[jude]

When the mail at the office arrived today, I was surprised to find a box for me from JMT. Though I'd commissioned four amps from JMT in the past (I make it sound like my last name's Medici), I hadn't asked him for anything recently. Curious, I opened the box to find a very, very nice letter from JMT, mentioning that the amp in the box was a gift of friendship. Amp? In the box?! Further inspection revealed a beautiful amp that is tiny by most standards -- one of the much-coveted Altoids tin amps that the DIY guys make us non-DIY guys super jealous with!

JMT, I know I already PM'd you to thank you, but I can't thank you enough. That was a very kind gesture, and a very generous gift. The amp sounds absolutely fantastic! You made my week, man.

So here are the pics of the wonderful Altoids amp JMT made for me:

Altoids amp with red power LED on; the jack on the left is input, the jack on the right is headphone output.

Similar picture as one above, but with brighter lighting.

The inside of the Altoids amp. The fit-and-finish is excellent!

The Altoids amp on top of the Max.

A side shot of the Altoids amp to better show the input and output jacks.

Thanks again, JMT!

 

[sackley]

Wow, that amp is awesome.

 

[grrr223]

That looks awesome

!


Does that have 1 or 2 9v's?

Is there even room for 2 in that case?

 

[joelongwood]

Hey.....that looks just like my Altoid amp.......except mine's Peppermint!
Thank you jude for posting pics of this wonderful DBSE amp. As you say, the sound is "absolutely fantastic." And thank you JMT for its excellent construction.

 

[jerikl]

I wish someone would just send me one of those amps in the mail... but I probably don't deserve one that much.

Maybe I should just go ahead and build one...

 

[Redwoood]

Hmm, I could swear the MAX had a very jealous look on its
face plate on one of the pictures

Bye

Redwoood

 

[Possum]

Mmm, cinnamon Altoids...



Woops!



If JMT sees this:

What did you use to drill your holes, and were the holes perfectly round or chewed up? I made some odd holes in my tin from my drill, using 3-4 bits at a time to gradually increase the size of the hole, but the holes were still awkward and not circles, sometimes bending the surrounding walls a little. The washers and nuts of the jacks, switches, and pot cover up any blemish. I need to know how to work with these tins properly - my craftsmanship is not my best skill

 

[bpm2000]

must.......resist.....DIY.....urge...

 

[source direct]

This is a bit OT, but since there were infact pictures of jude's Max in the photos, I guess there is a small bit of relevance...

I see these two (big) holes on the front of the Max, but I have never known what they are. Now in jude's pictures, it looks like his headphones are plugged into those holes. So what are those things? Am I seeing things and they are just normal 1/4 headphone jacks like on the front of my OBH-11? Or are they something special that I'don't know about? Thanks -

 

[mc whak]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's a combo 1/4" / XLR jack.

 

[jerikl]

source direct: it looks like they are just some kind of special looking 1/4" jack, but i don't know since i don't have one

the picture with the altoids amp on top of the max looks like a little puppy playing with an older dog who's becoming rather annoyed... if you know what i mean

 

[jude]

mc whak's right. It's a combo 1/4"/XLR jack. Those silver tabs above each jack are the lock releases (they're locking jacks). I'm not sure if the lock applies to the 1/4" plugs, but I assume it does, and so press it every time I insert and remove my headphone plugs.

This jack (by Neutrik) does hold very tight. It also feels very durable, and affixed to the Max very securely. Hypothetically (hypothetically because I'd hope to never to this in actuality), if I was to apply lateral pressure to the plug plugged into the jack, I think the plug would probably break before the jack would (though I could be wrong, but that's how rock-solid it feels).

A better, sharper picture of the Max, as well as more info on that Neutrik 1/4"/XLR jack (including a picture of the part itself) can be found on HeadRoom's site on this page.

 

[source direct]

Thanks everyone.

So it is a XLR and a .25 jack in one, right?

If so, then that's nice.

I just got my first amplifier, the OBH-11, and I am trying to determine if I see my self spending the kind of money for a headphone amplifier that a Headroom MAX would require me to spend - sigh, oh well.
So this is your main piece of equipment I assume jude?
Who else has one of these things?
Is everyone extrememly pleased with it?
Research, research, research.....

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by source direct I just got my first amplifier, the OBH-11, and I am trying to determine if I see my self spending the kind of money for a headphone amplifier that a Headroom MAX would require me to spend - sigh, oh well. So this is your main piece of equipment I assume jude? Who else has one of these things? Is everyone extrememly pleased with it? Research, research, research.....

source direct: Yes, the Max is the amp in my primary system (you can see the whole rig in the Members' Lounge forum, as I just posted updated pics today).

If you're looking for another owner of the new-version Max, the only other person on Head-Fi or HeadWize I know with one right now is MacDEF, as HeadRoom only very recently started shipping them.

I also used to own an OBH-11 -- a nice amp for the money, if you ask me. I won the Max in a contest (long story) and then sold the OBH-11 (which I sort of regret). But now I've got a Total Airhead, a really nice JMT-built cmoy/Hansen/Apheared-type portable (that runs on eight AA batteries), and my latest addition is the Altoids amp (which is almost too cool to use, but sounds very good for such a tiny thing), so I think I'm set for a while. My next amp will probably be a new-version HeadRoom Cosmic (but I'm trying to maintain some willpower to keep from auditioning one so that I don't buy it yet).

 

[source direct]

Did you build that altoids amp yourself?

I too am considering building one of those to use as a portable. I was thinking about attempting to fit the cMoy in it.