In this review we take a close look at the Auris Audio Headonia 300b tube amplifier, selling for €11.999 Euro.
Disclaimer: Auris Audio is not related to Headfonia in any way. The Headonia 300b was sent to me to be featured on Headfonia.com.
Auris Audio
Auris is a Serbian brand that mainly builds HiFi tube amplifiers and headphone amps but they also produced speakers and now they are very much into turntables. Auris Audio was formed in 2013 with a mission to fulfil the desires of the most demanding audiophiles. Sonically and visually.
Their team of in-house engineers all have high experience in the pro-audio field and in designing audio equipment. According to their website, they all work very closely together when they approach a new project. Every single one of their products is hand-made and using the best possible components for the price. They give a lot of attention to tubes, capacitors, transformers and connectors. Many of which they get custom made to meet their expectations.
Every new product of theirs goes through a series of strict tests, to ensure they are exactly what their customers want. All stages of assembly have their own quality control sections, just like it should be. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a dead unit, and Auris makes sure nothing faulty goes out their door.
We have covered all of Auris’ headphone amplifiers in the past. I suggest you read up on the HA2-SE, HA2-SF, Nirvana, Euterpe and HA2-SE+ review to get a full picture of their products. Today we are looking at Auris’ updated Headonia tube amplifier – the Headonia 300b!
Before continuing with this review, it could be good to read up on the original Headonia amplifier first. You can do so here:
Headonia Series
Back in 2018, Auris Audio released the original Headonia. It at that time was selling for €8.899 Euro but that price increased later. The original Headonia is one of my favorite tube amplifiers and I still use it for almost all of my full-sized headphone reviews. From the original review:
The Auris Audio Headonia is exceptionally good and wonderful. It is a top level, reference tube amp that lets you use both your single ended as well as your balanced headphones at the same time and it gets the absolute best out of it without any effort. If you’re in the market for a high end headphone amplifier that does it all with heaps of control and want the perfect mix of resolution, transparency and musicality with a hint of tube warmth, then this is the amp for you. Yes, it comes with a rather heavy price tag but be warned, once you’ve seen it and listened to it with your collection of headphones, you’ll be putting down your signature on the order form before the first song is finished.
The original Headonia with the 2A3 tubes was discontinued in 2020 already. We have all been anxiously waiting for its successor, and now it is here. The Headonia 300b was released just before the Munich show and I have been using it since then with a whole range of headphones.
Let’s dive in!
Headonia 300b
The new Headonia 300b headphone amplifier is selling for €11.999 Euro (+ shipping), setting it firmly in the very high-end region. You can find its dedicated web page here. You can buy the Headonia 300b from the Auris Audio dealer network, or via their shop directly. The Headonia 300b is Auris’10th Anniversary statement piece.
With the Headonia 300b, Auris doesn’t just want to deliver a new Headonia, but they want to set a new benchmark in reference amplification. On the Auris website we find the following:
In a world where headphones demand more power than ever before, compromises were not an option. We meticulously engineered the Headonia 300B to deliver unparalleled flexibility, supporting headphones of various impedances and power requirements without sacrificing sound quality.
The Headonia 300b logically uses 300b power tubes, and it combines it with 6SN7 input tubes, delivering 7W of power, driving even the most power-hungry headphones. The Headonia 300b of course has a low and high gain setting, but I hardly ever needed that. More on that later.
Here are some of the Headonia 300b features:
The power supply inside the Headonia is designed to provide a staggering 1000 times less ripple than standard PSU units. Complemented by amorphous double C core output transformers, meticulously tuned input and output impedances ensure optimal performance.
The new 300b features an impedance selector (32/80/150/300/600 Ω) on the output transformer. Because of this the Headonia according to Auris Audio maintains perfect impedance matching, guaranteeing an authentic, distortion-free sound reproduction across the entire frequency spectrum.
Auris Audio for this statement piece is only using the best possible components. Japanese Alps potentiometers, renowned for precision, and German-made Mundorf capacitors, ensure uncompromising performance. Lundahl transformers on balanced inputs further enhance sound quality, delivering an immersive listening experience.
The Headonia now also features a large OLED graphic display, and it offers intuitive control and customization options. From adjusting lighting intensity to monitoring tube lifespan, you can easily navigate through the menu.
In addition to its inputs, the Headonia 300B also features a preamp output, allowing users to connect to external power amplifiers or speakers for a complete audio system setup. In this review we however are mostly focusing on Headonia’s headphone amplification quality. The amplifier is also equipped with both 6.3mm and 4-pin XLR headphone outputs, catering to a variety of headphone connectors. More on the in-and outputs later in this article.
Lastly, the Headonia 300b comes with a gorgeous little remote control. It is crafted from CNC-milled aluminum and the ergonomic remote features a rechargeable battery with a USB-C port. You can find the Headonia 300b’s manual here. The amp’s full specifications can be found here or in the manual.
Tube Galore
The new Auris Audio Headonia 300b of course features 300b power tubes, and the designer paired them with a set of CV181/6SN7 tubes, delivering 7W of power.
The tubes that Auris selected for this version of the Headonia are all supplied by PSVANE. More specifically, both the input and the power tubes are from their excellent TII-series. You can find the info on the 300b-TII tubes here, and the CV181-tII here.
The CV181-TII is double triode used in voltage amplification circuit and it can be replaced directly by 6N8P and 6SN7GT. We have seen this tube being used in many other headphone amplifiers such as the Feliks Audio Envy.
The 300B-TII is directly-heated type cathode triode which means that it uses a single filament to both heat the cathode and emit electrons. First introduced in the 1930s by Western Electric, the 300B has stood the test of time and remains a favorite among tube amplifier designers and enthusiasts alike.
The 6SN7/CV181 is a fairly affordable tube though the exotic ones can be quite expensive as well. 300b tubes are never cheap if you want decent ones, and even though very affordable new production tubes are available, the famous ones can set you back hundreds if not thousands a pop. That means the Headonia this time is less tube-roll friendly, unless you have deep pockets and are willing to go the extra mile. I myself find the supplied tubes quite good, and so I in this review will be using the stock tubes.
The article continues on the second page. Click here or use the buttons below.
Page 1: Auris Audio, Headonia, Headonia 300b, Tubes
Page 2: Box, Design, Build quality, Layout, Usability, Sound intro, Sound General
Page 3: Headphone Synergy, Comparisons, Conclusion, Summary
