Bravo Audio Ocean Mini Valve Class A Tube Headphone Amplifier

I am re-writing this review having the first time giving this amp 4 stars,I've now decided to give it 5....Firstly... The silly things....That red light IS bright and I found myself applying some black tape to calm it down but have since found a perfect fitting cap (meant to be used on electrical wiring)it just fit snugly over the red lamp and toned it down....Secondly...and my main reason for the loss of one star originally was...I thought the amp struggled to power my AKG 702's to a level that doesn't make them distort...It turned out to be the different sources giving different results....Direct from my CD/Dac player it barely has to be turned up half way of the first segment,so minute adjustment has to be made to lower or highr the volume...but playing flac through my Sandisc Sansa portable found me turning the volume control upto the third segment to achieve the same level....SO..be aware that different sources will need different volume adjustments. I was aware that it needed running in...around 20/30 hours ...which I did with the original valve...However..I found the valve to be a little too bright so I purchased another valve.I bought the 5963/12AU7/ECC82 RCA NOS TUBE/VALVE Twin Triode (a mere £6)...and after fitting this (which was dead easy)..I did notice a definite increase in the bass and a much softer treble ...everything just sounded smoother.Because valves are quite cheap to buy you could experimement if you feel the one that comes with it is not for you..I've heard the Electro Harmonix is very good and the Genalex Gold Lion. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is the heat..This will get hot so please be careful where you place it...to help my situation I put some of those small rubber feet on the bottom and this allows an air flow which actually keeps it that bit cooler. So if it's a valve amp your looking for then this is a nice starter, consider carefully before you buy,but I'm sure you will be happy with this for sound,clarity and detail.

I purchased this as my first tube amp. Teamed up with my Beyerdynamics DT150 the sound is excellent and adds a layer of warmth that I was looking for in an amp.The sound is warmer, adding to bass and giving vocals a more natural tone. This amp really opened up my headphones after using a protable headphone amp.It's worth noting that the tube in this amp only acts as a preamp and doesn't amplify the sound directly; it still relies on a solid state amplifier to drive the signal.That being said this is a very cheap way to get into tube amplifiers and will no disappoint.I would leave this at five stars but unfortunately my unit developed a fault and was returned for a full refund. I'd still buy with confidence knowing that Amazon will look after you if anything goes wrong.

I have had this amp for 3months . i use it from my phone to my headphones. it works great with power and sound quality for the money. well worth it

Low quality overall.

Thi is an excellent entry level tube headphone amp. I use it as a preamp for my phone whichs run mp3s. After about 24 hours of burn-in, the sound quality was excellent. I used to hate running anything on my phone through my hifi system, but not anymore. One has to be very picky to complaint about the output, which was precise, punchy and very musical (Mission MX1). I swapped the stock tube for a Mullard tube, and now the mid is even more heavenly. I mostly listen to jazz, classical musics and good vocalists and this headphone amp suits my need extremely well. I expect to have spend well over £500 to get a noticably better music experience.

Just received today. Firstly, TOP SELLER...TRUST HIM 100%. AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'm a sound Engineer and this product amazed me..it sounds like it cost 10 times more. Thanks!

I bought this to use as a buffer to condition the sound on my sub-woofer. I already have a valve amp driving the satellites. Early to tell as yet, but so far so good. There is a definite change in tonal quality. I intend replacing the valve with an EC82 which I have ordered. Then after a week or so to burn it in, I will hopefully get the sound I want. Meantime I am very pleased with the product quality and the speed of delivery. I am not a regular headphone user but did try it with my Stenheiser headphones an it sounded good.

Do not be fooled by the size, this little guy packs some serious power. In terms of volume, it outperforms my larger Little Dot mkII !I've never gone past 8 o'clock on the volume knob. The sound is very clear and warm thanks to the tube. The bass is lovely and 'meaty'. Well built, gorgeous to look at and you can tube roll if you are so inclined although the stock tube is pretty good in my opinion.Runs a bit hot so invest in a couple of adhesive gel feet, for some reason they aren't included.I'm using this with a Chromecast audio and I'm blown away by the performance.