WHAMMY Headphone Amplifier Full Kit

The Kit went together well. The only issue that tripped me up was Neutrik headphone jack. I didn't realize it was different than what the schematic showed. Of course I ended up wiring the wrong side of the jack. Then it took time of chasing signals. It was only when I plugged in and unwired 3.5mm to 1/4in adaptor that I noticed contacts moving. My stupidity.. 😳

Other than that it all worked on the 1st shot, sounds fantastic and was a fun project. I'm embarrassed to mention my screw up... Oh well, live and learn.
The pick shows the mistake ...

I always felt that solid state amps lacked the soundstage, presence and timbre that you can get from a good tube amp. I was wrong. My Whammy is *almost* as good as my OTL tube amp, and I mean it's very close. Building it was a fun experience and not that hard, even for a novice like me.

Just wanted to add some thoughts regarding WHAMMY as a PreAmp for F6 (powers Troels Gravesen's Discovery 861 DIY loudspeakers which are awesome) and some upgrades which have been made (Jantzen Audio Silver-Z caps and Sparkos Labs SS3602 Dual Opamp). It has been used for ~1,5 years as a headphone amp and I was very happy to listen to it (all stock components, AD823ANZ opamp). But as a preamp it was also very good, best I have ever heard. Plenty of details, pleasant to listen. Upgrading C1 and C5 to Jantzen Audio Silver-Z provided some additional clarity on highs, but SS3602 pushed it to another level. Everything has improved: much more precision on lows, bass guitar sounds much more clear, separated; punchier drums; vocals much more separated, articulated and pleasant; highs were good before, but with SS3602 become even more airy, so precise. Lower distortion gives an ability to listen louder with no fatigue. I expected some improvement, but SS3602 provided much more than I thought. Obviously, your experience may vary due to the different speakers, amp. But still, I highly recommend to try SS3602! Keep in mind that you'll have to provide some space by drawing back C3, C4, C9.

I don't think that Silver-Z caps alone give a big difference compared to 5$ foil caps, but 40$ for 2 is not as much. Also worth trying.

built it over 2 easy days. worked straight after the build, no issues.

Its rocking an audio technica M20X for now, (a very very economy phone, but one which has run-in atleast 1000 hours as a training e-drum monitor).
this amp has become a motivation to audition few headphones. it deserves much better than what I have now.

Also, was pleasantly surprised how well it drove my (bridged) pair of Amp camp amps and my DIY horn speakers.

the kit did not come with:
Pre-out RCA sockets, even though the back panel is drilled out for the same, and the shielded cable length provided for.
A resistor for the blue power LED
not an issue except for needing to run to the local parts store.

I will be trying out a few opamps with this . including the burson discreet v6.

Thank you Wayne,
more karma points to you. I am a very happy user.

A fun build, sounds absolutely awesome as a headphone amp and just as great as a pre-amp.
The original build guide was a great help.

Beautiful kit and definitely highly recommended!!!

Many thanks to Wayne for making this design available to us and the Diyaudio store guys for putting an awesome kit together.

Easy to construct, well designed PCB and high quality parts used and the result is a superb headphone amp.
Amazing detail and dynamic range, wide open sound stage, neutral sounding.
It is not the most compact headphone amp but what you loose in desktop space you gain in sound quality and enjoyment listening to your favourite artists and albums all over again.
This headphone amp has tonnes of power available and can drive virtually all headphones to insanely loud levels. Tested with a range of headphones from Sennheiser, Beyer Dynamic and Audeze and they all sound amazing through this amp.
You won't want to take your headphones off after listening to this amp.