By chance in NYC I saw a friend's Meier Audio (Corda) Eartube, a long discontinued German headphone amp manufactured by Audio Valve. I was quite taken by its look, and did some research.
Meier Audio (Corda) has gotten quite a reputation, though it doesn't have a tubed model now (whereas Audio Valve does).
By chance I saw this budget model named Swing (official info) for sale at a good price on Audiogon, and I liked the look and bought it on impulse. In NYC I use the cheap Audio Technica ATH AD700, which does not present any problem.
The sound is finely detailed, yet not at all etched. Compared to the earphone output of my Nagra PL-P (through transformers), there is less bloom, but more extension at both ends. Some may prefer one over the other, but the Swing held up impressively well. For the AD700, which has a benign impedance, the low gain setting is enough, though the high gain setting has more oomph. The crossfeed matters little to me. Next time I think I shall bring it back to HK to test it with the much more difficult Sennheiser HD600.
Recommended. I think if I get the chance I shall get the Eartube.
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