Little Dot I+ WE408A X2 Tube Hybrid Tube Headphone Amplifier

The LD1+ is a good value in headphone amplifiers. It is my 2nd hybrid amp. It makes my Fidelio X-1's sound full and extended top to bottom. It outperforms the Bravo V1 amp that I previously owned by providing a bit more of everything top to bottom (more weight to the sound). Based on the feedback I've read on the LD1+ with the WE-408A tubes, versus spending less for the model without these tubes, I would recommend spending the $35 or so extra to get this unit. I have a significantly more expensive all tube headphone amp ($700), and the only areas where the LD1+ is outperformed is in refinement, resolution, and a narrower sound stage.Update: the headphone jack has begun losing good contact when a headphone is plugged in, causing only the left side of my headphones to work. This is a sporadic problem and sometimes I get sound from both left and right, sometimes only the left headphone works, very disappointing.Second Update: Bought another LD1+ because I like the sound so much. On this unit the volume pot failed and when I turn the volume all the way down, I still got sound coming through my headphones!!. I never had this happen on any electronic device I have owned, Had to return this one too! So I am done.

Used with a DAC Destroyer and a set of AKG Q701 headphones.My first impression out of the box: "Wow, this thing is built like a brick!" It's extremely solid, and packaged very well. Comes with two vacuum tubes that are easily inserted. I had some difficulty at first opening the box to configure the jumpers, as the instructions are not clearly written to assist with this process. This difficulty is why I'm rating four stars.After installation and configuration, I fired the amp up… and was very pleased immediately. The difference between this and my previous Fiio E7+E9 combo was quite clear, particularly on higher-quality tracks. I'm also impressed with the volume leveling; the Fiio E7+E9 combo is extremely loud even at lower volumes, while the Little Dot is easier on the ears even at higher volumes.Overall, I'm very happy with this amp, and plan to use it for quite a while.

The I+ from Little Dot is an excellent tube hybrid that offers much more than its sub-$150 price tag would suggest.This is the first piece of head-fi equipment that I've owned twice. Bought one from a fellow Alabamian head-fier a couple months ago and had it for a little more than a month before deciding to sell as my "best" pair of cans weren't benefitting as much from amping. Within a week of the sale, I missed the LD too much and pulled the trigger on a new one! (Oh well, you live and you learn).I purchased the I+ after reading up on how well it pairs with Grados, my flavor of choice. And let me tell you, it certainly performs brilliantly!1st: Price: Inexpensive. These can be purchased from Little Dot's webstore for ~$140 shipped to North America and currently from Amazon for ~$120 with Prime shipping. For a hybrid tube amp with tube/opamp roll-ability, excellent sound and sturdy construction, why keep looking? This is it!2nd: Design: Simple. 1/4" plug, volume pot, RCA inputs, and power supply. That's what you get. All sturdily built and thoughtfully implemented. While we're on the topic, the thick aluminum frame of the I+ feels great and hasn't shown any signs of component failure or weakness. The board is assembled very well and when I open it up to change the opamp, I don't feel afraid to touch the I+'s innards. Ain't nothin' goin' nowhere. The volume pot also turns very smoothly, the tube sockets are of sound quality, and the included power supply doesn't make me feel like LD tried to cut corners.3rd: Sound: Natural. Since the I+ is a hybrid, the syrupy smoothness a.k.a. "tubeyness" is tempered with the detail and resolution of solid state technology. IMHO the LD is the amp equivalent of the Colorfly C3's sound: organic, musical, and neither so flat that it sounds boring nor so fun as to seem artificial. The best is yet to come however - you can roll tubes. AND opamps.Options for tailoring your sound are virtually endless. Thanks to its interchangeable jumper capabilities, the I+ accepts tubes from the EF91, EF92, and EF95 families (not to mention others that may have to be adapted). That's plenty of tubes! From the punchy detail of the Voskhod 6ZH1P-EV to the buttery smoothness of the Tung Sol 6AK5, sound signatures are easily changed just by swapping tubes. The circuitry within also makes the I+ very quiet (as in noise floor) and it will warm tubes rather quickly. Opamps are also swappable, any DIP8 will fit (along with any that will fit onto a dual-to-mono adapter), so yet again, sound-tailoring is easy and abundant. So whether you're a vinyl junkie yearning for the super smooth tube sound of yesteryear or a digital wizard who likes the ultra modern edge of solid state, you can modify the SQ of this little amp quickly and easily to your taste.As far as cons go, there aren't any real issues, just a few shortcomings that I may as well mention. 1. This is not the most powerful amp in the world. It will power all but the most hungry cans so, if you have THE MOST HUNGRY CANS, you may want to keep looking. 2. Opening the chassis to swap jumpers or opamps is a little inconvenient. Just to swap one or two pieces of plastic, I have to remove all 8 screws. Not hard to do, but the screws that hold the base to the upper half are tiny and sometimes hard to re-screw. Not to mention they are a part of the ground circuit, so if you lose one, you may open your amp up to noise. EDIT: Don't know why this didn't dawn on me, but I could just loosen the lower 2 screws on each side to open the amp up... Whoops!So overall, the LD I+ is an excellent choice for those looking to get tube capability with plenty of variety available for tube/opamp rolling. The sub-$150 price tag makes this amp very affordable and the quality design makes operation very easy. I certainly recommend!P.S. It plays wonderfully well with Grados. Enjoying Kind of Blue with my 325is as I finish this review!

My LD mounted WE408A tubes. First run was not very good: low gain and some noise on output signal. Internal jumper check ok (any tubes type have a dedicated jumper setting). I tried to clean up tube contacs and keep amp on for a few hours in order to complete tubes braking-in. Now amp is ok and sounds good: smooth bass, pure-clear high and very impressive voice. I've another two tube amplifiers at home (not headphone) and is in my opinion that WE tubes need quite long breakin-in in order to reach best level gain and sound (12-15 hours). Important: LD is very sensible to different headphone model and related impedance: check it before first listening! Some headphone (in-ear type in my experience) did not work at all (extremely low gain, voice drop and echoes in output signal). Chek also jumper gain level near tube sockets inseide amp.4 stars because i'm shure that LDi+ can make better than now with more listening hours.

Built like a tank for the price, sonic quality was much improved with up grade WE tubes. There're plenty ground to tweek around with tubes rolling and Op amp option available. It's fun amp to start getting into tubes sweetness without burning a hole in the pocket.