This is the headphone Amp that can KICK the butt of the hard to drive headphones like the HE-6s. The custom, Plitron Toroidal, transformer is designed to output 80 volts at 6 amps of current to satisfy the 4 buffers that each is capable to deliver up to 9 amps of current. The Dark Star is truly a monster headphone amp. Nothing like it has ever been designed.
In SE output it can easily swing close to 80 volts P-P., but the Dark Star Amp is a fully true balanced amp from input to output with quad independent gain stages and buffers. In balanced mode the voltage swing is double of that in SE. You can literary make your HE-6s sound like a speaker from a distant of 12 feet or more. There is no limit to how loud you can drive the hardest to drive headphone like the HE-6s. We are not only accomplishing the amp’s drive capability but the sound quality, the 3D surrounding environment is beyond what you have ever heard from these phones. The Bass is tied and articulated. Dark Star amp will make you fall in love with your phones all over again.
The Dark Star is a two chassis amp. The fully regulated power supply that delivers positive/negative 40VDC that feed the four high voltage buffers and the positive/negative 12VDC that feeds the phase splitter and the op-amps circuitry.
The amp section has two balanced inputs, XLRs, and two single ended inputs, RCAs. Using fully balanced source like CD player or DAC will out put a fully balanced signal to your HE-6s through two balanced output connectors one output is three pins XLRs The other balanced output is four pins XLR. A 1/4” output connector is also available for those who want SE output.
Because The Dark Star uses a state of the art PHASE splitter circuitry this means when ever you select the SE inputs The Dark Star will direct the signal to the phase splitter with out you flipping a switch. You will have your single ended sources play in balance via your HE-6s even though you are feeding the amp SE signal.
The Dark Star uses fully balanced four independent attenuators made by DACT, one for each channel this will insure your sound stage accuracy and the dynamic of the signal with out any colorations or distortion.
All the resistors in the four output stages are 3 watts 1% Vishay film resistors. These are some of the best resistors used in sound reproduction.
The power supply uses 1% Mil spec resistors which are very accurate & over rated in wattage. All Caps are high temperature caps designed for power supplies. The power supply has three stages of DC rectifications to smooth the ripple then followed by the voltage regulation circuitry which insures the voltage is always positive/negative 40DC.