# Bravo Audio V3 Headphone amp review



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

So I decided to try my hand at using a dedicated headphone amp and found this nice little tube headphone amp on line from Bravo Audio. The V3 includes a very unique feature a 3 band EQ. I will give my thoughts on this later.

The V3 is a small amp that incorporates a single Electro-harmonix 6922 tube with two dedicated circuits to provide a true stereo signal. 

The packaging is very good as seen below and came double boxed



















The build quality of the Bravo V3 seems very good unlike a few reviews that i have read where people complained of loose heat sinks and poor solder jobs on the circuit board as you can see it is very clean and neat.





































So, the power supply is a separate small 24v DC 1.5amp unit that plugs into the rear of the V3 and has a LED on it to indicate that it is receiving 120v AC

Once powered up the V3 has a warm blue glo from the base of the tube and a red LED located behind it that gives it a nice modern look.










The tube is a Russian made Electro-Harmonix 6922 tube that comes in its own little box for shipping and simply pops into the ready made socket. 










As mentioned above the V3 includes a 3 band EQ that is labeled simply Bass Mid Treble










The EQ sliders have a very nice smooth feel to them not cheap at all

I will get to the details on how it sounds in the next post below


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

So now for the fun part, the listening part.

I have three different headphones. My AKG K240s my K141s and a new pair of K518LE
Given that the V3 is a tube amp my understanding is the higher the ohm rating the better as both the K141 and K240 are 55ohm Im going to use them as my tests.

First of all it can take at least 24hrs of burn in before a tube amp will sound as it should so I will have to come back to this later and update it.

My first impressions are its very clean, no hiss or other noise from interference. The EQ is very responsive and does not seem to introduce any audible noise even with the volume at max and faders all the way up. The sound quality from my iPod touch seems warm and rich much nicer than going directly from the iPod. The low end seemed a little flat but I am guessing this may be a result of the tube not being broken in yet. 

Im thinking that I may give REW a try by placing my ECM8000 between the cans and see what difference it makes going direct from the source and through the V3 not sure if this will give usable results but its worth a try.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

So, it's been a couple weeks and I still love this little amp. Clearly it's not the most exspencive headphone amp out thee but I like the looks and it's sounds great. My next item needs to be some new cans and then I will try REW and see what difference it makes between just using the headphone out on the receiver and using just this amp.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> So, it's been a couple weeks and I still love this little amp. Clearly it's not the most exspencive headphone amp out thee but I like the looks and it's sounds great. My next item needs to be some new cans and then I will try REW and see what difference it makes between just using the headphone out on the receiver and using just this amp.


I think you should check out the AKG K712 Pro's Tony. They can be had for a reasonable price on Amazon and they sound great! All of my music listening has been strictly on these headphones since I got them and they're amazing.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I am leaning that way for sure, they also look nice. From all reports Ive read the AKG Q701 are virtually identical and are even less.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

The only thing I didn't like on those were the reports that the band had bumps that were very uncomfortable. They also improved the low end with the K712's. Not to mention the K712's are made in Austria versus China. The comfort and low end improvement were worth the additional cost to me.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Oh ok, Those are good improvments


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## gazoink (Apr 17, 2013)

tonyvdb said:


> Given that the V3 is a tube amp my understanding is the higher the ohm rating the better as both the K141 and K240 are 55ohm Im going to use them as my tests.


The K240 has an average impedance of about 55 ohms, but with a rather large peak to 150 ohms at 110Hz, and a lesser rise to about 100 ohms at 20KHz (and probably up from there). The output impedance of the V3 is stated as 20-300 ohms, which is a little odd. The output coupling cap is 1000uf, so that's not the problem, the tube itself should be around 85 ohms output z in a cathode follower, so that's not it either. Might have something to do with the EQ, but regardless, if the 300 ohms output Z happens anywhere around 100Hz would tend to exaggerate the already pronounced 125Hz +10dB peak in the response, with the EQ flat, if that's even possible. 

That, combined with the hyped visuals, and this will be one warm-sounding tube amp! That's not necessarily a negative, as "tube warmth" is why people buy them, certainly not for brutal accuracy. Lots of multi-sensory input for less than 100 beans!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

gazoink said:


> That, combined with the hyped visuals, and this will be one warm-sounding tube amp! That's not necessarily a negative, as "tube warmth" is why people buy them, certainly not for brutal accuracy. Lots of multi-sensory input for less than 100 beans!


Agreed, this is not a high end amp but for the occational listening that I do its doing the job nicly without breaking the bank and some "coolness factor" included


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

So it's been about two months and I have since upgraded to some really nice AKG Q701 cans and wow what a difference that is. Coupled with the v3 headphone amp I'm really enjoying this. The bass from the q701s is a marked improvement over my old k240s


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> So it's been about two months and I have since upgraded to some really nice AKG Q701 cans and wow what a difference that is. Coupled with the v3 headphone amp I'm really enjoying this. The bass from the q701s is a marked improvement over my old k240s


Good to hear you're happy with the purchase of the new cans. I listen to mine once or twice a week and it seems they sound a little better each time. Not that they ever sounded bad but I think there might be truth to the break-in period people talk about. I have some Klipsch earbuds so my K712's were obviously a huge step up!


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## Blacklightning (Nov 22, 2011)

May be I missed it in another post but how does this compare to your Onkyo Receiver? I'm thinking of getting some Beyerdynamic DT880's 600 Ohm and I plan to just run them with my Marantz Receiver but for a few dollars I could get this Amp.

Maybe If I get those can's I will stop by and test out the amp and this will give you a chance to test another pair of headphones.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The headphones will sound better once broken in but I find the sound of the V3 warmer and still dynamic. I like it better than straight out of the receiver also because I have the EQ on the amp.


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