Top iPod Tube Amplifiers

Posted on April 17, 2008
Filed Under iPhone Accessories

Playing an iPod through tube amplifier may sound ludicrous, but not for those who tried that sound! It is even more than the warm sound of old tube amps. Tube amps designed for iPods have multiplied in recent years, from giant and stylish to tiny and sexy. Here is the top list of our favorites:

Fatman iTube
The Fatman iTube includes an ultra-stylish iPod dock with 13-watt-per-channel tube amp. The iTube’s dock transfers video and audio through its S-video composite output jacks. It can charge your iPod, and includes a 27-button remote offering control over the main iPod’s functions. It is sold in many combinations for approximately $400.

Shanling MC-30
The Shanling MC-30 has the radio but packages it with an iPod dock and CD player. MC-30 possesses 3-watt-per-channel output for sensitive speakers.

RockridgeSound VTS-384
Rockridge VTS-384 from mighty Japan puts all you need for music into one box. It has a pair of EL-84 output tubes for each channel, the 4 watts total of rated output with those single-driver speakers. There is also a remote for iPod. The Japanese price is around $800.

Lars & Ivan PA-40Ti
Although it sounds like something scandinavian, Lars & Ivan are actually in Japan. Their PA-40Ti is a hybrid design using a tube line stage with a transistor power amp to deliver 40 watts per channel from a stylish package. This is another well-equipped dock with a video output, a remote control and iPod charging included. The price is 450$.

Acoustic Research AR4131
AR is one of hi-fi’s most respectworthy brands, with over 50 years of history. The AR4131 BlackVault system includes a subwoofer, which also houses the iPod dock.

Roth Audio MC-8
The MC-8 is by far the biggest iPod dock ever, pumping out 35 watts per channel through a pair of milk bottle-size 845 tubes. That iPod Nano looks so tiny in the 75 pound chassis. $5,000 price seems really crazy,but the MC-8 is designed to work as a high-end amp.

The Goldster Audio Concertino
The Concertino iPod system uses a single-ended triode amp to deliver about 7 watts into single-driver speakers of their own design. And the sound you get on output is really good for $4,000.

Gini Systems iTube
This iTube has a visual similarity to a white version of the AR BlackVault. The main difference here is that the actual dock itself is a separate item. Available individually or packaged together, the combo unit is estimated at $329.

DIY iPod Tube Mono Maven
Using existing designs for an 8-watt tube amp and three-driver speaker, Kurtis Berry combined the parts together with an off-the-shelf dock connector to create his mono rig. While he originally intended to build a second channel for stereo, he claims that it sounds so good as it stands, that those plans are on the back burner for now.

DIY Horny iPod Kit
While it’s not specifically an iPod dock, the Gakken Self Build Vacuum Tube iPod Amp kit was designed with iPod-loving retro-audio fetishists in mind. With a whopping 100 mW on tap, it’s a good thing with hypersensitive horn speakers. Just for $150 you get the whole complex for gorgeous budget taste.

The research was held by Dvice.com