Browsing on Amazon (other internet retailers available), there are quite a few sweet looking, sub £40 valve amps which seem to have decent reviews. Example (but there are loads on there. Is it worth getting one? I don't know too much about it all but £40 isn't a huge amount of money to splash. I have a Xonar DG and use Sennheiser HD558s.
That's not a headphone amp mate it's a pre amp. It sits in front of a power amp between your source and the power amp to give you control over the volume.
Be a bit careful. I build valve amps as a hobby and I can tell you that on valve power alone? you need either huge big fat ones or multiple to even come close to the ouput of a regular amp. What you want really is a hybrid. Something like this would be a good entry level. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Dot..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=DX8H8C0CEBJ9MDZWCTXS I've had one of those and it has plenty of power to drive even the most stubborn of cans.
Yeah, I did see the one you linked actually but while I'd be happy to take a punt and £40, £100 probably wouldn't be worth it for my needs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabaj-PHA3...7D525SB7/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8 This says it's a headphone amplifier? Or is it just a confusing title?
No that looks like an amp. It uses 6J9 valves, not 6J1. However, it will be puny. Feel free to give it a try by all means I just hope you don't like loud music. You can always use it later as a pre amp, so long as you keep the volume down. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aune-T1-Mk...e=UTF8&qid=1539257853&sr=1-1&keywords=aune+t1 I have one of those you can have for £60 inc. It's not as good as the Little Dot, but is at least hybrid and does sound nice. Note mine is the MK2, not the SE (so doesn't do 192khz).
