DIY Speaker To Headphone Amplifier Converter

For the desktop headphone amplifier, it doesn't need a dedicated one if you already have a home speaker amplifier. Especially if the home amplifier is great sounding and you like the sound from it, then connect it to your precious headphone can be done by following this project.

But they cannot connect directly from the speaker terminal to the headphone jack. The first reason is the current from the home amplifier is too large that may damaging the headphone connected. The second reason is sometimes the DC offset from home amplifier are too large for the headphone could handle. And the third reason is the unmatched impedance between speaker and the headphone. This third reason is more technical to discuss but this is what we will do with this DIY speaker to headphone amplifier converter.

Schematic DIY KT88 Single Ended Vacuum Tube Amplifier

I continue from the previous post about the vacuum tube amplifier that I bought cheap. In my initial inspection, this KT88 based vacuum tube amplifier is made with all used components inside. You might not willing to turn this amplifier ON with this poor safety condition.

Further inspection, I found that this amplifier is a single ended KT88 with large output transformer. No wonder why this amplifier sound so wonderful.

In this post I will share the schematic along with replacing almost all the components inside that I think they are all junk.

I Bought DIY KT88 Vacuum Tube Amplifier, Cheap & Ugly Inside

I am not a vacuum tube guy. I never build any vacuum tube audio system, either it is a pre-amplifier, buffer stage, a vacuum tube output DAC, or anything related to vacuum tube from ground up.

You might already know this if you following my blog for quite some time. The Bottlehead Crack is the only vacuum tube amplifier that bought in the used condition. Then I just upgrading it. The others vacuum tube amplifier is a hybrid with an op-amp and operate in low voltage. Yes I made it but it doesn't count as a pure vacuum tube amplifier I guess.

I am not hate it, but instead I loved how the vacuum tube sound. It is very musical, detail with lots of energy and dynamic. The vocal from vacuum tube amplifier are sweet and more bodied. It feels like you are covered with the soul of the music played. Unlike the solid-state that some times feels cold and edgy, but I still doesn't want to swim it deeper to this vacuum tube world. I know my limitation when building an audio gear, it must be great and using the best possible components available. So I love at this point where my audio system run from the more affordable solid-state components instead the vacuum tube. I hope it is a good excuse for me:)

So if I want a vacuum tube amplifier for driving my speakers, I prefer to bought it. Like today post, this is a review of others built vacuum tube amplifier. This amplifier is in second hand condition and the cost is about US$200! So let's take a look.