this depends a lot on the tubes). Schiit also makes a budget hybrid headphone amp, Vali 2, I've read some good opinions about it too.

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Fayne

2583

Sep 24, 2019

kyeblueI ordered one of the LOXJIE P20 to add to my amp stack... mostly to compare against the LittleDot1+ and MDCTH+SDAC, but partially because $95 is a crazy good price for a balanced hybrid tube amp with the ability to rock my favorite 5670W tubes. I've bought these units in the past as gifts for friends on a budget. The only complaints have been about the Chinese 6N3 tubes having mushy bass response. I've like 100+ count Russian 6N3P-EV on hand, and at least 20 count 5670W. The crap Chinese 6N3 will not be a problem. Update: It arrived and is super tiny and cute. Stock Chinese 6N3 suck without break-in. They kinda flop on the bass, but have great treble. Swapping the tubes with some military grade tubes should fix the bass. Side note, LOXJIE == S.M.S.L.

It blends in almost as much as the SDAC-B.

(Edited)

Fayne

2583

Sep 24, 2019

Eli35Yeah. the LittleDot1+ is an extremely versatile amp for the price. I <3 the combination of the Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV and Burson V5i Dual Opamp. I totally wouldn't want to use IEM on it (not that I actually like IEM in the first place) and I already know the MD*Meze 99 Noir are a large nopefest on it (just like every other tube amp I've tried them on). I definitely second that the Dot1+ is very unsuitable for ultra sensitive low impedance cans, it'll be all hiss and hum. It does do rather well with low impedance medium sensitivity cans like the EMU Teak or HE-35x. It also has absolutely no issues driving Planar like the HE-4xx, T60RP, and T50RP MK3 cans I've on hand.

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Eli35

653

Sep 25, 2019

FayneI see you're way deeper into the hybrid amps than me, kudos for that. My LD I+ also runs Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV tubes, but for the opamp after testing several cheap sub-$1 models I ended up with 2xBB OPA627 connected through a 2-to-1 DIP-8 PCB, although differences between opamps were almost unnoticeable for me. I also have Mullard M8161 tubes, they sound cleaner (less background noise) than Voskhod and maybe a bit brighter, they match the HD6XX quite good too, although the soviet ones have this extra warmth in the low-mids that's sooo engaging... Hard to pick one against the other. Speaking of tube rolling on the LD, take a look at this head-fi post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide.563884/

Fayne

2583

Sep 25, 2019

Eli35I like audio gear in general. I've a 100% work from home desk job and always have headphones on. Being able to pick the sonic flavor via mix and match of cans, speakers, amps, and dacs/interfaces without having to resort to a EQ is something I rather like. Hybrid tube amps are the best of both worlds in my opinion. You get that lovely set of secondary and tertiary harmonics from the tubes at the input, and the low(ish) impedance drive capability of solid state. No worry about headphone selection and safety like with an OTL, and no transformer to mush the frequencies (a bit) like with an OCL. The head-fi post about rolling in the Dot series is pretty amazing. I found it while I was doing my initial pre-purchase research on the Dot. I wholeheartedly recommended any new user of a Dot (or amp that takes any of the types the Dot does) to read through it. Everyone feels and hears music differently, so all the recommendations in it should be taken with a grain or ten of salt, but it is a *great* starting place and an awesome list of available supported tubes. In an effort to get rid of the horrible Chinese 6J1 the Dot came with, I rolled some Mullard M8100 a week after buying it. They weren't bad, but totally needed more burn-in than I was willing to give. I also had some good luck with GE JAN 5654W before I settled on Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV (dated '84). Both are amazing tubes; cheap and readily available. Heck, I find that the military graded GE and Voskhod/Reflektor tubes are safe defaults for any amp they're available for. I didn't swap the opmp till recently. I considered using one of the TI, I've got a pile of all the major dual opamps from them for my personal projects. But laziness held me back... at least until the Burson Drops. The v5i fits the unit very well (physically), and gives a nice sound.

(Edited)

kyeblue

Sep 26, 2019

Fayne Thanks for sharing your experience and the pictures. How does it square against the little dot. I have to hold-off from falling into another rabbit hole. As I am settled on Beyerdynamic, going balanced will likely take me to a T1 plus balanced cables, balanced DACs, maybe even a PSU. I ended up bought a Bellari HA540 (the original version with the headphone jack in the back) off ebay, feel a fairly good deal as as the sale included a NOS CV4004 bought less than a year from TubeDepot and a Tributaries RCA Cable. waiting for its arrival tomorrow.

