iBasso PB6 Macaw

The PB6 Macaw is a portable headphone amplifier, without a DAC: you connect it to the analogue output of a music player, DAC or dongle. Inside are four military-grade Raytheon JAN6418 vacuum tubes in a fully balanced four-channel circuit. You can switch between a tube mode and a class-AB op-amp mode, which iBasso describes as warm and smooth versus tight and clear. An 8.4 V battery powers it for about 13.5 hours in class AB or 9.5 hours in tube mode, and with an external 12 V supply it delivers up to 2300 mW per channel into 32 Ω. It has a four-channel volume control, PORON damping against vibration of the tubes, and 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm balanced inputs and outputs. The 12 V power supply and 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm interconnect cables are included.

• 4 × Raytheon JAN6418 tubes, fully balanced
• Tube or class-AB mode
• Up to 2300 mW × 2 @ 32 Ω (12 V DC)