Pi 2 Design is excited to introduce the first Tube Amp specifically designed for any of the 40-pin versions of the Raspberry Pi SBC Family. The 503HTA Hybrid Tube Amp HAT, designed and manufactured by Pi2Media (a division of PI 2 Design), is a High Quality I/O Shield designed to bring “Sweet Tube Sound” to the Raspberry PI ® family of Single Board Computers. This HAT allows the Raspberry Pi ® SBC to drive Headphones from 32 – 300 ohm with ease and fidelity.
Based on the popular Bravo V2 design with all recommended Mods, the On-Board PCM5102A DAC drives the single stage 12AU7 (or 6922) tube. The Class-A Output Stage is comprised of the IRL510 and LM317A. The dedicated heater supply insures zero crosstalk.
At the time of this press release we are currently 25% funded towards our goal and can be seen here: Hybrid Tube Amp Kickstarter Campaign.
We have a limited number of Special Early Bird units at just $99, which represents a savings of $50 off of the MSRP.
Technical Specifications
- Raspberry Pi ® HAT Compliant Size w/40-Pin mating connector
- 24-Bit DAC – The well regarded -112db THD PCM5102 is used to convert the I2S Stream to drive the Single Triode Tube Stage at 24-Bit up to 192Khz Frame Rate
- Tube Rolling – The 503HTA supports both 12AU7( ECC82) or 6922/6DJ8 (ECC88) type tubes. Individual Anode Bias Adjustments plus selectable Series/Parallel Heater Drive insure the perfect setup for virtually any tube!
- Headphone Out – Rugged 3.5mm Jack plus selectable output resistance between 1.5, 32 and 100 ohms.
- Gain Select Switch – 3 Gain settings allow the user to select the output voltage to the optimal level for each Headphone. Settings (based on 12AU7) provide approximately 2V, 4V and 6Vrms.