Headphones amplifiers — Auris Audio Lyre

The Lyre is the entry point to the tube headphone amplifiers of Auris Audio, the Serbian company founded in 2013, and it also appears under the name Headonia Lyre. Like the larger Auris models it combines two jobs in one case - a headphone amplifier and an analogue line preamplifier with its own output. The valve complement is two PL95 output valves and one ECC82 double triode. The owner can replace the valves. Prices are EUR 2,280, CHF 1,999 and USD 3,000.

Key specs that matter

Maximum output is 1 W into 32 ohm, reached with an input of 1.25 V, and the rated input sensitivity lies between 1 V and 1.25 V. Auris lists THD+N at 2.5 percent measured at 3 V of output and gives the frequency response as within 3 dB. For line sources there are two RCA inputs plus one balanced XLR input. Headphones plug into a 6.3 mm jack or a 4-pin XLR socket, and the pre-out signal leaves through RCA sockets. The chassis is 360 x 310 x 110 mm and the amplifier weighs 8 kg.

Engineering and use context

Auris runs the circuit in pure class A without any negative feedback, so the published distortion value is that of the open circuit rather than one lowered by a correction loop. Output transformers are wound by hand on amorphous double C-cores. A three-position selector changes the output impedance so the transformer taps can be matched to the headphones in use. Volume is set with an ALPS potentiometer, and a large analogue VU meter on the front shows the signal level. The case is CNC-machined from aluminium and finished with leather side panels. The volume knob sits on the right of the front panel, with the input selector and the power switch on the left, and a glass cover protects the valves.

Pairing

The modest output means the Lyre is at home with dynamic headphones of moderate to high impedance and average sensitivity, where the impedance selector lets the owner pick the best tap. On the source side the input sensitivity suits the standard output of most DACs and streamers, and the XLR input takes balanced sources directly. Used as a preamplifier, the Lyre sends its RCA output to a stereo power amplifier or powered speakers, which lets a small desktop system share one volume control between headphones and speakers.

Alternatives

Auris Audio also makes the Nirvana VI, a larger tube headphone amplifier that uses 6CA7 power pentodes for a 4 W maximum output.