Audiophilepure

Like many more affordable options, the TA-84 doesn’t have a power button on the front, and you have to reach behind it to power it on and off. Take care not to accidentally press your hand on the hot tubes that can reach over +70C. They won’t immediately burn you like hotter-running large power tubes, but you can hurt yourself by pulling your hand back instinctively.

The back also houses switches for gain toggling and switching between the DAC and AUX RCA inputs. DROP specifies the gain of the TA-84 as 16dB, but my own measurements show that the voltage gain is around +18dB on low and +20dB on high gain. With a Sennheiser HD6XX, this meant that I was around midnight on the volume control for most of my listening.

https://pt.audio/2025/05/04/lta-velo-headphone-amplifier-review/#google_vignette

While there is no dearth of choices in the $2-3,000 price point, equivalents to the $2,100 Velo are rather scarce. There’s plenty of solid state choices, but just a few more standard OTL tube amps and only a handful of the most affordable transformer-coupled designs. In general, a pure OTL design will tend to sound a bit thinner and more upper-midrange focused than the ZOTL technology from LTA, whereas a transformer-coupled amplifier will often be thicker, and darker. This leaves us in the company of quite clean sounding tube amps which generally cost more or hybrid or solid state amps that sound particularly smooth. 

All of this is to say that I think the LTA Velo stacks up quite nicely at its price point. Given the design considerations and how much good sound is on offer, the Velo to my ears and eyes is a welcome exception to the “products must always get more expensive” mantra. While you won’t necessarily be pairing the absolute hungriest planar magnetic headphones with it, it pairs very well with most dynamic and planar headphones, from Audeze to Focal, and plays all of them with that signature LTA balance of good tone, pleasantly warm-of-neutral frequency balance and dense harmonic structure. Definitely worth a listen if you’re in the market for a tube headamp in this price range. 

This is not new to existing Chord Electronics users, as all their products use color-coding information to display the state of the units.

Left and right of the volume ball you have two smaller ceramic balls which can be pressed. The left one switches inputs and the right one switches outputs. A small sticker will tell you what color corresponds to which input/output.

The unit itself is very compact in size, measuring only 215 x 200 x 57 mm (DWH), which translates to 8.46 x 7.87 x 2.24 inches. It puts a mere 1,946 grams on the scale, which is 4.29 lbs.

On the bottom of the unit are four feet with rubber padding. These can be removed, should you want to rack-mount the Alto in your studio.

In some ways, the iFi iCAN Phantom is probably overkill for most headphone listeners. The full array of headphone connections, the ability to drive both dynamic and electrostatic cans (ANY electrostatic cans), the choice of solid-state or two types of tube drive, along with the various processing and setting options to play with makes this a drive unit for the truly committed headphone enthusiast. Someone who appreciates the inherent differences in various headphones of all types. Enough that they already own several sets of cans or plan to build a collection. The iFi iCAN Phantom can accommodate them all, drive them to their full potential, and be either a clean sheet of sonic glass or a tweaker’s delight. The choice is yours. On second thought, maybe the iCAN Phantom IS for everybody after all! Recommended!

Positioned between the K9 Pro ESS and K19, the K17 switches from THX amplification to discreet circuitry and 4000mW max output per channel, giving it plenty of power for various headphones.

It sounds dynamic, with plenty of headroom while maintaining good tonal balance and resolution alongside an otherwise full-bodied presentation.

Unlike the cleaner sounding K19, the K17 is more intimate than neutral across the mids. It puts more stress on the treble on the higher gain modes while sounding fuller in bass and quite rounded in treble with the lower gain levels.

Eons ago, our hearing evolved as a continuous predator warning system—does the space around us sound normal and safe or not? Danger was often a matter of audible impulse (location), plus loudness and echoes (distance), pretty much how the latest Atmos fright-film makes the audience shriek. Even today, the faintest mosquito buzz immediately gets your attention, and you have to look for it and kill it first. I could suggest that, as with inverted phase, the brain gets a “bit confused” when things digital don’t quite sound normal as they would in the real world—and perhaps pre-ringing plays a role. But I don’t even play a digital expert on TV, let alone on the Internet.

Yes, other DACs provide a choice of filters, or at least third-party chip manufacturers can. However, I suspect it is unusual for a DAC manufacturer to research, develop, and implement a “bespoke” filter like the GTO in a sub-$1000 product like the Neo 2. (Or, if you need portable, GTO is also available in the $599 iFi Gryphon)