(Edited)

Fayne

2583

Sep 26, 2019

kyeblueIf all you are using is single ended cans, the LittleDot 1+ is better. If you're using balanced cans, the LOXJIE P20 is better. For all the other pros/cons... sorry about the bullet points. :) Dot Pros:

6ZH1P-EV/5654W Tubes supported. Cheap and easy to find. Great sounding when you score the good GE or Voskhod tubes.
Swappable Opamp. Using the right opamp can help squeeze every possible erg of power out of the amp. Burson V5i does wonders.
No power brick. Uses internal transformer.
Easily accessible tubes. No savers required.
Cheap. ~100-110USD

Dot Cons:

Single ended input only.
Single ended output only.
Potentiometer based volume control. Prone to imbalance and getting dirty.
No startup mute and protection. You can experience a thump at power off.
Ugly extrusion chassis. Feel the price, not the looks.
Crap default 6J1 tubes. They're Chinese, and very much so not high quality.
Internal transformer can be the source of interference. Can be, not is.

P20 Pros:

6N3P-EV/5670W Tubes supported. Cheap and wonderful sounding. Like 6922, without the expensive. GE and Oktyabr do great here.
Uses solid state volume control and rotary encoder. It contains a resistor network and outside of imbalance originating from the tubes, there is ZERO channel imbalance. Has memory between power cycles, volume control steps in 1dB increments, and is indexed.
Relay protection for the output. No pops or thumps at startup and shutdown. Compete silence, other than the soft click of the relays at power on and off.
Solid state i/o selection. Uses the same chip as volume control.
LCD readout of volume.
Built with quality components. Wima caps and JRC opamps.
Balanced drive. Makes them expensive cans sing wonderfully.
Purpose built chassis.
No internal transformer. Uses external power brick.
Extremely cheap. ~90-100USD

P20 Cons:

Anemic single ended output. It works and doesn't sound terrible on regular cans, but is kinda meh on high impedance cans.
Garbage default 6N3-J tubes. They're basic Chinese and completely suck at bass.
Soldered opamps. There is enough space to have sockets, they saved themselves $0.50 not installing them.
Tubes are recessed into the chassis. Requires socket savers to safely deal with 5670W tubes. Also means heat from the tubes is mostly being pushed inside the chassis.
Cheap power brick. Benefits from upgraded linear power source.

I'm still getting over the ferret shock of the new shiny. I'd need many moons to say which one is *really* better. But at this point... if I had to decide between the two, I'd go with the LOXJIE P20. More versatile, and much better overall design. There is a good set of review and measurement on SBAF for the P20. Until I find something better in the price range, I'll be using the P20 as headphone amp gifts for my friends and family.

(Edited)

kyeblue

Sep 30, 2019

FayneMy Bellari HA540 arrived last week and it absolutely blow me away, music sounds full and clear across all range, from Anne-Sophie to AC/DC. I don't know how much this is associated with the NOS Mullard CV4004 which is sold as $249 on tubeDepot. I am totally happy with this unit except it has a noticeable background hum halfway past the volume setting. Not sure how much of this can be taken care of using a better power supply (any recommendation) . The stock one looks pretty cheap. It is interesting that the tube barely lights up, there is a very very dim orange light that I can barely see, and it does not generate a lot of heat either. I am going to roll with a re-issued Mullard CV4004 to see how much difference it is. Guess that I am going to pass up on little dot and enjoy my HA540. P20 is definitely interesting one to try. I have ordered a customized Beyerdynamic 990 Pro that can be fit with a balanced cable, but it will take a while to arrive。 SMSL DP3 also has a balanced headphone out as I am also looking at a network streamer.

Eli35

653

Oct 1, 2019

FayneThat was very detailed, thanks a lot for sharing the info! Really, I love this kind of posts, kudos :)

jbcalbears5150

Sep 10, 2022

kyeblueSo i just bought the M100/SP100 micro-stack as I call it for $50 shipped used. I know your post is old, but if anyone else is looking for info on this setup, this Drop thread is one of the few resources that come up on a Google search. I immediately swapped out the tube with a GE 5670 W tube that I picked up for $8 on eBay and it is 100% worth it. The detail and soundstage size both pick up significantly after swapping from the stock tube. As to whether the tube is just decoration, I have ABd between a few of the solid state setups I own (Burson Timekeeper 3i, SMSL M500, JDS Labs El Stack2+, Ferrum Oor/Hypsos) and it does add a little bit of that "tubey goodness" to the overall sound. I also agree with Zeos' review where he says he thinks the output is more powerful than they list because I have use the M100/SP100 to drive my AKG Q701s and K702s as well as a pair of 150ohm DIY built headphones and it does so with volume to spare and the headphones come out with the requisite fullness and bass depth without struggling or compressing the soundstage especially once you swap out to the 5670 W, but it's not bad with the stock tube either. Overall, I thought I'd give this little stack a try, but didn't expect much and I have been pleasantly surprised. The M100 is a capable DAC that can be paired with the amp of your choice and serve you well. The SP100 is a lovely little tube hybrid box that actually sounds quite good and drives harder than I would have guessed. Throw in the GE 5670 W tube swap and you have yourself a killer setup for cheap. I saw this combo for sale on ebay and Mercari as well, one for $75 shipped and the other for $85. I would have no problen grabbing this setup at those prices on the used market and going to town. I hope this helps anyone who's looking...

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